"Ethanol is a normal product of Cynthian metabolism."
-Poul Anderson, "The Trouble Twisters" IN Anderson, David Falkayn: Star Trader (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 77-208 AT p. 163.
Muddlehead, the ship's computer, informs an Ikranankan that:
"'...Drunkard's Walk computations involve comparatively sophisticated mathematics.'"
-op. cit., p. 170.
Early in my sf-reading career, I read Drunkard's Walk by Frederik Pohl but never wondered about the meaning of the title. Now it is possible to google and find The Drunkard's Walk by Leonard Mlodinow. See here. This is yet another detail that could easily have been skipped over when reading a Poul Anderson story. Check everything. It is worthwhile.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I looked up the link to the article about the work of mathematicians like Bernoulli, Pascal, and Laplace. So, "Drunkard's walk computations" have a real basis in mathematics! And was it during his studies of physics that PA came across "Drunkard's walk"?
And Blaise Pascal, of course, is best known as a contemplative Christian philosopher.
Sean
I *think* I had run across an explanation of "Drunkward's Walk" simulations before reading "The Trouble Twisters".
Although I had heard of Pascal's Wager, my reading tended to mention Pascal more for his work on mathematics, probability & "Pascal's Triangle", and physics especially understanding pressure, for which he is honoured by having the SI unit of pressure named for him.
Kaor, Jim!
Time to look up "Drunkard's Walk" again! And think of rereading Pascal's PENSEES.
Ad astra! Sean
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