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There is certainly not a dictionary, nor scriptures, nor science
text books, nor any other words written by natural processes in any of the geologically deposited silicon on earth. However, the imprint of eternal laws - observed processes like gravity and its interactions with tide or moving water in sorting of sand grains - become the fourth actor or the class of actors in the play called life. These laws, which we generally take
for granted and which God, the first actor, would understand in detail, possibly having established these laws for the purposes of providing a framework enabling life, provide a reasonable methodology for interactions between the creator and the creations. These laws are recognizable in the replication of each specific class of sand particle, as well as in the replication of depositional processes - both at the granular scale and at the basin scale. This same type of replication occurs with the astronomical creation of nebula, galaxies, and planetary systems. It also occurs biologically in the replication of cells and organs and species and specific animals. These laws, or this fourth class of actors, form the basis of empirical science.
The fifth class of actors on planet earth form the stage upon which God, mankind, life, and universal laws perform consists of land, water, air, and all of the elements and rocks and buildings and cars and trains and airplanes and boats and things which exist on planet earth.
Ancient thinkers certainly recognized this need for driving forces. They recognized, through their experience, the power of heat, particularly as coming from
the sun or from fire or from volcanoes, and thus the sun and fire and volcanoes became their
God. These early "scientists" recognized the order of the seasons, and this order became the framework for their celebrations, their planting, their harvesting, and many other of their
traditions. These driving forces became the first actor, God.
Science has documented mankind's significant impact on planet earth over the last 6,000 years, and particularly over the last couple of centuries. Mankind's impact comes in the form of mines, road cuts, clearing land for agriculture, urban centers, pollution, etc. To give a specific example, one of the most abrupt geologically recent climate changes was the sudden desertification of the Sahara and Arabian regions about 3,500 B.C.3.1
Before this desertification, the Sahara was a green savanna teeming with wildlife, fish filled lakes, and ancient humans.3.2
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paradoxes