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Another Good Chapter
Penny, I am really enjoying your story and today's chapter was certainly another good one. I like the fact that it reads like a science fiction story with a TG element. Garia's challenges with a basically patriarchal culture are interesting. It's fun to see her handle situations as many of the men in the story are so dense they would sink in mercury. Keep them coming.
Hugs
Michelle
Somewhere Else Entirely -51-
Education reform, indeed!
May Your Light Forever Shine
Such an epic series!
I love stories in this genre and this one is one of the best. It investigates other interesting parts of finding one self in a world not your own. Being a woman the focus is different and I like that. So very well done Penny!
hugs
Grover
This story
is just so great that I wish it would just continue automatically and never end! :}
What a wonderful imagination you have! :}
Hugs
Vivien
Please!
Have mercy on a poor author!
(whimper)
There will be an ending, in theory at least. I intend to finish this story, but whenever I attempt to do so I find out that it's more complex than I realized... I just hope that I can hold out till the end.
Thank you for reading. I'm pleased that you find my meager scribblings so enjoyable.
Penny
Dogs have owners; cats have staff. Grand-daughters have minions.
that and yr other stories
you have other stories just as great that could go on to
Wow. Too bad she doesn't
Wow. Too bad she doesn't have the right stuff yet to make a full carbon arc. She could then have set it in a canister, and used it as a spotlight :)
(Compressing the carbon into the rods necessary would be tricky, and then you have the adjustment mechanisms, plus the shielding necessary to keep you from being burned or electricuted. )
Hmm. Even with primary cells, a spotlight like this might be useful for the border river outposts.
[edit] I reread, and saw that I missed the charcoal. I don't know how well charcoal would work in a carbon-arc light. That is, i have _no_ clue, because none of the books I read about the developments in theatre ever talked about it as anything other than pressed carbon (tighter than sketching charcoal sticks in art)
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Bit of a punt, really
Charcoal is basically carbonized wood, right? I more or less hoped that it would serve the purpose. I don't actually know if it would be good enough, and I don't have the necessary items to go test it out first.
Readers, PLEASE, don't do anything stupid like trying this out! We don't really need absolute physical accuracy here, after all. This is only a story, right?
I'm wondering if we can get to some kind of electric light before the story ends, but I don't think so. It will probably be the beginnings of gaslight, and coal-gas at that, in a very few buildings.
Never mind, lots of fun to come yet!
Thanks for reading,
Penny
Dogs have owners; cats have staff. Grand-daughters have minions.
Electric light? Oh, that's
Electric light? Oh, that's easy. The hard part was determining the best filament for the bulb. Even the vaccum pumps they used weren't that big of a deal. There were three different developments.
1) Carbon filaments, in a vaccum, last very well. There's one bulb that's still bu rning after 100+ years.
2) Tungsten filaments, without a vaccum, last okay, but you have to _get_ tungsten. (That's what we use now)
3) Gas lamps, such as what you'd see in a 'coleman' lantern, are pretty straightfoward. Carbon bag around the gas, and it glows. (it's actually cotton, but after you light it, it turns into carbon).
As for the pumping, they were pumped out once, then flashed with an electric charge, then pumped again. That made the closest to a perfect vaccum, and made a bulb that could last years. Prior to that, they lasted weeks, at best.
I doubt she knows how to do LED's, which would be much easier on materials, power, and tooling, unfortunately. Fluorescent fixtures aren't hard, but materials aren't readily available. Neon would be much easier to put together than fluorescent.
Anyway, I could see basic electric lights in and around areas that already have water power. Tack a small generator and regulator on a water wheel, and you won't impact the power of the mill (grinding or otherwise), but you'd get enough power for fans and lights.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Lighting
Mantle lanterns would be easy for her to make. The original 'Aladdin' types used a cylindrical woven wick to heat a mantle made of ash. My dad has a couple of them. I guess they're kind of tricky to work, but they are about as bright as your standard Coleman lantern.
Modern mantles use thorium in order to glow better, though alternatives are available. I'm not sure how I would go about making my own mantle, but I'm sure that I could eventually succeed with enough experimentation.
I haven't even operated a whitegas or propane lantern in years. I definitely remember the process, though.
The mantle is flexible when new, and is tied on. It is then burned, which shrinks it, turns it white, and makes it quite brittle.
In the case of a propane fueled lantern, a mixture of air and gas is released in the mantle. The process is similar with a liquid fueled lantern, except that it doesn't work right away. Once it heats up, however, the liquid fuel is vaporized in a tube before being released inside the mantle.
The kerosene fueled 'Aladdin' lanterns were heated with a flame. The were essentially glorified kerosene lamps. I'm sure that they would work well with animal fat, veggie oil, coal oil, or any similar flammable liquid.
As for gas discharge lamps -- lots of experimentation will be required.
They may be able to get a jump start on LEDs if Garia has any knowledge about semiconductors. They'll have to do their own research, however. Even as an electrical engineer, I would have a hard time kick-starting the production of solid state electronics in anything less than a couple decades. I can just imagine trying to teach them about quantum mechanics. (Send me there in a young body, and I'll happily give it a try.)
I expect that, after a few years, Garia will spend a lot of time writing what she knows about her world's technology as a sort of book of hints to help the future scientists and engineers do their thing.
Well there is vacuum tube tech
People forget how useful valves (as the Brits call them ) can be. I have no doubt in the next 10 to 20 years, a primitive vacuum tube can be created. No clean room tech needed here, just pumps and metallurgy and glass making, which is already being done.
Vacuum tubes can be used for amplification and in memory circuits. Master fluorescence and you can even create CRTs and so called storage tubes that is essentially a highly modified CRT to act as a relatively compact memory block (see the Williams memory tube)
Even primitive semiconductors are possible. Point contact diodes or transistor or even Schottky diodes, due to their relatively simple junction structure, might be producable given random experiments with relative pure crystallized sand that might have an impurity in them. Yields will be poor but it can be refined with time.
Vacuum tubes, caruburetors, slide rules, mechanical computers...
I would have to grit my teeth and bring it all back.
And yes, we have made great strides with that technology.
My 35mm film cameras have all been retired in favor of the much superior digital cameras that I so enjoy using, but I would bring them back if I was in Garia's place. The good part is that I would be able to bypass the tin-types, durrageotypes, and all that lesser stuff in favor of silver bromide negatives and print paper. I wouldn't be able to make Kodak Tri-Ex Pan right away, but I would be able to point people in the right direction and knock a few decades off of the development time. (development time. I didn't say that, did I? groan.)
On the positive side
they might be able to make slide film :)
All tech have their niche needs. There are audiophiles who find tubes provide the sound they need. Certainly tube circuitry is more resistant to EMP and tubes can handle more power and scales more easily to higher power handling than semiconductors.
And film? It is cheaper to buy iso 50 slide film then it is to buy a 40 megapixel camera, and a hell of a lot lighter too.
Film cameras still can work without electricity in isolated locales in a pinch too.
Kim
charcoal
It would burst into flames, the spark would be hidden by the smoke and flame. A brief spark could happen in the first few seconds, coke would be better barely if crushed and compressed into rods. But hey I am willing to suspend my disbelief for long enough to believe Garia can do anything she sets her mind to. even combine hydrogen and oxygen without the energetic bang usually associated with the recombination of those two elements. Still love this story.
Draflow
Carbon arc lamp information
http://www.geocities.com/bobz299/searchlight3.htm
Apparently there are only a few hundred left out there.
It looks like charcoal would probably work, if you compressed it with tar and/or lamp black. For those who aren't aware, 'lamp black', as has been used to polish leather (shoes, boots, etc), is almost pure carbon. (edit before post. The first 'arch lamp' was actually done with charcoal sticks.)
The reason it's called lamp black is because when you burn oil or kerosene, you end up with black, oily deposits on the chimney. Because of the oil base, it sticks to leather quite well, giving a shiny black surface. It also helps oil the leather, which keeps it supple.
There's a recipe for German carbon rods on the above link.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brush_%28electric%29
brushes for motors are mostly compressed carbon (graphite), so if someone wanted to make their own tiny arc lamp, they could use those.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Wonderful Again
You continue to please your audience, with words and characters that hold us, captivate us, and keep us coming back for more.
I truly expected Garia to be named a Questor, but understand it still may happen later, and the establishment of a university for higher learning was a grand stroke of advancement both for your story and Palarand.
The upcoming trip is a frequent placeholder in my imaginings and I look forward to the next chapter with both glee, that it will come, and longing that it doesn't take too long to get out, I, like many of your readers am always ready for more.
Thank you for this story.
Draflow
Oh! Oh! Oh!
I just had a thought,(miracles do happen!) perhaps Baroness Blackstone can become the Royal adviser on the two worlds, to have the office space in the castle, and there to hold the meetings of the council of two worlds. Of course that would give her a laboratory ready made, and out from under feet of those unruly Questors. Just a thought of course Penny.
Draflow
Changes
Talk about dragging their society (kicking and screaming in some cases) into modernity! Still, it's a good job Palarand society doesn't have a strong attachment to religion; as their objections are based entirely on history and tradition rather than interpretation of texts written several generations beforehand. That, in turn, means that once they've seen that their stereotypes and suppositions about women are groundless, many see the proverbial light (although of course there's still a significant minority of naysayers - both those objecting to a mere girl knowing more than they do, and those objecting to "open" knowledge).
Meanwhile, we've now met the first batch of women to volunteer for self-defence training, and their unofficial spokesperson Danisa. No doubt by the time Garia returns from her upcoming expedition to Blackstone there'll be a few more in training (and perhaps learning to ride Frayen!)
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
Questors
Well, I didn't expect such a drastic change to the questor society, to be honest. I expected that the school of higher learning would be wrought from the guilds and the questors after a longer time of having to work together in these new advances. As it is, the guilds have done more science than the questors, and engineers are always needed for the practical aspects of science.
The questors will eventually fall in line, especially since a new generation will have taken over at the college in twenty years, which should be a reasonable time to develop that brand new idea into a steady institution. I just hope that it gets enough young women initially that it won't be as predominantly male a campus as they were for the longest time here on earth.
Interesting about the protection hidden in the tabard. Won't that strain the fabric unevenly if it's just above the heart though? I expect anything like that to be if not initially, then with wear and tear and deformation eventually evident.
The tabard
Well, uhm, I've carefully not said too much. I'm not sure just how this is going to work out in the future.
Perhaps I can just say, "Details left to the reader's imagination". Why not? You're imagining this entire world quite well already, aren't you?
The drastic changes are basically because Robanar was fed up with all the Questor antics and asked Garia if there was another way things might be organized...
Penny
Dogs have owners; cats have staff. Grand-daughters have minions.
Tabard
Imagine two cords, running down each edge of the plates that would support the actual weight of the plates; with the tabard as a casing to disguise them. The cords could be tacked to the tabard at the shoulder and the ends to keep them from sliding inside the tabard. Easy-peasey!
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.” - Turkish Proverb
Plates
I don't think that individually the plates are going to weigh that much. Given what they are made of, they are probably little thicker than tin plate. After all, their prime purpose is to deflect a knife-thrust at close quarters, not stop every possible thing from getting through.
What I kind of envisaged was an internal layer of something like linen with hand-sized plates sewn (at the corners) on both sides, and overlapping on each side as well like shingles. Thus, if a knife blade slides between two plates on the top layer then the layer underneath should prevent it getting further. I dunno, really. Medieval armor or protection is just something I see on TV :) The main point is, that when the time comes, the protection will do it's job ;)
Penny
Dogs have owners; cats have staff. Grand-daughters have minions.
The tabard
You're right, of course. Though I don't think the extra weight in the Tabard will cause will cause any real deformation of the fabric in the near future. It all depends on how much use it gets and how it's treated. A knife stab will cut through the fabric, but not the plate. Now if Garia knew how to make Kevlar...
Another great chapter. And I love how they dealt with the Questors.
Keep up the good work.
Mark
Kevlar
Kevlar would actually not be an ideal material for the time period. Kevlar really only works against non-edged objects moving at a high rate of speed. Kevlar actually does very poorly against sharp-edged objects like knives and swords. Blunt object it would work against though. The kevlar works because when it is woven into a multi-layered, densely woven fabric it distributes the energy of the strike out to a larger area. Sharp objects, such as knives, swords and other sharp objects (spears, arrow points) however, cut the individual strands of fabric before it has a chance to distribute the energy.
For anyone who has read Dune, think of it this way. In Dune, the Nobility routinely wear a forcefield based melee armour that is very effective against any melee weapon used at speed. However, it can easily be defeated if you attack slowly so that the forcefield does not react to the force of the attack.
My irregular fix
Thank you for this series. I don't get that much time to read, but I drop everything whenever I see another portion of my favourite story.
I am thoroughly loving this, and can't wait until the next shot.
Tanya
There's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes!
Banging heads.
There's nothing so effective as banging a few metaphorical heads together. Of course, poor Garia might have made a few enemies but that goes with the territory. There are few more jealous of their status and reputations as the second rate intellectuals. The geniuses just seem to get on with what they're good at whilst being modest and courteous about it.
Another good chapter Penny.
Thanks for the pleasures.
XZXX
Bev.
My my what a packed episode!
I loved the scene in the Asperger's errm Questor's! hall, yes, that's it. They had lived so long without accountability they have become arrogant of course. I do not know how many will succeed at being teachers but I suspect only maybe half given the temperament witnessed.
Wow, the first institution of higher learning so soon we will have Palarand University, Old P.U. :) Or maybe the Royal University of Technology, Old R.U.T. Or maybe the Royal Institute of Palarand, Old R.I.P. I we might have to have a naming contest for the dratted place. For certain, the idea of scholarships and entrance exams will be needed so an education can be had irregardless of wealth.
Garia is certain pushing hard on all fronts, social and technological. Palarand will be a very different place in the next decade.
Kim
Scholarships not necessary
Sorry to get political on this, but...
Seriously, look at a few of the European countries - tax financed education, students get paid to study (or given state loans) - there's no need for scholarships, or tuition fees, that favour the richer families over the able students, or athletes over academics. (I'm of the opinion that competitive athletics don't belong in the school system. PE is for general health, it's purpose is to make sure that even the less active students get some physical activity, producing elite sportsmen should be an explicit non-goal.) Same with state provided health care and social services instead of privately financed or personal insurance paid service, it's better for the population as a whole, folk health benefits from it.
Not that Garia is likely to have that point of view, or Robanar, given their backgrounds.
Still a form of scholarship
whatever the source of money, the basis for getting it should solely be based on ability to take advantage of said education. Especially at the beginning, considering how scarce resources are, only those who has the highest academic potential should be admitted. In Britain there are trade schools, recognizing that not all will benefit from a University education. Robanar, the state, essentially would be providing essentially a public education to those who qualify, a scholarship, albeit a public one.
Kim
Details, details
Beyond the idea of pushing the Questors to become professors at Anmar's first university, I hadn't really gotten much further with that idea.
After all, we're off to the north, and there will (probably) be many chapters to come before I have to think about such mundane matters as founding a university (!).
One thought that did occur to me was that it might not be funded entirely out of the royal coffers (essentially the state, at this point in history). As you mentioned there is probably going to be a technical side to this establishment besides the pure research; possibly the Guilds will want a piece of the action. We'll see.
In the mean time, we're off on the road north. Coming soon! Thanks for reading.
Penny
Dogs have owners; cats have staff. Grand-daughters have minions.
As usual.
I love this mix of SF, TG, Mark Twain, and fantasy.
Garia and the King have quite effectively brought the Questors to heel there, I think. It's just going to take that bunch awhile to realize it.
Nice.
Maggie
Thank you so much.
I'm reasonably sure that Garia will have to use her swords and I hope that it does not leave her too changed. The Questors, needed a swift kick in the rear, though I fear that some of the more disgruntled will try to stir up trouble.
Thank You
Gwendolyn
Her swords
Her swords will probably stay in their scabards for a good while yet. While they are going to be essential to help her defend herself, there's one rather large drawback to her wearing them... exercise left for the reader, perhaps.
The Questors, oh, yeah. Everybody knows what the academic world is like and that's basically what the Questors are, top academics without any kind of control. Hopefully Garia and Robanar have now put in place a framework which means that at least some of them will start contributing to Palarand's future. Eh, we can but hope.
Thank you for reading, Gwen.
Penny
Dogs have owners; cats have staff. Grand-daughters have minions.
Delightful, as usual.
Garia is getting very good at putting people in their place without stomping them flat. She'll make an excellent baroness (or queen.)
I haven't mentioned it before, but this story reminds me somewhat of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. I must say that I like your version better. Garia herself is much more likable, too.
I've just signed up here to
I've just signed up here to tell you what a great story you have wrote :) I can't wait for the next part.
They Might Not Have Religion As Such
But basically they could still argue about how many angels could dance on the head of a pin. Their system gave no incentive to share knowledge. Knowledge was power (and a decent income).
While you must have scientific knowledge as the base of your information pyramid, it's engineers that turn that science into useful things, For instance "every action has an equal and opposite reaction" is just dandy in the abstract, but the bows and arrows, guns, steam engines, jets and rockets don't happen until someone applies the principle in the real world.
This education system will weed out the sexist dummkopfs and the rigid-minded. Knowledge and the application of that knowledge will explode in just a few years.
Garia is a real revolutionary, not like that namby-pamby Lenin,
Joanne
Silly Questors
Yay! I love this story. This was such a good chapter I didn't even miss Snep. Poor Snep. I hope he forgives me.
I love how Garia handled the silly Questors. Sheesh. What a bunch of whiner babies.
Anyway, thanks and kudos as usual. This is still my favorite current story. Please keep up the good work.
- Terry
Thank you again Penny for
Thank you again Penny for this excellent work..
I am a new fan of your writings. You have met
and exceeded the old standard that had Jack
Chauker as the best tg, science fiction writer.
Please continue to write and give us your gift
of examplure writings.
alissa
the start of the first university
cool.
Trouble
The fact that she just got armor means she’s likely to need it. I loved how the questors we delt with and all of the dialogue.
hugs :)
Michelle SidheElf Amaianna
Is it a wise decision?
Those questors started out on the wrong foot by not acknowledging Robanar in their presence. And like the Guild, Garia got the usual frigid welcome.
That is until she produced a light nothing like those children had seen before, indoors. It's rather strange how these men are supposed to be the best minds in Palarand and yet none of them had a clue about what they were shown.
A young girl, an adult by their standards, showed everyone, except one, that she knows more than any of them. And, she's willing to SHARE that knowledge, which goes against the questors' grain.
So, is it wise to have the questors become teachers when they hate sharing, and won't be teaching what needs taught, to both men and women? Won't they have to be taught first, before the can teach?
Meteorite metal, nickle-iron, weapons for Garia? For Haflin to use such a special metal to make weapons for Garia, she had to have made quite an impression on him. He may be the Royal Armorur, but he pays attention to what occurs in the palace. He also either heard or saw her kick the butt of a very deserving individual, helping women everywhere.
Anmar's history is going to tell about the linchpin that came from Kansas and kickstarted the beginning of change on Anmar. And its name will be Garia.
Others have feelings too.
It's been a while....
Since I read this, but if I recall correctly Garia schooled Haflin on the finer points of staff fighting, using a broken spear. In other words, he knows she is capable of using a weapon, he has seen her fight by now using bare hands (again if I recall correctly) and he has a clue as to the style, even if he really isn't a master of it of the Six Cities....
So, yeah he is more than willing to make her some special weapons.
As far as whether or not the 'questors' should teach? Why should the crown pay them a stipend if they aren't willing to take on at least a few students? If they can't teach and won't write, then their knowledge essentially dies with them and no one learns from the generation previous.