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"For the sciences, the way to change science's perception of things is to wait until all the old farts have died off."
- Larry Niven
 |
| 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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I'm hoping that this procedure becomes a normal part of medical practice!
'... nothing was perfected until M. Pantalon announced the completion of his automatic valet.'
'...its streets were of remarkable width, with few or no buildings so high as mosques, churches, State-offices, or palaces in Tellurian cities.'
'...it was all composed of tiny, identical cubes, carefully laid to form a tilelike surface.'
'He carried on his person a triggering mechanism sensitive to his heartbeat.'
'...Anything was possible in my imaginary environment.'
'Somewhere in space, a chrome and blue automobile raced the green light of Earth.'
'That explains how it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair...'
