"'The galaxies were formed by the condensation of monstrous hydrogen clouds.'"
-Poul Anderson, World Without Stars (New York, 1966), III, p. 18.
Near "'...the northern edge of the spiral arm...":
"'The interstellar medium from which stars form has not been greatly enriched by earlier generations.'"
-"Starfog," pp. 719-720.
The interstellar medium condensed into galaxies of stars, then planets condensed in orbit around stars, so the solid, stationary ground beneath our feet is not what it seems. Indeed, it is composed of spinning particles and empty spaces. Interstellar explorers pass through the microcosm in James Blish's "Nor Iron Bars."
Sf anticipates novels written in extraterrestrial colonies that will of necessity acknowledge their cosmic context.
9 comments:
In "World Without Stars" the immense sense of Deep Time as it relates to the cosmos and humanity's momentary passage across such a stage seems reflected by the genetically engineered immortality of the crashed ship's crew.
The oldest among them, Hugh Valland, is a mere sprout against the cosmic time frame. In fact by the second or third chapter we learn through the loss of one of the castaways that the immortality of the humans in this book might be little more than a hubris-driven illusion. Especially when said immortality is set against a universe that is quite uncaring. If entropy doesn't get you, then mere chance just might. And so the planet where the "Meteor" crashes is a stage, set literally under the whorl of the Milky Way Galaxy, to remind us that wherever humans go in the cosmos, we bring our strengths and weaknesses along.
This contrasts well against the Old Ones and the younger race who inhabit the world without stars. The Old Ones are seemingly immortal as well, and have existed long before the human race. But the humans soon recognize in the Old Ones that an immortality that leads to a steady state may not be such a good thing.
I always found this book haunting even before the conclusion of the subplot around Mary O'Meara. Thanks for the reminder! I may pick this one up again as a summer read.
Kaor, Paul!
I think what you said here about the formation of galaxies, stars, planets, etc., remains accepted as true by astronomers.
And that last sentence of this blog piece of yours reminded me of how Persis complained to Flandry in Chapter 15 of ENSIGN FLANDRY of that the boat they were fleeing in had only two novels: OUTLAW BLASTMAN and PLANET OF SIN. Here we see mention by Anderson of two "pop culture" novels set more than a thousand years from now. And the title of the second novel gives us a hint of how it's set in a wider, more than Earthly setting!
Ad astra! Sean
Kaor, Scott!
Thanks again for offering us some interesting thoughts. And, I agree, the "immortality" of the characters in WORLD WITHOUT STARS is very limited compared to the age and vastness of the universe. Even with the antithanatic of that story, SOMETHING will eventually get you, by either accident or violence.
A good way of putting it, how the ancient Ai Chun of WORLD WITHOUT STARS had an "immortality" whose steady state was actually stagnant and ossified.
Ad astra! Sean
Hello! Lots of food for thought today!
I like how Starfog is set in the far future but against a cosmic structure that might be one of the oldest formations in the universe. The Jeans limit, named for Sir James Jeans, postulates that there is a set radius for a dust cloud so that the thermal output is just balanced against gravity. This leads to a collapse that allows density and energies to grow until a star or stars is formed at the center of the nebula. This may also hold true for large scale structures as seen in Starfog.
In the early universe, with only the most primitive of elements (hydrogen/helium) similar processes were at work. Large scale clusters formed, and the star cluster, a miniature version of a galaxy but spherical, might form wherein 10s or 100s of thousands of stars might exist. Many of these clusters consist of red dwarfs.
In this story of the far future, the exploration seems almost archeological. Not just in terms of the astronomical features that harken back to the universe's origins, but also in terms of the cultures encountered inside the cluster.
Hi Sean!
"Antithanatic." I love the words Anderson either created or applied to describe some of these concepts. I would love to know the backstories to some of those processes, LOL.
Ad Astra! Scott
Kaor, Scott!
I know that most stars are ancient red dwarfs, but I don't think that is true of the "Cloud Universe" we see in "Starfog." My recollection is that, because of frequent enriching by novae and supernovae, that cluster has many stars of many different types and stellar ages.
Ad astra! Sean
Kaor, Scott!
Yes, I agree, Anderson truly did have a WAY with words! I am not sure, but I think he coined "sophont" and "xenosophont." And his wife, Mrs. Anderson, coined "Polesotechnic." And, with some thought and searching, I'm sure more can be added to any list of words coined by Anderson.
Ad astra! Sean
Hi Sean,
Interesting. I'm kind of running on memory here, LOL. I will pick this up a read it again this week.
Anderson often puts marvelous detail into his stories. I would be curious to see how worlds would form around this combination of stars so tightly packed inside the cluster. Do they "steal" worlds from one another? What sort of adaptations in humans or any lifeforms would be required to exist in such a place? Red dwarfs might have habitable worlds and come up in some of his stories, like planet Ivanhoe in "The Three-Cornered Wheel." I can't imagine young T Tauri stars having habitable worlds. So a mix of stellar ages inside the cluster would make sense.
The wonder in these stories is how Anderson would often take some principle and expand upon it. I guess if you are dealing with a large enough universe plus a large enough statistical sampling then given outliers nearly anything is possible.
Cheers, Scott
Kaor, Scott!
I think the closest we see Anderson using that idea of stars "capturing" planets was in "A Sun Invisble," when a flock of rogue planets wandering interstellar space came near enough to a giant F class star to be captured by it. It took slow, patient work by first non humans and then humans to make some of those captured rogues habitable.
And Ikrananka, seen in "The Troubletwisters," was tidally locked to a red dwarf star.
And I agree with what you said about Anderson being willing to try our almost anything in one of his stories.
Ada astra! Sean
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