Difference between revisions of "ATD 1018-1039"

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==Page 1034==
 
==Page 1034==
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'''huge piece of machinery . . . since 1884'''<br>
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The Nipkow scanner works just as described in the text; it is the basis for development work that is still in progress, though not for television.
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'''what looked like . . . hat he was wearing'''<br>
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They are picking up transmissions from . . . the future? another world? In any case, this one's a rerun.
  
 
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==Page 1035==

Revision as of 14:08, 29 January 2007

Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel.


Page XX

Sample entry
Please format like this.

Page 1018

All Europe sweltered
A possible jump in time of the action. I can't find year-by-year weather records going back to the 1910s, though. --Volver 12:52, 29 January 2007 (PST)

Page 1019

the well-known Tour d'Argent in Paris
Wikipedia says the establishment is over 400 years old.

Balthazar
Wine bottle with a capacity of 16 liters.

Not long before, Pugnax had convinced her to come aboard
So the action here is set before Kseniya's encounter with Ljubica?

Page 1020

sympiezometer
Form of barometer invented in 1818, says the 1911 Britannica.

first Inconvenience after the little-known Battle of Desconocido
Another allusion to naval customs, an item claimed from a ship and carried aboard her namesake. Desconocido is Spanish: unknown.

Page 1021

Pythagorean or Counter-Earth . . . Antichthon . . . the Sun is always between us
Fictional device also used in Nabokov's Ada (though not in such a powerful way). People from one Earth can visit the other, speak the language, recognize the topography, but see differences in history and customs; neither planet can ever be aware of the other in the normal course of things.

The Counter-Earth resolves the problem of Sirius rising in the summer (annotations to page 901). When one Earth is at January in its orbit, the other is at July. --Volver 13:15, 29 January 2007 (PST)

X-ray Spex
Previously mentioned on page 588.

American Republic . . . passed so irrevocably into the control of the evil and moronic
We're using Pynchon's ball, so we'll play by his rules. The Chums have journeyed from the other Earth to this one, not the other way around.

Foundational Memorandum
The Star Trek Prime Directive again; see annotations to page 8 for its first occurrence.

Page 1022

Baklashchan
???

Bactrian camel
Dromedary vs. Bactrian: the mnemonic says count the humps in the first letter. Bactrian, two humps.

Page 1023

Lwów
Name of Lviv (Lvov, L'vov) at times when it was under Polish rule.

the High Tatra
Tatra mountain range in Slovakia.

Cyrenaica
Eastern coastal part of Libya, bordering Egypt on its east.

baleful mists above West Flanders
Much of the horror of the World War was centered here (Ypres, Menin, Passchendaele).

Page 1024

Dobro pozhalovat
Russian: Welcome!

Tsar-Bell of Moscow
Famous bell that proved too heavy for the tower it was intended for; it was displayed on the ground for centuries (and may still be).

cranberry-flavored beer
Kvass, traditional Russian beverage made by fermenting a mash of stale rye bread. It can be flavored with, among other things, cranberries.

since a great influenza epidemic
The epidemic had gone on for several years before it burst out at the end of the World War and killed millions.

Page 1025

podlets
Russian: scoundrel.

Shtab
Russian (from German): staff, support center, headquarters.

Page 1026

Page 1027

Konechno
Russian: of course.

relocation of Admiral Kolchak's government from Omsk
A. V. Kolchak (1873-1920), an organizer of the White counterrevolutionary movement in the Russian Civil War, dictator of a realm in Siberia, the Urals and the Far East. In our history he was captured and shot.

Page 1028

Martinmas
Feast day of St. Martin of Tours, November 11.

Page 1029

Nebo-tovarishch
Russian: sky-comrade.

repeating great vertical circles
Like hot-air balloons (nondirigibles) in the "box" outside Albuquerque, New Mexico.

standard cubic feet
Measure of quantity of gas: number of cubic feet that would be occupied if the gas were at "standard conditions," i.e., 60 degrees Fahrenheit (usually) and 1 atmosphere or 14.7 pounds per square inch.

Page 1030

Sodality of Ætheronauts
A sodality is a society; the ætheronauts use the æther as their medium of flight.

nitronaphthol
Fuel suitable for use in a compression-ignition engine.

found her way
The members of the Sodality have backstories reminiscent of the Lost Boys in Peter Pan.

Page 1031

list of variables . . . Reynolds Number
Quantities describing the æther as if it were a real medium like air.

Page 1032

Page 1033

subjunctive mood . . . two-word vulgarism
In an expression like "Screw you," the verb is not in the imperative mood but in the subjunctive. I think. And the two-word vulgarism may be rather similar to that phrase, too. --Volver 14:05, 29 January 2007 (PST)

Page 1034

huge piece of machinery . . . since 1884
The Nipkow scanner works just as described in the text; it is the basis for development work that is still in progress, though not for television.

what looked like . . . hat he was wearing
They are picking up transmissions from . . . the future? another world? In any case, this one's a rerun.

Page 1035

Page 1036

paranoia querelans
Elsewhere in AtD it's spelled querulans.

Page 1037

Page 1038

Page 1039

Annotation Index

Part One:
The Light Over the Ranges

1-25, 26-56, 57-80, 81-96, 97-118

Part Two:
Iceland Spar

119-148, 149-170, 171-198, 199-218, 219-242, 243-272, 273-295, 296-317, 318-335, 336-357, 358-373, 374-396, 397-428

Part Three:
Bilocations

429-459, 460-488, 489-524, 525-556, 557-587, 588-614, 615-643, 644-677, 678-694

Part Four:
Against the Day

695-723, 724-747, 748-767, 768-791, 792-820, 821-848, 849-863, 864-891, 892-918, 919-945, 946-975, 976-999, 1000-1017, 1018-1039, 1040-1062

Part Five:
Rue du Départ

1063-1085

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