Thought waves in the Ekcolir Reality |
Figure 1. Timeline of discovery; new elements (source) |
Figure 1 illustrates the rate of discovery of the chemical elements.
a Crookes tube |
After the discovery of rhenium (the last of the stable elements to be found) in 1925, there was a pause of a dozen years before another chemical element was discovered (technecium). I wonder if some real-world element such as rhenium or protoactinium (originally called uranium-X) was the inspiration for E. E. Smith's imaginary substance "metal X" which made interstellar travel possible in his Skylark stories. Apparently, protactinium was isolated in 1900 by William Crookes, but he guessed it was an isotope of uranium.
Winterbotham imagined a chemical element that could transform other substances, causing them to shrink. E. E. Smith imagined that "metal X" could trigger the release of energy from common substances like copper while simultaneously generating thrust that could push a spaceship through outer space.
interior art for "The Thought-Woman" |
"The Thought-Woman", published in the July 1940 issue of Super Science Stories was a short story by Ray Cummings that mentions Crookes (see the image below 👇). The interior art on page 1 of "The Thought-Woman" (see the image to the right on this page) seems to show gigantic glass tubes. In the story, Stanley Durrant is a young inventor who is trying to invent... something. Ray Cummings never bothered to tell readers exactly what it is that Stanley is working on. The artist for Super Science Stories was free to draw whatever he wanted to illustrate the contents of the Realm of Unthought Things.
excerpt from "The Thought-Woman" |
Thought Waves. But then Stanley "hears" a voice and soon he is off on an other-worldly adventure to visit the Realm of Unthought Things. Eventually, Stanley realizes that he should pay more attention to the cute Dorothy. One way of interpreting the story is that Dorothy has some telepathic powers and was able to put ideas into Stanley's head.
Crookes, 1898 (source) |
Crookes, 1898 (source) |
Dr. Lego, the great inventor, meets a cute Star Trek Barbie in the Ekcolir Reality |
The Reynette at the Writers Block even wrote an autobiographical book: An Unthought Thing: My Life in Science Fiction.
Enchantment. "The Thought-Woman" is a kind of magical fantasy story about the magic that Dorothy works on Stanley.
I've previously mentioned some stories with "enchanted" in the title. Maybe in the Ekcolir Reality there was a science fiction story written by Reynette Cummings about an "Enchanted Inventor" and a device that allows humans to access the Sedron Time Stream.
Jocelyn, Clair and Gaynor |
However, before getting to read "Europa Enchantment", I ran into "Before the Universe", apparently some sort of collaborative work by C. M. Kornbluth and Frederik Pohl. Jocelyn Earle, a reporter for Helio, must investigate the latest work-in-progress of two super-geniuses, Clair and Gaynor. She soon learns that they are working on a little spaceship (called Prototype) to be powered by the mysterious element 99.
Figure 2. Interior art for "Nova Midplane". |
LGBPDQT? Since these stories were written in the 1940s the clues are subtle and I can't tell if Kornbluth and Pohl tried, at the start of the saga, to depict Clair and Gaynor as bisexuals living together happily as a couple.
Jocelyn in the Ekcolir Reality |
Figure 3. Zirconium Transformer. |
Also in the November 1940 issue of Super Science Stories was "Cepheid Planet" by Winterbotham. This story makes little sense, but by the end of the story, a plan is hatched to take oxygen from a distant oxygen-rich star system and use it to terraform Saturn. In case you are wondering, the secret of interstellar travel is to use a HiTek™ Zirconium Transformer (see Figure 3). Sadly, the interior artwork for the story makes the HiTek™ zirconium-powered spaceship look like a 20th century ocean liner with a steam boiler room.
Oxygen storm. |
mercury-secreting animals |
Cepheid Crisis. Being subjected to periodic oxygen storms, the animals of the planet have evolved in such a way that they all secrete a protective layer of mercury that shields them from dangerously high oxygen levels.
"Cepheid Planet" is set in a future time when their are human colonies on planets of the Solar System including Mercury, Mars and Saturn. Interstellar travel has only recently become possible, but zirconium is so rare in our Solar System that only one zirconium-powered spaceship can be built. The obvious priority is to visit an exoplanet where more zirconium can be obtained, so it is off to the Alpha Seymo star system, 500 light-years away. 🚀 Due to the wonders of zirconium, the trip only takes a month.
The green oxygen clouds of Alpha Seymo? (image source) |
text from "Cepheid Planet" |
After doing hard time on Saturn, Seymo has a chance to redeem himself. He is taken along on the trip to Alpha Seymo, a variable star that has been named after him. It is hard to tell if this story was originally longer and more coherent before being brutally edited by Pohl.
cover by Gabriel Mayorga |
Return to Europa. After being diverted to the November 1940 issue of Super Science Stories (see above) I was finally able to return to the July 1940 issue to read "Europa Enchantment". Henry Andrew Ackermann imagined that there are forests on Europa and also humanoids with feathers, beaks and four arms (see the image below).
Athora the birdwoman 🐥 of Europa. |
fanatics in the Ekcolir Reality |
Commander Montross has a problem. Readers are bored with his repetitive plots and he cooks up a publicity stunt to boost sales of his next novel 💰. The stunt relies on the help of a dedicated fan who calls himself Jack Teagarden. However, Jack's real name is actually Oliver Tolliver. The fact that Jack uses a fake name ends up foiling the Commander's publicity stunt 💸.
Mars in the Ekcolir Reality. |
interior art for "South to Propontis" |
In "South to Propontis", Don Moffat hopes to escape from Mars with his diamonds and go to Earth. He has to contend with a band of Martians who are trying to repair an ancient Martian machine. If he fails to get the machine working, Don will be fed to the birds.
Figure 4. Interior art for "Return from M-15" |
Hypnotism. Dr. Train tries to sell an amazing new invention to the Syndicate, but his price is high. He is hustled off to the M-15 prison. Arriving at M-15, Dr. Train is ordered to work. The M-15 base manufactures Thalenium, a narcotic drug. Dr. Train hypnotizes a guard and soon he escapes from M-15 and goes back to Earth. Dr. Train's invention is the device shown in Figure 4.
Figure 5. The portwem experience. |
Mind Sense. In that same March 1941 issue of Cosmic Stories was "The Secret Sense" by Isaac Asimov. In a 2019 blog post I briefly mentioned "The Secret Sense" and the fact that it was rejected by Astounding editor John Campbell. In 2019 I gave this one sentence summary of "The Secret Sense": "Asimov imagined that the human brain has a latent capacity to sense electric fields." Eventually, Asimov began writing stories about people and robots who could detect tiny (electrical?) signals emanating from brains, allowing them to have mind-reading abilities. Asimov's 1941 story features Martians who have a "secret sense". A nosy human learns about the Martian secret and insists on having the opportunity to experience the secret Martian sense for himself.
Figure 6. Excerpt from "The Secret Sense". |
the challenge of visually depicting telepathy |
Nyrturians |
Telepathy? Asimov imagined that the Martians would keep their special sense secret from humans because they know that some humans will not be able to resist "listening" to portwem "music", but then, after an amazing 5 minute super-sensory experience, they will regret for the rest of their life never being able to "hear" the Martian music again. The artist for "The Secret Sense" faced the problem of illustrating this imaginary sensory experience (see Figure 5). Might an ability to sense electromagnetic fields allow for a form of telepathy?
The End of Eternity. I've long imagined that Asimov depicted Noÿs Lambent as having telepathic abilities. Maybe she put ideas into Harlan's mind by using some kind of technology-assisted telepathy that was developed millions of years in the future by Asterothropes.
image source |
Previously, I complained about Jack Vance's novels Big Planet and The Gray Prince which read like inferior first drafts of some of his later novels. Similarly, I did not expect too much from "The End of Eternity" as presented in The Alternate Asimovs.
Time Loop. The early version of "The End of Eternity" begins with Cooper, and it is through Cooper's eyes that we are introduced to the cigarette-smoking man: Computer Twissell. Twissell is part of a loop in time by which time travel must be used to allow the invention of time travel.
changing the shape of time |
Temporal Momentum. In the early draft version of "The End of Eternity", Asimov introduced the idea that the historical timeline of Earth is resistant to change. The course of historical events tends to remain fairly constant unless a way is found to trigger a "quantum change" and push the shape of time into a dramatically new form. A momentum of time can usually cancel-out the "butterfly effect", preventing "random" Reality Changes.
1971 - Cover art by Paul Lehr. This was the edition of The End of Eternity that I first owned during my SF golden age. |
A "retired" Computer, Manfield, is the expert in primitive history who prepares Cooper to travel into the far downwhen as part of the Eternity time loop. After Horemm loses Noÿs 💕 to a Reality Change, he cracks (he is literally depicted as going insane) and sends Cooper to the 20th century. In this version of the story, there is no hint of Noÿs being from the far future and having telepathic powers.
Lost in Time. It is then up to Manfield to find Cooper. Manfield is successful and Eternity does NOT end. The only apparent change caused by Horemm is that in the new Reality, it is Manfield who smokes cigarettes, not Twissell.
Alternate Asimov |
Apparently, Asimov tried to get The End of Eternity published in Astounding, but Campbell rejected the story. I can't say that I'm surprised. Asimov was very blunt in depicting cigarette smoking as a disgusting habit. I'm sure that Campbell was not amused to have his nicotine addiction mocked.
Related Reading: more commentary on The End of Eternity.
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