On Earth:
"A hawk swooped low." (5, p. 35)
On Harbor, eleven thousand years later:
"...a sunhawk overhead, watchful for prey, had four wings." (49, p. 472)
Two more birds of prey.
On Harbor, while it is being explored:
"The sward grew low, dense, a mat of minutely convoluted soft nuggets." (2, pp. 23-24)
Another grass equivalent.
On Aerie:
"Terrestrial grass stretched away....
"Northward persisted native forest..." (17, p. 128)
Another mixed ecology.
Jean Kilbirnie discussing starship berths:
"'I'll take whatever I can get, as soon as I can get it.'
"The wind whispered through the leaves." (2, p. 26)
Another instance of the wind seeming to comment on the dialogue.
7 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Jean Kilbirnie was already a de facto Kithwoman, even tho that people did not yet exist. One of the consequences of STL relativistic, Einsteinian star traveling was the sense of sense of alienation felt by space folk towards Earth and all other planetary civilizations. Space journeys, which for the planet bound, takes decades, generations, or centuries to complete inevitably means changes on planets, good or bad, appears to happen very rapidly to the Kith.
No wonder both Jean and Captain Nansen both felt increasingly out of place on Earth, even this early in STL space flight!
Some, who are hostile to a real space program, might use this as a ridiculous argument against reaching for the stars! They could claim it would be "cruel" to have STL star ships going to the planets of other stars if that means their crews became alienated from the rest of the human race.
I dissgree, of course! I believe exploration, knowledge, discovery, etc., are things worth the cost of using STL means. That it would be very bad for the human race to huddle or cower on just Earth or even within the Solar System.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
I don't think that "huddle or cower" are quite the right words. The Solar System is a very big place and we will always be looking outward even if interstellar travel for organic beings remains unrealistic.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I can only hope the human race will continue to look outwards! I had in mind the fools who reject any kind of REAL space program. I mean the kind of demagogues Poul Anderson discussed in the "Commentary" he wrote for SPACE FOLK. I include as well short sighted people who say we should not leave Earth because we have too many problems to take care of first. And there are others who say the human race should not leave Earth because mankind messes up every place humans go to.
All this still boils down to huddling and cowering on Earth. Which is what we see happening in Anderson's story "Murphy's Hall." Bad ideas and policies can end up with the grim situation we see in that story (and its natural sequel, "In Memoriam").
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
A space program is part of scientific research. To reject the former would be to reject the latter and thus would be to stagnate and regress.
There is a satirical song called "Whitey on the Moon." The issues expressed in that song really do need to be addressed while society continues to fund scientific research.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I absolutely agree with your first paragraph. The caveat I would make being that people can foolishly refuse to support scientific research which is off Earth. Or at least refuse to support having humans being a major part of that effort. I have in mind those who advocate that all we need to do is continue using robots, computers, drones, etc.
And I oppose letting any problems on Earth continue to hold back the human race from space! First, because we will always have problems. Delaying getting off Earth till everything is nice and shipshape would mean NEVER getting off this rock. Second, it is also my hope that a new Age of Discovery and its consequences would end up making many of our current problems irrelevant.
I still get angry when I think of the Great Stagnation in space which began after the last Moon Landing in 1973, marking an end to the False Dawn beginning with Sputnik. The efforts of people like Elon Musk has again given me hope!
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
The universe is one. We cannot explore it fully or adequately by staying on the surface of a single planet. I worked with some guys moving furniture. They could not see the point of scientists trying to understand how pterodactyls could fly. I could see the point. But there should not be such a wide gap between manual and intellectual workers. Knowledge and understanding need to be shared more widely.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I agree, these men you met were mistaken. Knowledge, in and of itself, is always valuable, not matter how remote it might be from everyday concerns. And, if you must be "practical," it has happened quite often that some bis of "useless" knowledge had unexpectedly practical and useful purposes.
Unfortunately, like it or not, there are always going to be some who have no understanding of, or sympathy for trying to look ahead, to discover or explore. Including getting OFF this planet. An obstacle to be overcome. That is simply a fact.
Ad astra! Sean
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