(urth) "been teaching literature for over 35 years"

[Jerry Friedman]

> From: David Stockhoff <dstockhoff at verizon.net>

>On 9/8/2013 12:25 AM, Jerry Friedman wrote:
>
>Well, he might justifiably ask, if Wolfe intended plate tectonics to exist on Urth, how it makes the book better for Severian to tell us that it stopped.  To improve the dying-earth atmosphere?
>
>I'm intrigued by Jeff's idea:
>
>
>>The slowing of geology processes and the refrigeration of the earth in
>>somewhat of a historical time scale was once the current scientific
>>thought in the 19th century (Bellamy mentions it in LOOKING BACKWARD), so
>>the idea has a reason to be present and for the estimated time necessary
>>to be reckoned past, however mistakenly by the characters. 


>We've seen plenty of evidence that Wolfe gleaned gems from the historical trash heap of incorrect comprehensions of the physical universe in writing BNS. In fact, one could take it a step further and say that his universe is entirely created from such pulpy cliches---
>
>by which I mean to make a direct literary connection, because the
    pulp SF Wolfe admires, from Cthulhu to, I don't know, maybe Flash
    Gordon and beyond, consists almost entirely of disproven scientific
    assumptions. Look at how the surface environment of Venus has been
    (mis)conceived throughout the history of SF.
>
>---knowing full well that they do not fit well together. Two other
    well-known cases of this are Severian's comments about geological
    strata and the various genetic theories of 5HC, which Lee has
    identified as BNS's thematic precursor. Would this not, in Wolfe's
    thinking, parallel all the valid but imperfect understandings of the nonphysical universe? It's all the same, on other words---the science we believe today will be the superstition of tomorrow.
>
>So yes, it makes the book better. 


Very interesting thoughts.  Incidentally, they remind me of Severian's example of the hawk's nest.  In the first place, it's fallacious.  (Nest-building evolved in ground-living or even aquatic species before anyone got to the trees where one stick is useless.)  In the second, it seems that evolution by natural selection is the theory that Severian was taught.  Does Wolfe see that as in the same category as other misconceptions he was taught?

>Also, "death" is perhaps a relative term on a geologic time scale.
    In our time, small volcanic islands are created before our eyes. In
    Severian's, this may no longer occur, but the plates could
    experience settling for quite some time after the primary tectonic
    activity has either ceased or simply decreased enough that most
    people assume Urth is dead, because all the volcanoes are. Thus the
    earthquakes in Typhon's time.

Seems possible.

By the way, supposedly curative hot springs were important in ancient times.  Are they mentioned anywhere in BotNS?


Jerry Friedman