STRAMAN

The reasons why Straman, a tale of the sky was written is by itself a story we have told countless times to our friends and people we know, since no one could understand the reasons that led us to its creation. Even our publishers, scientists and authors themselves, in spite of their deep friendly and human relation with us, when they read the manuscript, many years before the first edition of Straman, were sure that this was an attempt to compose a scientific fiction tale with strong mythical and irrational elements. Yet, this was far from the truth. Of course, we did not want to play the novelists that we are not; nor were we interested in making money – all our friends know that we write first and foremost for ourselves. The truth is that Straman was merely the expression and outflow of our effort to answer the countless "why’s" of our children, questions growing along with them, as they were learning more from the realm of the natural sciences. Besides, we could not describe, in our view, in a better way the wonderful, but sometimes complex and subtle, nature of the Universe around us: only through an endless and daily "fairy tale", always "to be continued", in which the primary role should be played by children like our own. In that great tale of knowledge, nothing should be fake. Thus, even the "irrational" for many people elements of the storyline were borrowed from the traditions and world view of different nations and civilizations. Our interest and attention were focused on one thing: All the knowledge about the secrets of the Universe expressed by either Straman or Grandpa Asterius should be absolutely factual, in the sense that they convey scientific views and theories.