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"I would say 75% of the economy is now being run by ex-science-fiction fans."
- Greg Bear
 |
| Tand | ||
| A metal sculpture, made in contemplation, which has great meaning for the initiates. |
In The Dragon Masters, a Hugo-award winning book by Jack Vance, a curious race of people called "sacerdotes" inhabit caves in the tiny world of Aerlith. Every adult, to become a full member of the group, must complete a tand.
| Deep under Banbeck Scarp, in a cubicle lit by a twelve-vial candelabra, a ... white-haired man sat quietly. On a pedestal at the level of his eyes rested his tand, an intricate construction of gold rods and silver wire, woven and bent seemingly at random. The fortuitiveness of the design, however, was only apparent. Each curve symbolized an aspect of Final Sentience; the shadow cast upon the wall represented the Rationale, ever-shifting, always the same. |
| Technovelgy from The Dragon Masters,
by Jack Vance. Published by Galaxy in 1962 Additional resources -
|
Once the tand is completed, it is examined by a group of elders. Every curve and angle has a relationship to every other. It presages the ability of the young person to follow the Rationale, the strict code of conduct of the sacerdotes.
The novel first appeared in the August, 1962 issue of Galaxy magazine. This marvelous book loses nothing in readability after forty years.
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news articles:
- Shadow Sculptures Of Shiego Fukuda
| Gaia - Why Stop With Just The Earth? |
| Splendid View Of Eclipse From Orbit Visualized And Repurposed By Arthur C. Clarke |
| SensorWake Scent-Based Alarm Clock |
| Ulm Sleep Pods For The Homeless |
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'... making the point that their likenesses, every move they made, were being transmitted.'
'But the stars are only atoms in larger space, and in that larger space the star-atoms could combine to form living matter, thinking matter, couldn't they?'
'...to build up a video picture would require, say, ten million decisions every second. Mike, you're so fast I can't even think about it. But you aren't that fast.'
'The area affected was five hundred kilometres across, and perfectly circular.'
'Hasan always pitched a Gauzy - a one-molecule-layer tent, opaque, feather-light, and very tough.'
'And he had been sent with troops, supplies and bombs to command Russia's most trusted post, the Moonbase.'
'What is your population', I asked. 'About eighty millions.'
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