Dr Mary Malone

Dr. Mary Malone is a physicist from Will's world (which is supposed to be the world in which the reader and author live), who is investigating dark matter, known also as Dust, and is told she must play the part of the Serpent for the second Adam and Eve. She is a former nun, having become an atheist after an encounter with a man from Italy and the taste of marzipan reminded her of her first romantic encounter. Lyra Belacqua, upon arriving in Will's world, meets Mary when she tries to find an "experimental theologian" (physicist) in hopes of discovering more about Dust. Mary is amazed by Lyra's knowledge of dark matter, especially after Lyra demonstrates her ability to speak of the unknown by use of the alethiometer. Mary, inspired by Lyra's abilities, utilizes the supercomputer she and her colleague, Dr. Oliver Payne, designed to study Dust by writing a program that allows her to communicate with Dust using words instead of symbols.