Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Induction - Greg Egan

Short Story

Number of words : 5300
Percent of complex words : 12.9
Average syllables per word : 1.6
Average words per sentence : 23.3


READABILITY INDICES

Fog : 14.5
Flesch : 50.2
Flesch-Kincaid : 12.0


PEOPLE

Ikat

An astronaut on the moon.

Pope

Religious leader.

Qing

Ikat's colleague.

Mother

Of Ikat.

Father

Of Ikat.

Vikram Ali

Represents Khamoush Holdings.

Armstrong

First man on the moon.



TECHNOLOGY

Launch gun

Used for shooting payloads a long way into space at near light speeds.

Stage Nine

The ten-kilometre section of the barrel where the pellets would be accelerated from sixteen to eighteen per cent of light speed.

Maglev railway

Hover transport route.

Coil gun

Small space payload launcher.

Harbour Bridge

Sydney transport structure due for decommissioning.

Nanoware

Small manufacturing technology that is programmable.


ORGANISATIONS

Council of Islamic Scholars in Brussels

Religious academic group.

URC

Chinese government.

Magic Beans Inc.

Part of Khamoush Holdings.


PLACES

Potomac

River in Washington, DC, USA.

Procellarum

A moon base.

Bangkok

City in Thailand.

Prosperity B

A star in the target system.

Prosperity A

The larger companion star.

Duty

Prosperity A's fourth planet.

Aksai Chin

Part of China near India in the Tibet area.

Tokelau

Islands ruled by New Zealand.

Kowloon

Part of Hong Kong.

Mumbai

City in India.

Patience

A smaller planet in the prosperity system.


VEHICLES

Orchid Flower

Sent by launch gun and containing tiny pellets to be launched into space. The pellets that comprised the seed were not physically connected, but they would move in synch in a rigid pattern, forming a kind of sparse crystal whose spacing allowed it to interact strongly with the microwave radiation in the gun.

Pioneer 10

Early spacecraft.



CONCEPTS

Acorporeals

People that have left their bodies.


PLOT

Ikat is an astronaut on the moon, working on a project to launch a payload to nearby stars. Along with her friend Qing.

Then, in the future, people have the ability to be scanned and become posthuman, and the company that bought the rights to some of their early work has an offer for them - they can explore locally in person the new system. And from there, do further exploration.


4 out of 5

Acorporeals : Induction - Greg Egan

People that have left their bodies.


4 out of 5

Pioneer 10 : Induction - Greg Egan

Early spacecraft.


3 out of 5

Orchid Flower : Induction - Greg Egan

Sent by launch gun and containing tiny pellets to be launched into space. The pellets that comprised the seed were not physically connected, but they would move in synch in a rigid pattern, forming a kind of sparse crystal whose spacing allowed it to interact strongly with the microwave radiation in the gun.


4 out of 5

Patience : Induction - Greg Egan

A smaller planet in the prosperity system.


3.5 out of 5

Mumbai : Induction - Greg Egan

City in India.


3 out of 5

Kowloon : Induction - Greg Egan

Part of Hong Kong.


3 out of 5

Tokelau : Induction - Greg Egan

Islands ruled by New Zealand.


3 out of 5

Aksai Chin : Induction - Greg Egan

Part of China near India in the Tibet area.


3 out of 5

Duty : Induction - Greg Egan

Prosperity A's fourth planet.


4 out of 5

Prosperity A : Induction - Greg Egan

The larger companion star.


3.5 out of 5

Prosperity B : Induction - Greg Egan

A star in the target system.


4 out of 5

Bangkok : Induction - Greg Egan

City in Thailand.


3 out of 5

Procellarum : Induction - Greg Egan

A moon base.


4 out of 5

Potomac : Induction - Greg Egan

River in Washington, DC, USA.


3 out of 5

Magic Beans Inc. : Induction - Greg Egan

Part of Khamoush Holdings.


4 out of 5

URC : Induction - Greg Egan

Chinese government.


3.5 out of 5

Council of Islamic Scholars in Brussels : Induction - Greg Egan

Religious academic group.


3 out of 5

Nanoware : Induction - Greg Egan

Small manufacturing technology that is programmable.


4 out of 5

Harbour Bridge : Induction - Greg Egan

Sydney transport structure due for decommissioning.


3.5 out of 5

Coil gun : Induction - Greg Egan

Small space payload launcher.


3.5 out of 5

Maglev railway : Induction - Greg Egan

Hover transport route.


3 out of 5

Stage Nine : Induction - Greg Egan

The ten-kilometre section of the barrel where the pellets would be accelerated from sixteen to eighteen per cent of light speed.


4 out of 5

Launch gun : Induction - Greg Egan

Used for shooting payloads a long way into space at near light speeds.


4 out of 5

Armstrong : Induction - Greg Egan

First man on the moon.


3 out of 5

Vikram Ali : Induction - Greg Egan

Represents Khamoush Holdings.


3.5 out of 5

Father : Induction - Greg Egan

Of Ikat.


3.5 out of 5

Mother : Induction - Greg Egan

Of Ikat.


3 out of 5

Qing : Induction - Greg Egan

Ikat's colleague.


3.5 out of 5

Pope : Induction - Greg Egan

Religious leader.


3 out of 5

Ikat : Induction - Greg Egan

An astronaut on the moon.


4 out of 5

In Numbers - Greg Egan

Short Story

Number of words : 6900
Percent of complex words : 11.9
Average syllables per word : 1.5
Average words per sentence : 15.2


READABILITY INDICES

Fog : 10.8
Flesch : 60.9
Flesch-Kincaid : 8.5


PEOPLE

Doctor Dreyfus

The medico on the Cyclops.

Andrew Callaghan

An engineer that has gone crazy due to the condition.

Jenny

Another crew member and cyberneticist.

Captain Salih al-Qasbi

Ship's leader.

Thomas Bwalya

Life-support engineer.

Greta Nordstrom

Communications engineer.

Kayathiri Sangaralingam

Drive specialist.



VEHICLES

Cyclops

A spaceship attempting to travel a record distance.


TECHNOLOGY

DDC-XV

A mixture of anti-viral agents.


CONCEPTS

Legionnella Six

A disease.

Cyclops Syndrome

Condition affecting Andrew Callaghan and the crew.

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen experiment

Famous quantum mechanics work.


TECHNOLOGY

NMR spectra

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy - a technique that exploits the magnetic properties of certain nuclei.

PET scans

Position emission tomography. A technique which produces a three-dimensional image or picture of functional processes in the body.

Nanomachines

Tiny robots that can be weapons or medical repair devices.


ORGANISATIONS

ISUSAT

A spaceflight centre.


MEDIA

The Plague

Work by Camus that inspired David to become a doctor.


PLOT

Dreyfus in the doctor on a ship that is attemping a voyage further out than anyone has gone before. The crew are beginning to come down with what seems like a disease that makes them crazy and dangerous, and in need of restraint.

It looks like it will affect all of them, so he has to make provision for everyone to be safe and to be fed by robot until they return.

However the condition seems to dissipate. He theorises that it may be because they have gone too far away from the rest of humanity, that there is some sort of quantum effect of life. If you go too far from Earth, your body will not be able to take it.


4 out of 5

The Plague : In Numbers - Greg Egan

Work by Camus that inspired David to become a doctor.


3.5 out of 5

ISUSAT : In Numbers - Greg Egan

A spaceflight centre.


3.5 out of 5

Nanomachines : In Numbers - Greg Egan

Tiny robots that can be weapons or medical repair devices.


4 out of 5

PET scans : In Numbers - Greg Egan

Position emission tomography. A technique which produces a three-dimensional image or picture of functional processes in the body.


3.5 out of 5

NMR spectra : In Numbers - Greg Egan

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy - a technique that exploits the magnetic properties of certain nuclei.


3.5 out of 5

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen experiment : In Numbers - Greg Egan

Famous quantum mechanics work.


3.5 out of 5

Cyclops Syndrome : In Numbers - Greg Egan

Condition affecting Andrew Callaghan and the crew.


4 out of 5

Legionnella Six : In Numbers - Greg Egan

A disease.


3 out of 5

DDC-XV : In Numbers - Greg Egan

A mixture of anti-viral agents.


3.5 out of 5

Cyclops : In Numbers - Greg Egan

A spaceship attempting to travel a record distance.


4 out of 5

Kayathiri Sangaralingam : In Numbers - Greg Egan

Drive specialist.


3 out of 5

Greta Nordstrom : In Numbers - Greg Egan

Communications engineer.


3.5 out 5

Thomas Bwalya : In Numbers - Greg Egan

Life-support engineer.


3 out of 5

Captain Salih al-Qasbi : In Numbers - Greg Egan

Ship's leader.


3.5 out of 5

Jenny Riley : In Numbers - Greg Egan

Another crew member and cyberneticist.


3.5 out of 5

Andrew Callaghan : In Numbers - Greg Egan

An engineer that has gone crazy due to the condition.


3.5 out of 5

Doctor Dreyfus : In Numbers - Greg Egan

The medico on the Cyclops.


4 out of 5