diff --git a/src/geometric_algebra/nursery/chisolm.lean b/src/geometric_algebra/nursery/chisolm.lean
index 53a5f678e..8b77247df 100644
--- a/src/geometric_algebra/nursery/chisolm.lean
+++ b/src/geometric_algebra/nursery/chisolm.lean
@@ -34,10 +34,11 @@ namespace geometric_algebra
 
 section
 
+
 parameters
-{G₀ : Type*} [field G₀]
-{G₁ : Type*} [add_comm_group G₁] [vector_space G₀ G₁]
-{G : Type*} [ring G] [algebra G₀ G] [geometric_algebra G₀ G₁ G]
+{G₀ : Type u} [field G₀]
+{G₁ : Type u} [add_comm_group G₁] [vector_space G₀ G₁]
+{G : Type u} [ring G] [algebra G₀ G] [geometric_algebra G₀ G₁ G]
 
 def fᵥ : G₁ →+ G := f₁ G₀
 
@@ -105,6 +106,123 @@ exists.elim (vec_sq_scalar (a + b))
   )
 )
 
+
+def is_orthogonal (a : G₁) (b : G₁) : Prop := sym_prod_vec a b = 0
+
+theorem zero_is_orthogonal (a : G₁) : is_orthogonal 0 a := begin
+  unfold is_orthogonal,
+  unfold sym_prod_vec,
+  unfold prod_vec,
+  simp
 end
 
+inductive blade : nat → Type u
+| scalar : G₀ → blade 0
+-- an ordered list of orthogonal unique vectors
+| graded {n : ℕ} : {l : vector G₁ (n + 1) // l.val.pairwise (λ a b, is_orthogonal a b ∧ a ≠ b)} → blade(n + 1)
+
+
+-- lemma pairwise_of_repeat {α : Type u} {r : α → α → Prop} {x : α} {n : ℕ} (hr : r x x) : list.pairwise r (list.repeat x n) := begin
+--   induction n with d hd,
+--   { exact list.pairwise.nil},
+--   { apply list.pairwise.cons _ hd,
+--     intros a ha,
+--     convert hr,
+--     exact list.eq_of_mem_repeat ha,
+--   }
+-- end
+
+namespace blade
+  instance g0_coe : has_coe G₀ (blade 0) := { coe := blade.scalar }
+  instance g1_coe : has_coe G₁ (blade 1) := { coe := λ v, blade.graded ⟨(vector.cons v vector.nil), list.pairwise_singleton _ _⟩ }
+
+  -- define zero and one on the blades
+  instance has_zero_0 : has_zero (blade 0) := { zero := (0 : G₀) }
+  instance has_zero_1 : has_zero (blade 1) := { zero := (0 : G₁) }
+  instance has_one_0 : has_one (blade 0) := { one := (1 : G₀) }
+
+  -- define add on the blades
+  def r0_add : blade 0 → blade 0 → blade 0
+  | (blade.scalar a) (blade.scalar b) := blade.scalar (a + b)
+  instance r0_has_add : has_add (blade 0) := { add := r0_add }
+  def r1_add : blade 1 → blade 1 → blade 1
+  | (blade.graded a) (blade.graded b) := ((a.1.head + b.1.head : G₁) : blade 1)
+  instance r1_has_add : has_add (blade 1) := { add := r1_add }
+end blade
+
+-- define a sum-of-blades representation
+-- we store vectors specially because we know their sum is still a blade.
+-- this representation allows `e12 + e12` to be stored in non-unique ways, which is not ideal.
+inductive hom_mv : nat → Type u
+| scalar : blade 0 -> hom_mv 0
+| vector : blade 1 -> hom_mv 1
+| graded {n : ℕ} : list (blade $ nat.succ $ nat.succ n) → (hom_mv $ nat.succ $ nat.succ n)
+
+namespace hom_mv
+  def coe : Π {n : ℕ}, (blade n) → hom_mv n
+  | 0       := hom_mv.scalar
+  | 1       := hom_mv.vector
+  | (r + 2) := λ b, hom_mv.graded [b]
+  instance has_blade_coe {r : ℕ} : has_coe (blade r) (hom_mv r) := { coe := coe }
+  instance has_g0_coe : has_coe G₀ (hom_mv 0) := { coe := λ s, coe s }
+  instance has_g1_coe : has_coe G₁ (hom_mv 1) := { coe := λ s, coe s }
+
+  -- define zero and one on the hom_mvs
+  instance has_zero : Π {n : ℕ}, has_zero (hom_mv n)
+  | 0       := { zero := (0 : blade 0) }
+  | 1       := { zero := (0 : blade 1) }
+  | (r + 2) := { zero := hom_mv.graded (@list.nil (blade (r + 2))) }
+  instance r0_has_one : has_one (hom_mv 0) := { one := (1 : blade 0) }
+
+  def add : Π {n : ℕ}, hom_mv n → hom_mv n → hom_mv n
+  | 0       (hom_mv.scalar a) (hom_mv.scalar b) := (a + b : blade 0)
+  | 1       (hom_mv.vector a) (hom_mv.vector b) := (a + b : blade 1)
+  | (n + 2) (hom_mv.graded a) (hom_mv.graded b) := hom_mv.graded (a ++ b)
+  instance has_add {n : ℕ} : has_add (hom_mv n) := { add := add }
+end hom_mv
+
+inductive multivector : nat → Type u
+| scalar : hom_mv 0 → multivector 0
+| augment {n : ℕ} : multivector n → hom_mv (nat.succ n) → multivector (nat.succ n)
+
+
+namespace mv
+  -- define zero and one on the multivectors
+  def mv_zero : Π (n : ℕ), multivector n
+  | 0                       := multivector.scalar (0 : G₀)
+  | 1                       := multivector.augment (mv_zero 0) 0
+  | (nat.succ $ nat.succ n) := multivector.augment (mv_zero $ nat.succ n) (hom_mv.graded [])
+  def mv_one : Π (n : ℕ), multivector n
+  | 0                       := multivector.scalar (1 : G₀)
+  | 1                       := multivector.augment (mv_one 0) 0
+  | (nat.succ $ nat.succ n) := multivector.augment (mv_one $ nat.succ n) (hom_mv.graded [])
+  instance mv_has_zero {n : ℕ} : has_zero (multivector n) := { zero := mv_zero n }
+  instance mv_has_one {n : ℕ} : has_one (multivector n) := { one := mv_one n }
+
+  -- blades are coercible to multivectors
+  def hom_mv_coe : Π {n : ℕ}, (hom_mv n) -> (multivector n)
+  | nat.zero     := λ b, multivector.scalar b
+  | (nat.succ n) := λ b, multivector.augment (mv_zero n) b
+  instance has_hom_mv_coe  {n : ℕ} : has_coe (hom_mv n) (multivector n) := { coe := hom_mv_coe }
+  instance has_g0_coe : has_coe G₀ (multivector 0) := { coe := λ s, hom_mv_coe $ hom_mv.scalar $ (s : blade 0) }
+  instance has_g1_coe : has_coe G₁ (multivector 1) := { coe := λ v, hom_mv_coe $ hom_mv.vector $ (v : blade 1) }
+
+  -- multivectors are up-coercible
+  def augment_coe {n : ℕ} (mv : multivector n) : multivector (nat.succ n) := multivector.augment mv 0
+  instance has_augment_coe {n : ℕ} : has_coe (multivector n) (multivector (nat.succ n)) := { coe := augment_coe }
+
+  def mv_add : Π {n : ℕ}, multivector n → multivector n → multivector n
+  | 0            (multivector.scalar a)      (multivector.scalar b)      := (a + b : hom_mv 0)
+  | (nat.succ n) (multivector.augment a' ar) (multivector.augment b' br) := multivector.augment (mv_add a' b') (ar + br)
+  instance has_add {n: ℕ} : has_add (multivector n) := { add := mv_add }
+end mv
+
+parameter v : G₁
+
+--  Addition!
+#check ((2 + v + v) : multivector 2)
+
+end
+
+
 end geometric_algebra