Linkers And Holothetes

(Clouds completely concealed the eclipse.)

Poul Anderson, The Avatar,  XXIII.

Eric, a mere "linker," linked by electromagnetic induction to a computer, can:

continually rewrite the program;

create n-dimensional spaces with time-variant curvatures and tensors as well as previously unimaginable functions and operations;

devise and revise conceptual cosmoses;

monitor and control scientific instruments not by reading meters but by directly sensing the data.

Joelle, a "holothete," not only linked to a computer, its sensors, effectors and interconnected systems (e.g., a laboratory, an accelerator and an orbital telescope) but also applying computer-provided theory to the data and thus entering an intuitive mode, can:

perform experiments;

intuit discrepancies between observational data and theoretical models and improve the latter.