"...she used the computers to try to find patterns in what fragments of knowledge her colleagues could wrest from a world - an entire, infinitely varied world - and hoped that a few scientists elsewhere might eventually scan a report on Suleiman (one among thousands of planets) and be interested."
-"Esau," p. 536.
But would science work like that any more with so many data pouring in? Surely Suleiman's significance would not depend on anyone else being interested in it as an individual planet? Instead, Suleimanite data would enter scientific databases where it would contribute to whatever generalizations were made about subjovian planets. The more such data, the better. So every research team in every planetary system contributes something. That should be recognized and celebrated.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
And some might even take note of the Suleimanite institution of "court dwarfs" and remember how there used to be a Terrestrial analogue.
I agree data from or about Suleiman would become part of the general store of knowledge in the manner you suggested. But I think other scholars would need to know where such information originally came from, including looking up papers and reports about Suleiman, to make proper use of that information.
Ad astra! Sean
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