Analog SFF, June 2011 (29 page)

Regarding the use of DNA splicing to enhance animal traits in humans, why not? Engineering one person to be the alpha and the rest to followers would certainly reduce conflict and enhance loyalty on a long mission. Tailoring someone else to be very curious yet ultra cautious should also produce an explorer who is not going to get herself killed when faced with unfamiliar dangers (I used to look after two thousand rats when I was a lab assistant, and they were cautious, curious, and great explorers). Is this any sillier than hiring the second-best candidate for a job because he is likely to fit the company's culture better than the very best? I have seen it done quite often.

In general there are plenty of boundary areas that I blurred in “Enigma.” Current theories regarding the size of Oort Clouds are very rubbery. Some say that they are smallish, with discrete boundaries due to galactic gravitational influences. Others say they are huge and diffuse, and that the Oort clouds of neighboring stars overlap. I chose to assume that they are smallish, with discrete boundaries. If I were able to prove that this was true, I would be publishing in
Nature,
as well as
Analog.
Then again, the echo tech I postulated would require petabit/second data transfer rates. This seems a bit of a fantasy, but when I first studied computing I was told by my tutor that megabit/second transfer rates would only ever be possible in science fiction. Today, at work, I'm drawing up plans for a system with data transfer rates speeds in the hundreds of gigabits/second, and that system has to be operational in a few months. The wisdom of a few decades ago can look just as silly as speculations about a few decades into the future.

As far as I am concerned, SF is about telling a good story based on reasonable projections from known science. Demand rigorous proof for everything and SF ceases to exist, leaving you with elves, fairies, and vampires. Nothing wrong with that, of course—some of my best friends are elves, fairies and vampires (and a couple of them are scientists when they take their costumes off), but I also like stories that make me think as well as just providing entertainment. That's why I read SF.

Dr Schmidt,

I very much enjoyed your March editorial ("Adjectives that Aren't"). However, and perhaps I'm being a bit pedantic here, it's quite a leap from “a word that qualified or describes a noun or pronoun” to requiring that such qualification describe an “inherent characteristic.” A subjective qualifier is still a qualifier (adjective). Your larger point—that the structure of our language does not differentiate between subjective and objective qualifiers, and perhaps influences our thinking and culture, is well taken. Perhaps you might take a look at the influence of sentence structure in a future column—for example, the common observation that placing verbs at the end of a sentence (as in Latin and German) predisposes a culture to taking orders, vs. languages with a subject-verb-object structure (as in English) making it far easier for listeners to go off in their own directions, without waiting for the end of a sentence.

Miles Fidelman

Newton, MA

P.S. Your editorial prompted me to do a little research. It's pretty amazing how many distinctions linguists and grammarians now make between types of “noun modifiers” (e.g., determiners vs. adjectives) and types of each. Not that this makes much difference to those of us who simply have to craft documents that make sense, read well, persuade, etc. (in my case, in the form of proposals, reports, the occasional non-fiction piece).

Actually, my point is that a “subjective qualifier” is
not
a qualifier—it just looks like one. It's presented as if it describes only the noun that follows (or precedes, in some language) whereas it really refers to the
relationship
between that noun and somebody who is not mentioned. That's an important distinction, not “quite a leap."

Incidentally, in simple sentences German uses the same subject-verb-object order as English, as in “Ich lese das Buch” (I am reading the book). The “verb-at-the-end” effect only happens when an auxiliary verb is involved, in which case
part
of the verb moves to the end, as in “Ich habe das Buch gelesen” (I have read the book). How much effect prevailing sentence patterns have on thought patterns is an interesting subject for speculation; I don't know how much actual research has been done on it. (But I'll bet some of our linguist-writers have.)

Dear Stan,

I enjoyed reading your thought-provoking (as usual) editorial “Adjectives That Aren't” (March 2011).

You wrote “The problem is exacerbated by widespread teaching that we should try to avoid saying ‘I’ whenever possible.” This reminded me of the book
Anthem
by Ayn Rand in which the word “I” had been outlawed and everyone was required to use the word “we” instead.

It also reminded me of the Buddhist teaching that although the world appears to be composed of individual entities each of whom refers to himself/herself as “I,” in reality the existence of an individual “I” separate from other individuals is an illusion. The habitual use in probably every language of a word meaning what “I” does in English makes it difficult to see that we are all one in some sense. People from Jamaica use the Rastafarian phrase “I and I” to indicate the oneness of everyone with each other and with God (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rastafarianvocabulary). When I listen to contemporary teachers of nonduality (also called neo-Advaita), I find it paradoxical and amusing when they frequently use the word “I,” but really it's very difficult to avoid using it.

A couple of months ago, after perhaps 55 years of buying
Analog, Asimov's,
and
F&SF
in the bookstore each month I finally subscribed to all three magazines!

David Savage

Vienna, VA

Yes, in some senses we're all connected—but in some senses we're all separate, too. We need linguistic structures that reflect both those realities.

Dear Mr. Schmidt,

I love a story that makes me grin and laugh with delight, and that's exactly what you gave me with “Betty Knox and Dictionary Jones in The Mystery of the Missing Teenage Anachronisms” by John G. Hemry (March 2011). I found the tale wonderfully enjoyable right from the beginning, and I absolutely adored the unexpected but magnificently perfect resolution! Thank you so much!

Rachel Bexell

Coon Rapids, MN

Dear Dr. Schmidt,

Edward M. Lerner's articles are always interesting and I treasure several for the information they contain. His March 2011 language ruminations spark me to comment.

Firstly Esperanto was never meant to be adopted as a first language by anyone. (Although it has been by some families.) Its general use would enable any group to retain their distinctive language and culture but still enable them to communicate without learning other, often very difficult, languages. I think its spoken use will always be limited to enthusiasts but the written form could be very widely used indeed.

There is pressure to have it adopted as a standard European language. Imagine the advantage of being able to give a speech in your own little spoken tongue with only the need to have one translation—into Esperanto. For myself as an engineer it would be a great advantage if all technical articles were also presented in Esperanto. It would not be difficult—I was reading books within three months of starting to learn Esperanto.

Secondly: Edward missed one important mode of communication here on Earth now. Some insects, particularly moths, communicate by detecting waves at infrared frequencies. The male moth, with its Yagi-like antennae, homes in on the female moth but is not detecting its pheromones chemically—as school children are still taught—but by the infrared signals given off by those pheromones when activated by sunlight.

This is one of the findings of Dr. Philip S. Callahan, one time professor of entomology at the University of Florida, Gainsville. His fascinating story is told by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird in their book
Secrets of the Soil,
Chapter 20. This chapter would make a worthy Science Fact article. Callahan has also published books of his own.

After 65 years reading
Astounding
and then
Analog
the stories still displace whatever else I am doing whenever the magazine arrives.

Henry Broadbent

Australia

The author replies:

Thanks for the kind note. Doubtless I omitted more than one esoteric sensory mechanism. As biologists are reminded each time they look anyplace new, life on Earth is endlessly adaptive and inventive.

Imagine how fascinating extraterrestrial life is apt to be when we finally encounter it.

Dear
Analog,

Dr. Schmidt, you have outdone yourself this time. I laughed out loud at the Probability Zero by Mr. Prestridge. Too happy? We'll schedule a toothache and a couple of IRS Audits. That'll knock those silly happy feelings right out of you. I had to laugh. But then Bud Sparhawk bummed me out with Geologic Times inevitability. Bad Bud, bad. But John G. Hemry saved the day again. Betty Knox and Dictionary Jones will save the world from itself and we all—Lived? Will live? Are about to live?—happily ever after. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Bill Seiler

Chambersburg, PA

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1-4 July 2011

WESTERCON 64 (Western North America Science Fantasy Conference) at The Fairmont, San Jose, CA. Guest of Honor: Patricia A. McKillip; Artist Guests of Honor: Kaja & Phil Foglio; Fan Guest of Honor: Mike Wilmoth. Membership: Attending (as of January 2011): $65, more later, supporting $25. Info: www.westercon64.org/; [email protected]; PO Box 61363, Sunnyvale, CA 94088-1363

8-11 July 2011

NORTH AMERICAN DISCWORLD CONVENTION (Conference highlighting Sir Terry Prachett's series) at Concourse Hotel, Madison, WI. Guest of Honor: Sir Terry Prachett. Membership: until 1 March 2011, more thereafter $85 (12+), $45 (3-12), $30 (supporting). Info: www.nadwcon.org/index.html; [email protected]; NADWCon, Post Office Box 259411, Madison, WI 53725-9411.

14-17 July 2001

READERCON 22 (literary SF-oriented conference) at Burlington Marriott, Burlington, MA. Guests of Honor: Geoff Ryman & Gardner Dozois. Membership: $55 until 15 June 2011; more thereafter. Info: www.readercon.org/; [email protected]; PO Box 65, Watertown, MA 02472

29-31 July 2001

PULPFEST 2011 (pulp-oriented conference) at Ramada Plaza Hotel & Conference Center, Columbus, OH.Membership: $30 in advance, $35 at the door. Friday/Saturday $15 each, Sunday $5. Accompanied under 15 free. $20 supporting. Info: www.pulpfest.com/; [email protected]; 1272 Cheatham Way, Bellbrook, OH 45305.

17-21 August 2011

RENOVATION (69th World Science Fiction Convention) at Reno-Sparks Convention Center, Reno, NV. Guests of Honor: Ellen Asher, Charles N. Brown, Tim Powers, Boris Vallejo. Membership from 1 October 2010 until some later date (see website for latest details): Attending Adult: $180; Attending 17 to 21: $100; Attending 0 to 16: $75; Supporting: $50. [Ages as of 17 August 2011]. This is the SF universe's annual get-together. Professionals and readers from all over the world will be in attendance. Talks, panels, films, fancy dress competition—the works. Nominate and vote for the Hugos. Info: www.renovationsf.org/, [email protected], PO Box 13278, Portland, OR 97213-0278. Facebook: www.facebook.com/ pages/Renovation-The-69th-World-Science-Fiction-Convention/112169025477179?ref=ts; LiveJournal: community.livejournal. com/renovationsf/

26-28 August 2011

CONTEXT 24 (speculative fiction and related games, comics, and films conference) at Columbus, OH. Membership: $45 until 15 August, $50 at the door; $20 Friday, $30 Saturday, $10 Sunday. Info: www.contextsf.org/; [email protected]; PO Box 163391, Columbus, OH 43216

Running a convention? If your convention has a telephone or fax number, e-mail address, or web page, please let us know so that we can publish this information. We must have your information in hand SIX months before the date of your convention.

Attending a convention? When calling conventions for information, do not call collect and do not call too late in the evening. It is best to include a S.A.S.E. when requesting information; include an International Reply Coupon if the convention is in a different country.

Copyright © 2011 Anthony Lewis

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Analog Science Fiction and Fact (Astounding), Vol. CXXXI, No. 6, June 2011. ISSN 1059-2113, USPS 488-910, GST#123054108. Published monthly except for combined January/February and July/August double issues by Dell Magazines, a division of Crosstown Publications. One-year subscription $55.90 in the United States and possessions, in all other countries $65.90 (GST included in Canada), payable in advance in U.S. funds. First copy of new subscription will be mailed within eight weeks of receipt of order. When reporting change of address allow 6 to 8 weeks and give new address as well as the old address as it appears on the last label. Periodical postage paid at Norwalk, CT and additional mailing offices. Canadian postage paid at Montreal, Quebec, Canada Post International Publications Mail, Product Sales Agreement No. 40012460. (c) 2011 by Dell Magazines, a division of Crosstown Publications, all rights reserved. Dell is a trademark registered in the U.S. Patent Office. Protection secured under the Universal Copyright Convention. Reproduction or use of editorial or pictorial content in any manner without express permission is prohibited. All stories in this magazine are fiction. No actual persons are designated by name or character. Any similarity is coincidental. All submissions must be accompanied by a stamped self-addressed envelope, the publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or artwork.