A speculative mind

Global warming is just a new fad to take your cars away right? Wrong. There is nothing new about it. As early as the 1890’s scientists were speculating about the effects of atmospheric carbon dioxide on the temperature of the Earth. In 1938 G.S. Callendar first proposed that the Earth was already warming due to carbon dioxide emissions and produced evidence to demonstrate it. But not many people paid any attention. The advent of digital computers in the 1950’s meant that more thorough modeling of the atmosphere could be done. Some of the mechanisms that were thought to offset the carbon effect, were shown to not be valid. New alarms began to be raised. In the late 50’s and early 60’s scientists started explaining this problem to the general public. But the idea was slow to catch on. Those who got concerned about such things, tended to be more concerned with the effects of pollution which could cause things like lung disease, cancer, and acid rain. These were things the general ...

This is going to be another excerpt from Star liner . By popular demand (well, a couple of people requested it) this one will be about Tanya’s dance, as our main character Jan and the other three from the entertainment crew get to see Tanya's performance for the first time: Having adjourned from lunch, we all went up to theater space 2 on Deck B. It was a small auditorium with raked seating, so everyone had a good view of the stage. It only held a maximum of about seventy people, but by the time Tanya’s show was to start it was more than half full and was about equal parts men and women. “Just goes to show you what is popular,” Simon said. “It’s hard for magicians and singers to compete with scantily clad women floating around in null gee.” Half the stage was taken up by a container that nullified the gravity. The lights got very low. Soft ambient music filled the space. A very faint glow came from the container. Tanya slowly drifted into view. No. She was not nak...

Many works of fantasy and science fiction have used actual historical events as their framework. J.R.R. Tolkien was writing the Lord of the Rings during the Second World War and it is easy to feel the emotional wracking of a world at war in the work. George R.R. Martin has made no secrete of the fact that he used European history (particularly the War of the Roses) as a model for The Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) .   Star Trek’s “Romulan Empire” is about as thin a disguise for the Roman Empire as you can get. This is but one reason for my own interest in history. There are always fascinating quirks to be found. For example, here are the facts surrounding the deaths of four Roman Emperors (these are not in chronological order).  Nero’s reign was collapsing around him as influential people became more and more fed up with his corruption and tyranny. The generals Galba and Vindex declared against him, and the Senate proclaimed Galba as emperor. Nero planned to...

(I thought I would offer up  a brief passage from Star Liner, where Jan gets introduced to his fellow entertainers): Sara Bank wore a beige tunic and slacks and comfortable space shoes which I had noticed a lot of people wearing. When our group was fully assembled she said, “Hi, I am Sara, the leader of this little group. The first thing we should do is have introductions and say what your specialties are.   As I said I am Sara and I am a singer.” The woman next to her had blue eyes and blonde hair and a wry smile. She wore a colorful sari that flowed about her as if it were made of water.   “I am Tanya. I am a dancer and a zero gee dancer, and a singer.” “Ooh, that she is,” the man next to me said. He was tall with long brown hair that ran down his back. “I am Simon Jones. Magician and comedian.” “Jan Stot,” I said. “I am a singer and I do theater.”  The man on the other side of me was in his early 20’s with a roundish face ...

Do you have an Elcano GPS device? Perhaps you have looked up at the night sky (in the southern hemisphere) and seen the Elcanonic clouds? There are lots of things named after Ferdinand Magellan. Not many things are named after Juan Sebastian de Elcano. Elcano completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth. What? You heard that was Magellan? No. Magellan did not. He died in the Philippines. He never made it all the way around. Elcano took command of the expedition after Magellan died and he and the survivors made it home. Well, it wasn’t quite that simple . . .   Magellan gets credit for the expedition because he started it. He convinced the king of Spain that he could get to the Indies by sailing west (something Columbus had tried and failed to do). He thought that the land mass south of the Caribbean (South America) was really a projection of Asia. Just sail around that and boom, you are in the spice islands! All they had to do was go around the corner from where...

The main character in my novel Star Liner is an entertainer. He is required to come up with five acts to perform for the passengers of the star liner Webelos . One of the performances that he decides to do is the one-man play Doc Holiday and the Angel of Mercy .   This is a real play written by an acquaintance of mine, Vaughn Marlowe. The play was performed in various communities around Oregon by our theater company. It has also been performed by other theater companies around the country, but I don’t think Vaughn ever tried to interest a Broadway producer with it. And that is kind of a shame because as a play, it is really good. Doc Holiday was a real person who has kind of blended into the folklore of the old west. He fought at the famous gunfight at the OK Corral. Not being a fan of westerns when I was a kid, I never heard of Doc Holliday until I saw an episode of (what else?) Star Trek that featured a mythological Doc Holliday. That episode, ”The Specter of the Gun...

There once was a starship captain named James Kirk. I am talking about the James Kirk whose exploits were recorded in the historical documents that aired on television between 1966 and 1968.   Not only was he the “captain” of the USS Enterprise (anyone of any rank who commands a ship is called by the honorary title “captain”) but his rank was actually Captain. That is to say, one notch below Admiral (two notches if you count the rank of Commodore which was only used in one or two episodes and was not well defined). In any event, he was a high ranking officer and in command of a formidable starship. And there was no question who was in command of the ship. His crew was loyal and followed his orders without question (well except when he was acting loopy, then they might actually give a questioning look ). This captain and his crew were assigned a five year mission to explore new worlds. One might wonder why a military vessel with all those weapons was given the duty of pea...