The Handbook’s purpose

Before we move into the mathematics and physics that will form the bulk of the rest of the chapter, we feel it is important to discuss what exactly this Handbook is for. This is because the Handbook is not only a book - it is an integral part of Project Elara.

First, the Handbook is our learning guide. In our belief that all knowledge should be free and accessible to anyone, we put everything we know into the Handbook, teaching even the most technical topics in a step-by-step fashion. It should be conceivably possible for anyone to self-learn everything about the project from minimal basics using this Handbook. A future goal is that this Handbook will be translated into multiple languages, so anyone can read this Handbook in their native language.

This is why it contains a multitude of topics, making it more of a small library than one book. The currently-complete sections are primarily math and science-focused. We hope that with more active development, errors and issues in the Handbook can be quickly fixed, ensuring accuracy. As a (somewhat intentional) side-effect this also means that the Elara Handbook can be used as an (unconventional) physics and engineering textbook or complement to a self-learning course in a STEM field.

Second, the Handbook is our avenue to share our research. We present our research in the Handbook, and in-progress research as well, again, out of our belief in free and open knowledge. The Handbook is not meant to be a place for research papers, but for long and detailed explanations of our research that would not fit in a research paper (and that honestly, we’d prefer instead of writing papers). We want our research to be as fully-accessible as possible, but research papers inherently force research to be condensed and often difficult-to-read, so the Handbook is where we put the full details and explain things in a gentler fashion.

In pursuit of this goal, the Handbook aspires to follow a very specific style. It seeks to use simple, unambiguous language, and never assume something is “obvious” to the reader. In addition, when complete, it is meant to include many, many fully worked-out practice problems to reinforce understanding.

Note

You may notice that this is not necessarily the current style! Indeed, we have much to work on, but due to inherent time constraints, we’ve had to rush through a lot in the Handbook. This is a temporary situation and will be rectified as soon as we are able to.

Finally, the Handbook has one unique purpose that is perhaps its most important: a safeguard for the project. It holds the Project’s collective knowledge, experience, and preserves the Project from the tumultuous turns of the world. That is, no matter what disasters may happen to the project itself, copies of the Handbook will allow it to live on, and the knowledge contained within is preserved for future generations. Even if somehow the Project is destroyed, anyone should be able to self-learn from the Handbook and rebuilt the project from scratch if need be.

The Handbook is specifically designed to be able to be viewed in multiple formats, including online, offline on a local web server, as plaintext markdown source, in PDF format, and (eventually) printed paperback and hardcover books: multiple formats prevent data loss and are better for long-term preservation of information. We will not chase after the fanciest new formats in this digital age; we will stick with what is proven to last.

What you are reading right now is not just a rather long book on idealistic technology, but a book truly intended to be a gift for all future generations: an archive for humanity.