My reaction to reading this collection in 1997. Spoilers follow.

"Introduction” -- Very short introduction to collection.

”Out of Copyright” -- Very short introduction to collection. This story revolves around a clever idea: that in a future where cloning is routine a person’s surviving heirs have copyrights to that person’s genome. Eventually those copyrights lapse into the public domain. This story centers around companies competing in a test-of-concept in which asteroids are launched at Io. The companies clone long dead scientific geniuses whose genomes are in the public domain. The clones provide assistance on various projects. The narrator of the story heads one combine’s team. His talent is not scientific but in sabotage of the minor and persistent sort which accumulates and dooms a combine’s efforts. Most of the sabotage involves a keen understanding of people for it is revealed, at story’s end, that he is a cloned version of Al Capone (though Sheffield doesn’t explicitly name him). The story’s concept lets Sheffield talk about some of the quirks and talents of those historical scientists who were cloned. Sheffield also points out that cloned scientific geniuses do not always turn out to be valuable. Sometimes the original’s accomplishments owed more to environment than genes.

”Tunicate, Tunicate, Wilt Thou Be Mine” -- This is Sheffield doing a sort of H.P. Lovecraft imitation. As in many a Lovecraft tale, the story is narrated in the first person by a narrator who writes desperately of awful things before some cosmic horror previously viewed closes in for the last time. Here, again as in Lovecraft – notably his “The Colour Out of Space” – the horror is an alien who has crashed on Earth. Here the alien is much like an earth tunicate, a strange creature combining the features of animal and plant, vertebrate, and invertebrate. Under its influence, the narrator kills his wife and friends.

”Counting Up” -- Science article on the importance of numbers to science with interesting side excursion to the amazing pheromone sensitivity of moths which can, it seems, sometimes sense one molecule of a substance.

”A Braver Thing” -- This story is mainly interesting because in the end notes Sheffield says it has “a big lump of autobiography”. One suspects Sheffield was a bright lad like the narrator Giles Turnbull and came from a humble, poor background and that he met someone like Marian Shaw – loved devoutly and in an asexual way by the narrator – who taught him about art, literature, music, and people. The main part of the story is about Turnbull’s relationship with Marian Shaw’s genius son (the Shefffield-like narrator says he’s just very talented and not a genius), Arthur Sanford Shaw. Shaw becomes introverted in college, an undistinguished student studying the problem of quantized gravity. Turnbull is promoted to a Fellowship at Cambridge and studies space-time quantization. Shaw makes a brilliant breakthrough which makes interstellar travel possible. However, he decides to suppress thinking humanity too “bloody-minded”. The story ends on what I took to be a note of intended irony. Shaw, mentally unbalanced, commits suicide. With the rationale of sparing his mother grief, Turnbull destroys Shaw’s notebooks but uses Shaw’s research to come up with the revolutionary “Turnbull Concession Theory”. The night before being awarded the Nobel Prize he relates the story with the implication that he will tell it again in his acceptance speech. “The Braver Thing” (as in John Donne’s “I have done one braver thing,/Than all the worthier did/And yet a braver thence doth spring,/And that, to keep it hid”) seems to be risking his relationship with his “inamorata” Marian Shaw – and his reputation – by relating the truth about his “discoveries”. In an old way, this is a reworking of that slush pile cliché about a writer getting (usually via time travel) a pile of great, unpublished literature and exploiting it. Here, though, it’s science and not art that’s plagiarized.

”The Grand Tour” -- Third time I’ve read this fun story about a pedal-powered spacecraft.

”Classical Nightmares … and Quantum Paradoxes” -- Scientist Sheffield talks about a topic of professional interest to him (and a lot of other physicists): reconciling relativity theory with quantum mechanics. Relativity says no object can be accelerated to faster than light speed. Quantum mechanics has no such restriction. Indeed, the transition between discrete energy states not only is done at faster than light speeds. By definition, it’s instantaneous. The fact that relativity does not specifically forbid instantaneous transfer between two points and quantum mechanics requires it opens a theoretical possibility for faster than light travel and communication.

”Nightmares of the Classical Mind” -- This story, notes Sheffield, springs from his scientific article “Classical Nightmares … and Quantum Paradoxes” and involves the idea of quantum effects being manifested macroscopically, specifically the sort of effects Schrodinger’s Cat metaphorically teaches.. The science doesn’t quite explain the story’s ending but quantum mechanics is so strange that can be excused. The main attraction of the story is the plot and narrator. The narrator is a cynical man along on an expedition to the abandoned Glory of God space station of the Church of Christ Ascendant, abandoned after the taxman and other legal authorities closed in on. Thomas Madison, the charismatic head of the Church’s is rumored to have died, and the Church’s wealth was never found. It turns out that the narrator is Madison’s brother and co-creator of the Church of Christ Ascendant scam. He’s been in prison – as have many of the Church ex-leaders – and subjected to especially bad treatment paid for by the hibernating (in a cryonics unit) Madison who hopes to outlast all his old confederates and emerge after seven years of hibernation to collect the hidden Church funds. The narrator is out to murder his brother (getting the hidden money doesn’t seem to be a motive) and joins a scientific expedition the station. The expedition sets up an experiment – the most important in man’s history – to see if space-time is quantifed in a granular structure than being continuous. It turns out it is and the effects of the experiment trap the narrator on the station (after he tries to kill his lover, a physicist he cynically manipulated into taking him on the expedition, after she discovers his true identity) and send him nine months back in time, and causes him to find himself rather than his brother as the hibernating Church head.

”The Double Spiral Staircase” -- The central idea of this story – aliens coming to Earth millions of years ago and encoding a message in our DNA (in the intron portion which does not code for protein production) was also used in a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode (I have no idea who came first or if there are earlier stories with the same idea). In the tv show, the message is typical Star Trek pabulum about the brotherhood of sentient life (at least Vulcans, humans, Klingons, and Romulans). Here the message is construction details on building very advanced transportation technology (with provisions for anti-gravity and maybe instantaneous) and anti-aging information. The aliens didn’t want to have to wait for more to evolve and develop a technological civilization capable of star travel so they left a message. It’s an intriguing idea, and I liked the by-play between the slightly eccentric, smelly (he works in an animal lab) molecular biologist and the cynical head of NASA, now taken over by the Navy. The NASA head got the biologist kicked out of Annapolis after a vicious prank, but the biologist harbors no ill feelings. At first, the Navy man tries to suppress the technology until he finds out the information is in DNA. His cynicism vanishes then and his youthful fondness for space travel returns.

”The Unlicked Bear-Whelp” -- A brief summary of chaos theory. I was puzzled by Sheffield saying James Gleick’s Chaos: Making a New Science didn’t really explain chaos theory or how its ideas integrate various areas of science. Sheffield is a lot smarter than me and trained in physics so maybe the wool was pulled over my eyes.

”The Seventeen-Year Locusts” -- One of those silly idea stories that the author was smart enough to keep short. Here, as seventeen-year locusts and periodic, so are “Seventy-Million Year Dinosaurs”.

”The Courts of Xanadu” -- The second time I’ve read this wonderful science fiction ghost story about a buried city underneath the sands of the Takla Makan desert in China. It may be the ruins of an extraterrestrial settlement or an old human empire or Atlantis. In any case, the inhabitants seemed to have possessed a technology that imprints images on every molecule of the landscape and releases them under the right stimuli. The images may be from one of “yesterday’s empires with their arbitrary imperial powers, their cruelty, and casual control over life and death” (Sheffield rightly points out that nothing is more alien to a modern American than such a political state) and its ruler who wanted a monument. I like mixing science fiction mixing with history and archaeology, and this is a fine example of that. I found Sheffield’s end note about being able to take a satellite photo and give its approximate location, latitude, season, and climate interesting (he worked for a satellite company). However, he admits he doesn’t like to travel and fares poorly on the ground of a new location.

”C-Change” -- The tale of physicist Hippolyte Martin who discovers he can permanently alter the speed of light – make it faster. He triggers his device, goes exploring space, returns to a very disrupted Earth (Martin’s device changed the speed of all electromagnetic radiation, including that in electrical devices thus destroying banking and communications) to report that an Intergalactic Trading Federation does exist among alien races. However, after finding that humans have broken out of the hundred light year zone of reduced light speed imposed on Earth 10,000 years ago, they reimpose the limit. Like many sf writers, Sheffield seems to have a low opinion of humanity.

”Unclear Winter: A Miscellany of Disasters” -- An overview of the statistical probability and energy of various disasters: nuclear war, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, meteorite and comet impacts, solar disruptions, and supernovas.

”Godspeed” -- This story concerns, at its heart, two areas of human psychology: human credulity towards purported authorities and possible human reaction to alien contact. An inventor invents a faster than light drive, tests in a prototype, and then gets thrown in jail with his partner (the narrator who, like the narrator of Sheffield’s “Out of Copyright” specializes in human engineering) after aliens from Tau Ceti show up and warn humanity that someone is using ftl technology which, like all ftl technology, could supposedly stress local space-time to where it would snap into the low energy state of a black hole. The story ends with the narrator uncertain as to whether his partner or the aliens are telling the truth. Humanity, enamored of the rather clumsy, ostensibly benevolent aliens just trying to warn us of our danger at great personal inconvenience, believes the aliens. The inventor thinks they have ftl drive and don’t want competition from smarter humans. His calculations show that the aliens have lied about the danger and probably about the chronology of their journey. Humanity accepts the allegedly untainted, benevolent statements of the aliens. The narrator accepts his partner’s expertise. The truth is unknown.

”Dancing with Myself” -- This is a tale about a “universal DNA converter” that runs amok and infects humanity with the DNA of its inventor, the story’s narrator and something of an old-maid biology professor (who’s insight into humanity gives the story more interest). At first read the story is kind of neat. Then, I thought about it more. First, the story seems (given my knowledge of biology which is not great) to fail on a technical level. True, given the story’s parameters, not everything in everyone’s genome will be converted to match the narrator’s DNA. Males will still be born since the x-chromosome is too different from the y-chromosome to be converted. However, it seems like the rest of the genome would be converted making everyone very closely related genetically with all the attendant hazards. Sheffield interestingly doesn’t mention this means every race except Alison Benilaide’s – never mentioned that I saw – would eventually vanish. The cynic part of me says you could take a similar starting point and come up with a paranoid, conspiracy-mongering plot in which some groups complain that this was a deliberate program of eugenics and racial genocide. Second, Sheffield again subscribes to a sort of general misanthropy here and also falls for that old liberal shibboleth of war and conflict being the irrational, emotional product of our glands. War and conflict can be rational given self-interest and different assumptions of the parties involved. Third, Benilaide seems close to the stereotype – for good and ill – of the purely rational (she isn’t) scientist. It’s almost as if Sheffield’s saying she’s a scientist because her glands are so passive.

”Something for Nothing: A Biography of the Universe” -- The title of this science article says it all. ( )

Indeholder "Introduction" og nogle noveller "Out of Copyright", "Tunicate, Tunicate, Wilt Thou Be Mine", "A Braver Thing", "The Grand Tour", "Nightmares of the Classical Mind", "The Double Spiral Staircase", "The Seventeen-Year Locuts", "The Courts of Xanadu", "C-change", "Godspeed", "Dancing with Myself".
Og nogle artikler "Counting Up", "Classical Nightmares ... and Quantum Paradoxes", "The Unlicked Bear-Whelp: A Worm's Eye Look at Chaos Theory", "Unclear Winter: A Miscellany of Disasters", "Something for Nothing; A Biography of the Universe".

"Introduction" handler mest om at materialet er nypubliceret og at der er en lille bid tekst efter hver artikel/novelle der fortæller lidt om den. Bare læs løs!
"Out of Copyright" handler om en fremtid, hvor man kan klone visse historiske personer, fx Albert Einstein og Isambard Kingdom Brunel, fordi deres copyright udløber efter 75 år. Kloning er dyrt, så man får ene-copyright til klonerne i en lang periode. Konkurrerende koncerner har hver deres team, men et af dem har en trumf, for de har i hemmelighed klonet Al Capone.
"Tunicate, Tunicate, Wilt Thou Be Mine" handler om Steven, Wendy, Jane og Walter, der leder efter en kæmpemæssig Tunicata (sækdyr) i det indre af Afrika og det går dem ilde, for det er en nødlandet skabning fra rummer, der er havnet der og den overtager Steven og omformer ham. Alle de andre bliver dræbt og det er blot starten på Mister Tunica's herredømme.
"A Braver Thing" handler om Giles Turnbull, der får nobelprisen men bruger talen på at fortælle hvordan en anden egentlig fortjener æren.
"The Grand Tour" handler om en rumcykelkonkurrence. Underholdende, men uden dybde.
"Nightmares of the Classical Mind" handler om Jim og Eric Kravely, der har opfundet en fupevangelist, Thomas Madison. De slog plat og krone og Eric vandt, så han satte et stort cirkusnummer op og fik lavet en rumstation af form som et stort kors. Ballonen bristede for nogle år tilbage, Thomas døde vistnok for hans lig blev aldrig fundet. Resten af topfolkene røg i spjældet for økonomisk svindel og pengene var væk. Nu har to fysikere tænkt sig at lave et stort eksperiment for at se om rumtiden er kvantificeret og Jim er sluppet ud af fængslet og hopper med på rumfærgen ved at besnære den kvindelige fysiker. Derfra går det galt for Jim for han finder Eric i en dvalemaskine og kvæler ham nogenlunde samtidigt med at eksperimentet lykkes og han pludselig er hoppet 9 måneder tilbage i tiden. Da han kigger i dvalemaskinen ser han sit eget ansigt.
"The Double Spiral Staircase" handler om at der i vores DNA er gemt information om hvordan man bygger rumskibe med motorer der tapper nulpunktsenergien. Nasa er lige blevet overtaget af US NAVY og administratoren Jake Jacobsen bliver opsøgt af en gammel bekendt fra college Buggsie Bates der har en lille kasse med som kan demonstrere at han ved hvad han snakker om. Han har forresten også en anden dims med, som måske forsinker aldring?
"The Seventeen-Year Locuts" handler om at når nogle græshopper har opblomstring hvert 17. år, så kunne dinosaurer jo have det for hver 70 millioner år?
"The Courts of Xanadu" handler om en ekspedition til Takla Makan. Hovedmanden bag er Gerald Sebastian, som har bildt sponsorerne ind at det er Atlantis han leder efter. De andre er Jackie Sands, dr Will Reynolds, Paddy Elphinstone og Sam Nevis. Jackie Sands er gift med en gammel rigmand, Henry Hoffman, men på turen er hende og Gerald elskende, bortset fra at de bliver sure på hinanden. I stedet læner Jackie sig op ad Sam. Paddy er en drukkenbolt og Will er med for at checke Nasas jordradarbilleder af området. De kommer ret tæt på målet, en gådefuld statue af et rumvæsen? Og Gerald vil ikke vente, så han fortsætter de sidste 40 km i den ene bil og så må resten følge efter dagen efter. Det går selvfølgelig galt og Will og Gerald havner i en ukontaktbar tilstand i alt fald for en tid. Sam får Geralds billeder fremkaldt og han har faktisk fotograferet noget, som ligner et fortidigt landskab. Måske har han engang kunnet noget, så et helt landskab kan gemme på en tilstand? Men det må vente, for Sam og Jackie er blevet forelskede i hinanden og det er imod Sams principper at tage mod penge fra Henry til at financiere en ny ekspedition, så de må nok vente på at Henry dør af ælde.
"C-change" handler om en videnskabsmand, Hippolyte Martin, der i 2043, finder en måde at sætte c op med en faktor 60 millioner. Ændringen sker instantant i hele universet, så fx kan man i 8 minutter se to sole på himlen og det meste elektronik holder op med at virke fornuftigt. Heldigvis har Hippolyte mødt repræsentanter for de udenjordiske intelligenser og de kan fortælle at det var "den gamle c-værdi" der var en underlighed, nemlig en lokal fartgrænse i 100 lysår omkring Jorden. Og den bliver sat tilbage i morgen!
"Godspeed" handler om teoretikeren Marcus Aurelius Jackson og praktikeren, Wilmer, der hjælper ham. De laver en FTL motor, men så ankommer nogle rumvæsener, kaldet Genizee, advarer mod teknikken og navnlig de to opfindere og smutter igen. De to får Marcus ud af fængselet og ind i rumskibet og nu venter vi bare på at han kommer tilbage og fortæller om Genizee havde ret eller ej.
"Dancing with Myself" handler om Alison Benilaide og Oscar Horowitz, der kommer til at lave en lille organisme, der skifter en menneskelig organismes dna ud med Alisons. Og desværre er den smitsom så alle mennesker får nu Alisons dna og det ser ud til at være en god ting.
"Counting Up" handler om matematik, talsystemer, lidt talteori og navnlig computere og rå regnekraft.
"Classical Nightmares ... and Quantum Paradoxes" handler om kvantemekanik og dobbeltspalteforsøget og Einstein og Bohr.
"The Unlicked Bear-Whelp: A Worm's Eye Look at Chaos Theory" handler om kaosteori. Forfatteren er ikke helt overbevist om at teorien er så fundamental som den nu er blevet solgt som. Han har også lidt kommentarer til Hofstadter og Penrose og holder mest af Hofstadter.
"Unclear Winter: A Miscellany of Disasters" handler om forskellige måder menneskenes verden kan gå under på. Titlen er et ordspil på Nuclear Winter, som han påpeger er lidt svær at afteste validiteten af, men han er glad for at krigstruslen er taget af.
"Something for Nothing; A Biography of the Universe" handler om universet fra Big Bang til alt er blevet til stråling så lavintens at partikler ikke kan dannes. Det vil tage mellem 10^(10^26) og 10^(10^76) år.

Udmærkede noveller og artikler til at slå tiden ihjel med. Mister Tunicata er vist min favorithistorie. ( )