diff options
| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-01-21 20:05:23 -0800 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-01-21 20:05:23 -0800 |
| commit | a9db1eb805c8a8e4a8850f9f4a22049f9acdc4e8 (patch) | |
| tree | 1f74f9659d38c8aa9394a67b5cc51fdad393797c | |
| parent | 85269213580b2fc492f879a736229a51443bd856 (diff) | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 4 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/68272-0.txt | 1761 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/68272-0.zip | bin | 29724 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/68272-h.zip | bin | 522188 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/68272-h/68272-h.htm | 1980 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/68272-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 235476 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/68272-h/images/illus1.jpg | bin | 76332 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/68272-h/images/illus2.jpg | bin | 113889 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/68272-h/images/illus3.jpg | bin | 65985 -> 0 bytes |
11 files changed, 17 insertions, 3741 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9f1c20b --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #68272 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/68272) diff --git a/old/68272-0.txt b/old/68272-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d60f3f2..0000000 --- a/old/68272-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1761 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Trouble, by George O. Smith - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Trouble - -Author: George O. Smith - -Release Date: June 9, 2022 [eBook #68272] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TROUBLE *** - - - - - - Trouble - - By GEORGE O. SMITH - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Astounding Science-Fiction, July 1946. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -Tom Lionel, Consulting Engineer, awoke with a shake of his head. At -once, he was out of bed. He consulted first the calendar and then the -clock. The thought struck him funny. He hadn't been drinking, but the -idea of looking at a calendar upon awakening might be construed as an -admission that he didn't know what time of what day it was. - -_Or mayhap what month._ - -"Ding it," he grunted. "I've been away again." - -He dressed by stages. At the trousers department, Tom wandered out into -the living room and stood over a chessboard, studying the set-up. The -opponent had moved the queen to the rook's fourth, menacing his bishop. -Tom smiled and moved his knight to his knight's sixth and checked the -opponent's king on the rook's first, and the queen simultaneously. He -slid the drawer below the table open and removed a little standing -sign that said, in red, block letters: - - CHECK! - -"Let him try that one, will he?" laughed Tom. The move was basic; in -checking the king and menacing the queen simultaneously, Tom had--or -would upon the next move--collect himself his opponent's queen with no -great loss. - -At the shirt and necktie stage, Tom Lionel stood teetering on his heels -before the bookcase on the right of the fireplace. He took from the -case a slim volume and read the title with considerable distaste: - - "Theory of Monomolecular Films - in Fission-Reaction" - - By A. G. Rodan, Ph.D., M.M., LL.D. - -"Yipe!" exploded Tom as he opened the book and glanced at the price: -$9.50. With ease he prorated the price against the thickness of the -volume and came to the estimate that the book had cost approximately -nineteen dollars per inch excluding covers. He riffled through the -pages and paused here and there to read, but the pages themselves were -a good average of four lines of text to the rest of the page full of -nuclear equations. - -Tom Lionel snorted. He ran down through one of the arguments and -followed it to conclusion. - -"Why can't he get something worth reading?" he yawned, putting the book -back in its place. "Darned impractical stuff." As usual with a man -who spends much time in his own company, Tom Lionel talked aloud to -himself--and occasionally was known to answer himself back. "The whole -trouble with the entire tribe of physicists per se is the fact that -once, someone told one of them that he was a theorist, an idealist, -and a dealer in the abstract. Now the bunch of them are afraid to do -anything practical because they're afraid if they do, people won't know -they're physicists. Physicists are a sort of necessary, end-product -evil." - - * * * * * - -During the breakfast section of Tom's morning duties, Tom read the -latest copy of the "Proceedings of the I.R.E." with some relish. A -paper on the "Crystallographic Generation of Microwaves" complete with -plainly manipulated differential calculus and engineering data occupied -most of his time. The rest of the time through coffee he was making -marks on the tablecloth with the egg-laden end of his fork and trying -to fit the crystallographic generation of microwaves into a problem -that made the article most timely; the solution for which he had been -seeking for a week. - -The mail arrived. Three household bills were filed in the desk to -await the first of the month. Two advertisements were filed into the -wastebasket. One thick letter addressed to Thomas Lionel, Ph.D., M.M., -was taken carefully between thumb and forefinger and deposited in a -letter file. - -Tom then inspected the other letter file and found two letters -addressed to Tom Lionel, Consulting Engineer, which he opened and read. -One was from a concern in Cedar Rapids that wanted some information on -a method of induction heating glued joints selectively without waiting -for the normal drying time. The other was a letter from a medium-sized -town in Illinois pertaining to some difficulty they were having with -police-radio coverage of that area. - -Both letters meant money, and Tom Lionel set the first aside while he -started to work on the second. From the engineering data supplied by -the local engineer, Tom decided that a change in antenna height and a -conversion from quarter-wave current fed to a one and one quarter-wave -current fed antenna would give the desired coverage. He concluded his -letter with four pages of calc, seven diagrams, and as a last measure -dropped a photograph of a similar installation in the envelope. - -He gloated. That would net him a pretty penny. The guy who hung that -antenna on top of the water tank thought he was smart, getting all that -height. But the roof was metal, and therefore the radiation angle took -off from the rooftop as a basis rather than the true ground a hundred -feet below. - -The tank top was greater than three wave lengths in diameter, and -conical to boot. Tom grinned at the maze of mathematics that solved -it--and as far as he was concerned it was solved, for Tom Lionel was a -top-flight engineer. - -He checked on his calendar. Metal for the sonic job was not due for a -week yet; a minute casting was still being held up for the foundry's -pleasure; and the life-test of the bearing-jewel for the Watson -Instrument Corporation was still on. Good jewel that. No sign of -freeze-up or wear-out after twenty-seven million cycles. - -"Theory of Monomolecular Films be hanged," he snorted. "He's the kind -of a guy that would try to analyze the brew that MacBeth's three -witches were cooking up. And don't ask why!" - -What he objected to most was the other's unconcern at spending money. -Nine bucks and fifty cents for a book of the most questionable -theory--and nine fifty that the other didn't really earn. It was -getting worse. The other was really beginning to obtrude. He hadn't -minded, particularly, except for the mental anguish. He'd become -reconciled to it by sheer rationalization. Way, way down deep in his -heart he knew that he'd have enjoyed being a physicist himself. But -physicists were not particularly practical, and money was made with -practical things. He knew, and recognized, that his retreat from being -a physicist himself had given him a dislike for the breed, especially -when he knew that solution of a problem was theirs, but reduction -to practice was his. He was continuously being forced to take some -physicist's wild-haired scheme and making it cook meat, open cans, -or dig post holes. The physicist had all the fun of standing on the -threshold and delving into phenomena that abounded just over the line. -And then instead of working on the suggestion that the physicist had -located in the wilderness, the physicist just tossed it over his -shoulder into Lionel's lap and went on digging. - -Obviously it must be fun to dig in the unknown, but why in the name of -sense-- - -"Theory of Monomolecular Films in Fission-Reaction," scowled Tom -Lionel. "A hypothesis on a theory for an idea, based upon a practical -impossibility, and directed at a problem solvable only by concentrated -masses. He should be working in a negative universe where nonmatter -repels nonmatter disproportionately to the nonmass and inversely -disproportional to the not-square of the not-distance between. Holy -Entropy." - - * * * * * - -Tom Lionel went out of the house, mentally tinkering with the -glue-joint heating problem. That shouldn't be hard, he thought, -high-frequency heating was no trick, though the furniture company -probably had no one in the place that knew what high frequency really -meant. - -He'd take a chair, rip it apart at the joints, and start tinkering -with the big radio-frequency heater in the lab. Another fat consulting -fee--eminently practical and satisfying--from the simple engineering of -a means to accelerate the drying of glue by electronics. - -Eminently practi--_hell_! - -Lionel stared. The door closed slowly behind him as he walked ever -so slowly across the floor of the lab. There was his radio-frequency -heater, all right. But it was not in its usual place. It was across the -room nuzzling up against another piece of equipment--the latter new, -shining, and absolutely alien to the lab. - -Tom went over to the set-up and inspected it with critical derision. - -The alien piece of equipment had been a standard model of mass -spectrograph. Its sleek sides were gaping open, and the high-frequency -heater was permanently wired--piped--into the very heart of the -spectrograph. Peering into the maze of one-inch copper tubing that led -from the output of the high-frequency heater to the insides of the -spectrograph, Lionel saw at once what the reason was. - -The spectrograph had been overhauled by the physicist. It now contained -a pair of "D" chambers. - -Operating on the cyclotron principle, the spectrograph was using the -output of the high-frequency heater to energize the D chambers. Lionel -nodded. The frequency was about right; could be adjusted to the proper -value without any trouble at all. He felt an infinitesimally short -twitch of admiration for the idea before he started to roar in anguish. - -His first impulse was to rip the gadget apart so that he could go to -work on something practical. But the engineer's admiration for the idea -stopped him. - -But this was getting thick. - -It had been getting thicker for a long time. It was getting -intolerable. He didn't mind too much having volumes of utterly -cock-eyed theory about the place, but when the physicist starts to -appropriate equipment for his screwball ideas, it was time to call a -halt. - -Lionel left the laboratory, returned to his house, and called a -psychiatrist. - -An hour later he was in Dr. Hamilton's office. - -"Why are you here?" asked Hamilton pleasantly. - -"I want to get rid of a physicist." - -"Tell him to go away." - -"Can't. Impossible." - -"Nothing is impossible." - -"Look, doctor, have you ever tried to light a safety match on a wet bar -of soap?" - -"Suppose you tell me about it, then." - - * * * * * - -Tom Lionel was more than talkative for a half hour. - -"A clear-cut case of split-personality. A most remarkable cleavage." - -Lionel muttered something. - -"What did you say?" - -"I'd rather not repeat it," said Tom. - -"Please--it may have a bearing on your case." - -"I was merely thinking of an hypothetical case. Says the doctor to his -associate: 'Doctor, look at this magnificent tumor,' and his buddy -answers: 'Lovely, but you should see my case of angina; it's positively -beautiful.'" - -"Oh?" - -"So I'm a most remarkable case, huh?" - -"You are. There seems to be a deep-seated liking for one another that -has been barred psychologically by certain factors in your youth. You -play chess. You respect one another's property--" - -"That's what you say. The other bird just screwed up my dielectric -heater to fiddle up a cyclotronic spectrograph." - -"Might try putting it to work," observed Hamilton. - -"Oh, I will. After all, he can't get ahead of _me_." - -"Then why the outcry?" - -"Because who knows what he'll do next." - -"He's appropriated things before?" - -"Only to the extent of buying books." - -"What manner of books?" - -"The last one he purchased was entitled 'The Theory of Monomolecular -Films in Fission-Reaction.'" - -"Mind explaining that? It sounds like Greek to me." - -Lionel smiled tolerantly. "If you have a flat table and a pile of kid's -toy blocks, you can either build a structure or lay 'em on the table in -a single layer. Since molecules are often called the building-blocks -of the universe, the analogy is quite clear. The blocks in a single -layer form a monomolecular layer. Fission reaction is a self-sustaining -nuclear reaction." - -"Sounds quite erudite." - -"In the first place, no one with any sense would try to make use of it. -It is the type of volume that a physicist would write in the hope that -he will get letters pro and con on the subject which will be useful in -forming a later theory." - -"Then it is not a complete waste of time." - -"Any time I lay out nine bucks for a half-inch of paper--" - -"Expensive, isn't it?" asked the doctor. - -"Sure. Those things are not best sellers, usually. The publisher puts -it out in the name of science and must at least get his printing cost -out of the very limited edition." - -"I see. And you want to get rid of this physicist?" - -"Who wouldn't? After all, I had this body first. He's an interloper." - -"Seems that way." - -"It is--and it's annoying." - -"We may be able to do something about it," said the psychiatrist. -"Permit me to think about this for a few days. We'll have another -consultation in a week. We may require another one before I make a -decision. But it seems to me that you are both intelligent, useful -citizens. Neither of you is irresponsible or dangerous. You have -enough money to afford schizophrenia for a while. Especially if the -personality B dreams up things that personality A makes practical, -financially advantageous use of. Ergo you need fear nothing for a few -weeks." - -"Ugh. Means I'll have to go out and buy another high-frequency heater. -O.K., doctor. I'll lay low." - - * * * * * - -Thomas Lionel, Ph.D., M.M., awoke with a shake of his head. At once, he -was out of bed. He consulted first the calendar and then the clock. -The thought struck him funny. He hadn't been drinking, but the idea of -looking at a calendar upon awakening might be construed as an admission -that he didn't know what time of what day it was. - -Or mayhap what month. - -"I've been away again," he grunted. - -He dressed by stages. At the trousers department, Thomas wandered out -into the living room and stood over the chessboard, studying the set-up. - -He removed the little sign that said: - - CHECK! - -and dropped it into the drawer again. He moved his king aside with a -contemplative smile. His queen was gone on the next move, he knew. So -he had lost a major piece. So that other bird thought that losing a -major piece was bad, huh? Well, winning battles does not count--it is a -matter of who wins the last one. - -He found the volume on the theory of monomolecular films and started -to read with relish. Over coffee, at breakfast, Thomas made notations -on the margin of the book with a pencil; checked some of the equations -and though he found them balanced properly, the author was amiss in not -considering the lattice-effect in his presumptions. No monomolecular -film could follow that type of reaction simply because--well, it could -follow it, but since the thing was to take place in a monomolecular -film, the fission-reaction and the radiation byproducts that cause the -self-sustaining nature could only be effective in a plane of molecular -thickness. That meant a .999999% loss, since the radiation went off -spherically. Fission-reaction might take place, but it would be most -ineffective. Besides, the equations should have taken that into account. - -He stopped by the desk and wrote for a half hour, filling seventeen -pages full of text and mathematics, explaining the error in the -author's presumption. - -He sealed it up and mailed it with some relish. No doubt that letter -would start a fight. - -He found his letter in the letter file and read it. It was a request to -indulge in some basic research at a fancy figure, but Thomas was not -particularly interested. He was thinking of another particular line of -endeavor. He dropped the letter into the wastebasket. - -He went into the lab and took a look at his cyclotronic spectrograph. -There was a letter hung on the front. Thomas opened it and read: - - Dear Isaac Newton: - - I don't particularly mind your laying out thirty-five hundred bucks - for a mass spectrograph. - - Appropriating my high-frequency generator didn't bother me too much. - - Nor did your unsymmetrical wiring and haywire peregrinations in and - about the two of them annoy (too acutely) my sense of mechanical - and electrical precision. - - But the idea of your using the ##&&%!! spectrograph only once--just - for pre-change calibration--makes me madder than mad! - - Sincerely, - Tom Lionel, - Consulting Engineer - -Thomas grinned boyishly and picked up the notebook on top of the -high-frequency heater. It was Tom's, and the physicist riffled through -it to the last-used pages. He found considerable in the way of notes -and sketches on the cyclotronic spectrograph. Cut in size by about one -quarter, the thing would be not only a research instrument of value, -but would be of a price low enough to make it available to schools, -small laboratories, and perhaps production-lines--if Tom Lionel could -find a use for a mass spectrograph on a production line. - -Thomas grinned again. If it were possible, Tom would certainly have it -included on _some_ production line, somewhere. - -He looked the spectrograph over and decided that it was a fine piece -of apparatus. So it wasn't the shining piece of commercial panel and -gleaming meters. The high-frequency plumbing in it had the touch of a -one-thumbed plumber's apprentice after ten days' drinking and the D -plates were soldered together with a heavy hand. But it did work--and -that's all he cared. The knobs and dials he had added were sticking -out at all angles, but they functioned. - -And the line-voltage ripple present in the high-frequency generator -made a particular mess out of the spectrograph separation. But -electronic heaters do not normally come luxuriously equipped with -rectifiers and filters so that the generator tubes were served with -pure direct current--the circuit was self-rectified which would give -a raucous signal if used as a radio transmitter. That generated -a ripple-varied signal for the D plates and it screwed up the -dispersion. The omission of refinement satisfied Thomas. So it wasn't -perfect. It would be by the time Tom Lionel got through with it. - -And for the time being, Thomas would leave it alone. No use trying -to make it work until Tom made an engineering model out of the -physicist's experiment. - -Smiling to himself, Thomas went to work in the laboratory. He ignored -Tom's experiments and started a few of his own accord. - - * * * * * - -Some hours later, the doorbell rang and Thomas went to the door to -find a letter, addressed to Thomas Lionel, Ph.D. It was from an Arthur -Hamilton, M.D. - -"Hm-m-m," said Thomas. "Is there something the matter with me?" He -slit the envelope and removed a bill for consultation. - -"Consultation? Consultation? What in the name of all that's unholy -is he consulting a doctor about? Or is the doctor consulting--no, -the bill is rendered in the wrong direction. I know my consulting -engineer." - -The physicist put on his hat and headed forth. It was not much later -that he was sitting again in the same chair, facing Hamilton. - -"You're back." - -"Nope," smiled Thomas. "I'm here, not back." - -"But you were here last week." - -"That was another fellow. Look, Hamilton, I think I require your -assistance. I have an engineer that is no end of bother." - -"Want to get rid of him, huh?" answered Hamilton. The suppressed smile -fought valiantly and won, and the doctor's face beamed and then he -broke into laughter. "What am I, anyway? Man, I can't take money from -both sides. That's ... that's ... barratry, or something." - -"I'm the same man." - -"Nope. You are not." - -"Well, by and large, I thought it might be of interest to you to hear -both sides. It might be that I am a useful citizen in spite of what -the engineer says." - -"The engineer's opinion is that no physicist is worth an unprintable." - -"The physicist's opinion is that all engineers are frustrated -physicists." - -"Might challenge him to a fight." - -"Have. But chess isn't too satisfying. I want blood." - -"It's your blood." - -"That's the annoying part of it all. He seems entirely a different -fellow." - -"The cleavage is perfect. You would think him a separate entity." -Hamilton paused, "But neither of you refer to the other by name. That -indicates a psychological block that may be important evidence." - -"O.K., what do we do?" - -"I must discover the reason for the split personality." - -"I can give you that reason. The engineer was forced into being a -practical man because money lies in that direction. Upon getting out -of college, there was a heavy debt. It was paid off by hard work--a -habit formed and never broken. Bad habits, you know, are hard to -break." - -"Interesting." - -"Well, the desire to delve into the physicist's realm stayed with the -engineer, but people who had heavy purses were not interested in new -ways to measure the ether-drift or the effect of cosmic radiation on -the physical properties of carbon. Money wants more perfect pencil -sharpeners, ways of automatically shelling peas, and efficient methods -of de-gassing oil. All these things are merely applications in -practice of phenomena that some physicist has uncovered and revealed -and put on record so that some engineer can use the effect to serve -his ends. - -"At any rate, the desire to be a physicist is strong, strong enough to -cause schizophrenia. I, Dr. Hamilton, am a living, breathing, talking -example that an engineer is but a frustrated physicist. He is the -troubled one--I am the stable personality. I am happy, well-adjusted, -and healthy." - -"I see. Yet he has his point. You, like other physicists, are not -interested in making money. How, then, do you propose to live?" - -"A physicist--or an engineer--can always make out well. The bank -account at the last sitting was something like ninety-four thousand, -six hundred seventeen dollars and thirty-four cents." - -"That's quite a lot of money." - -"The engineer considers it a business backlog," said Thomas. -"Equipment is costly. Ergo--see?" - -"I see. Seems you laid out a large sum of money for a mass -spectrograph." - -"I did." - -"And what did he do?" - -"He made notes on it and is going to peddle it as a commercial -product. He'll probably make fifty thousand dollars out of it." - -"I suggested that," admitted the psychiatrist. - -"That's all right. I don't mind. It sort of tickles me, basically. I -do things constantly that make him roar with anguish. And then his -only rebuttal is to take it and make something practical out of it." - -"I see." - -"That, you understand, is the game that has been going on for some -time between all physicists and engineers." - -"If you'd leave one another alone, you'd all be better off," said -Hamilton. "From what I've heard, the trouble lies in the fact that -physicists are not too interested in the practical details, whilst the -engineer resents the physicist's insistance upon getting that last -point zero two percent of performance." - -"Are you willing to give me my answer?" - -"What answer?" - -"How do I get rid of the engineer? One of us has got to go, and being -the stable, happy one, I feel that all in all I am the best adjusted -and therefore the most likely to succeed. After all, I am the ideal -personality according to the other one. He'd like to be me. That's why -he is, from time to time." - -"Sort of a figment of your own imagination." - -"That's me." - -"Then I wonder--Yet, I did accept his case, not yours." - -"Whose case?" - -"Um ... ah ... I--Look, if you frustrate him to the extreme, he'll -retreat into you more and more until he does not appear. Follow?" - -"I get it. O.K., doctor. He'll be the most frustrated engineer in the -world. And I am just the guy to do it." - - * * * * * - -Tom Lionel, Consulting Engineer, looked foolishly at the claw hammer -in one hand and wondered about it. About him in the laboratory were -stacks of huge packing cases. - -Unpacked already were several monstrous bits of equipment. Lionel -shook his head. Where had this mess come from? He hadn't ordered it-- - -Or, - -Had he? - -Lionel left the laboratory on the dead run. He tripped once and fell -flat on his face and as he started up again, the top of his head came -with a sharp bang against the unyielding bottom of a ruling engine. - -"A grating engine," yelled Tom. - -On the desk, in plain sight, was a pile of bills-of-lading. Tom -riffled through them, consulted packing lists, and a catalog of -ordered equipment. In his own handwriting, too. - -Grand total outlay $94,617.34; balance to be paid within thirty days: -$16,750.00. - -"Not only broke," grunted Tom, "but bleeding too." - -His handwriting was his handwriting. Not a chance in the world of -refuting the order, or packing the stuff up and sending it back. He -was stuck with it. - -But the conglomeration that Thomas had picked out. A sort of -aggregation of large and small parts that would have made a small -college laboratory figuratively drool at the thought; but which would -only grow dust, rust, and corrosion in any manufacturing plant. - -With the possible exception, of course, of a manufacturer of -scientific equipment for colleges and laboratories. - -What production line could make use of a ruling engine? - -And if one could, could it use a micro-densitometer in the same -process? - -Of course, the micro-vacuum pump could be used in vacuum tube -manufacture, in a pinch. Vacuum tube companies normally used -large-volume pumps instead of the little super-efficient exhaustion -pump that could take a few cubic centimeters down to a few -millimicrons of mercury. - -The electron microscope was a nice hunk of stuff, but the thing was -not applicable to anything except research. - -And the instantaneous X-ray gadget was tricky as the devil--and -adapted mostly to the job of taking pictures of bullets under fire as -they passed up through the rifling of a gun. - -One pile of stuff was directed--according to Tom's designation--only -at the problem of investigating the Earth's gravitational field as for -strength, direction, and conflicting urges. - -A transit. Now what in the name of sin would a radio engineer want -with a transit? Nice piece of stuff, and far superior to the little -dumpy-level that Tom used to lay out antenna arrays and directive -antennas of one sort or another. But, a transit! - -And so the list went. $111,367.34 worth of the most interesting, -best made, neatly assembled hunks of utterly impractical scientific -machinery ever collected under one roof. - -A solid vista of impracticality as far as the eye could reach. - -The ton of bricks that broke the camel's back. - -Tom roared through the house, took a look at the chessboard and with a -savage movement, took the physicist's queen with his knight. He'd get -even with that physicist if it took-- - -Well, almost anything. - - * * * * * - -Fifteen minutes later he was in Dr. Hamilton's office, pounding on the -desk. - -"Look," he roared, "that physicist just clipped me for my entire -bankroll and then dropped me into debt by sixteen grand. I want him -clipped!" - -"Now take it easy," said the doctor. "Remember you are talking about -yourself." - -"Doc, if I commit suicide am I liable for murder?" - -"Yup. Going to try?" - -"Nope. Life is too interesting. My main regret with life is that I was -born a hundred years too soon. My only compensation is that I may live -to be a hundred, so that I can see what I've missed by being born too -soon. Follow?" - -"You sound mentally healthy enough." - -"Thanks. But what about him? You've seen him." - -"I have. He came to me about you." - -"And what are you doing about it ... us?" - -Dr. Hamilton laughed. "Mind if I speak bluntly?" - -"Not at all. I can take it." - -"Then consider. Both you and your ... physicist ... are sensible, -useful citizens. Both of you can contribute much to civilization. Both -of you can and will be respectable people, for which other people will -have admiration. - -"I am in the middle," said the doctor, "I can be no more than a -referee. I see both sides. I believe the cleavage came as a result -of frustration on your part--you know the details--and as such, you -become him when you are frustrated. The reason why he becomes you is -also clear. Whenever he finds himself in straits due to the necessity -of practical thought, the slip-over occurs. You awoke with a stripping -hammer in your hand, unpacking scientific equipment that the physicist -bought. He, obviously, became quite worried about the financial -situation upon viewing the stuff he bought and could face it no more." - -"Sounds reasonable." - -"Now consider again. Neither of you is dangerous. You are both -interesting and valuable to society. The only thing that is at all -bothersome is the fact that you, per se, are not happy. You need -an integration of personality. He needs the same. I might hope for -a coalescing of you two, but at the moment--and possibly for all -time--it is impossible. All I can tell you is the same thing that -I told him. Frustration to the extreme will exorcise the other -personality. He tried it by running you into debt; by purchasing -a laboratory full of things that you, as an engineer, can see no -practical use for. You frustrated him--or tried to--by making -something commercial out of his last experiment. That, unfortunately, -was not frustration for him. - -"You must--if you wish to freeze him out--develop something that will -frustrate the physicist and still be possible to rationalize in your -own personality." - -"Um." - -"An insolvable problem would do it--if you can shun the problem -yourself." - -"That might be difficult." - -"Especially when the two of you are inclined to become the other when -faced with a problem that does not fit in your psyche." - -"The problem--I wonder." - -"What do you do when you are faced with a tough or impossible problem -in physics?" - -"I don't get 'em, usually." - -"Well, supposing some company required a casting of tungsten metal, -for instance." - -"I'd ask that they show me exactly why the tungsten couldn't be formed -in another manner." - -"Supposing they demanded that it be cast?" - -"There isn't anything on God's green earth that could be used to -handle molten tungsten. Tungsten metal can be shaped, forged, -machined, or cold-rolled. But you can't cast it. Ergo, if I were -offered that problem I'd merely ask why they needed it. If they -require a tungsten shape, I'd recommend shaping or machining, for -instance, depending upon how the shape is. If they merely want a -tungsten casting for the sake of wanting a tungsten casting, I'd laugh -at them and tell 'em it was impossible as I close the door behind -them." - -"And your physicist?" - -"He wouldn't even consider it. To him, no real problem exists. He'd -have no truck with a production department in the first place, and -in the second, shaping metals isn't particularly of interest to a -physicist, excepting when the shape itself is important. And then he -doesn't give a howling hoot how it gets in that shape as long as it is -shaped properly." - -"Well, as I see it, you must evolve something that will frustrate the -physicist while holding his interest. He must be compelled to consider -this insolvable problem by sheer interest alone. It also must be -something that you can see no interest in save as a problem for him, -otherwise you may find yourself biting your mutual fingernails over -your own devilish plan." - -"Um--that's a large order." - -"That's it," said Hamilton. "And in the meantime, I'd suggest that you -tinker around with some of the stuff you bought. It will lessen the -shock of your problem of the bankroll." - -"That bank of junk might be the means to his own frustration," grinned -Tom. "Every time I look at it, I get a feeling of what can be done -about it that is practical, and that may force him into existence and -keep him there." - -"Well, good luck. And remember, I am just a sort of referee. One -of you will become the stronger. One will succeed. I can hope for -coalescence, but I doubt that it will take place. Lacking that, all I -can hope for is that eventually you will become reintegrated and that -the lesser personality will be frozen out." - -Tom Lionel returned home, thinking furiously. - -"May the best man win, huh?" - - * * * * * - -It was seven solid weeks by the calendar. Seven solid weeks of hard, -backbreaking work during which everything went fine and dandy for Tom -Lionel, Consulting Engineer. - -The balance of his debt was paid off when Americal Electric purchased -the rights and royalties of the cyclotronic spectrograph. The -equipment in Tom's laboratory had been kept in good shape, polished -and even used occasionally. It was all connected for operation, and -though the laboratory had changed from a spacious building into a -place where aisles and areas abounded between banks of equipment, it -did make an impressive sight. - -Even the transit came into use. - -And then at the end of the seventh week, Tom Lionel looked at his -notebook and started to consider in all of its aspects the rather -improbable phenomenon recorded there. He not only let it prey on his -mind; he stopped hourly and invited his mind to consider the evidence. -At first his mind rejected it on the basis that science was not -equipped to consider it, and then as the evidence seemed definite and -leading, his mind accepted the fact that this problem did exist and -that it was a real and utterly baffling problem. - -Then his mind rejected it on the basis of impracticality. It would be -nice--but. - -No known physical effect could possibly explain it in a satisfactory -manner. - -Tom went to sleep. - - * * * * * - -And Thomas Lionel, Ph.D. M.M., awoke. His first consideration was the -chessboard. It baffled him. He didn't really think that the engineer -would capture his queen. It was too easy. Obviously, there was more to -the set-up than appeared. For offering the trap of the double-check -and subsequent loss of his queen, Thomas had opened the row blocked by -the knight. That left him in the desirable position of capturing the -engineer's rook, after which if the engineer was not more than careful -in his counterattack, he would find himself staring a checkmate in -the face. Either the engineer was blind to the trap, or he had a more -complicated trap to spring once the physicist started to move in. - -He had time. He wanted to consider the whole thing. He was going to -be darned sure that he was right before he moved. - -He dressed slowly, and as he entered his kitchenette to prepare -breakfast, he saw a new notebook on the table. He picked it up, -riffled the pages first, and then read the lettering on the front page. - - PHYSICAL DATA AND OBSERVATIONS MADE ON THE OCCURRENCE OF THE - MANIPULATION OF NATURAL FORCES WHICH HAVE NO EXPLANATION IN THE - KNOWN REALM OF PHYSICS. - - Contents: - - 173 pages of text. - 77 pages of calculations. - 48 tables of figures. - 67 photographs. - 13 statements made by unbiased--but not trained--observers. - 7 similar incidents not given scientific attention. - 29 graphs and curves. - 25 pages of description and data pertaining to: - meteorological conditions. - terran constants--gravity and magnetism. - sunspot activity. - chemical analyses of earth at discrete intervals near the - occurrence. - analysis of atmosphere during phenomena. - - Accompanying information and data are samples of earth mentioned - above. Atmospheric samples were contaminated during analysis and - have therefore been destroyed. - -"Little Tommy has been a busy lad," mused the physicist. "'No -explanation' huh? That's a laugh. _Anything_ can be explained. Well, -my engineering friend, let's see what you have cooked up for me." - -Thomas Lionel started to read the "173 pages of text" and got down as -far as the bottom of the first page. He blinked, did a double take, -and reread it. - -"Great howling entropy," he grunted. "The unmitigated screwball -has spent weeks in the compilation of data on his own, personal -observations of a _poltergeist_ in action!" - -Thomas took the cigarette case from his pocket and extracted a -cigarette. He snapped the lighter and was amazed to see the colors on -the case. They were scintillating, iridescent, and beautiful. They -danced and changed as he moved the lighter, and the swift play of -color across the surface of the case caught his fancy. - -It also caught his scientific sense. He looked at the case carefully -and swore. Tom had been using the ruling engine. The surface of the -cigarette case was a mirror-grating and it was as good a job as the -ruling engine could produce. - -Thomas fumed. The idea! And then he smiled a bit. For the engineer's -use of the ruling engine to decorate a cigarette case was a sort of -prostitution of the machine, but it had not harmed the engine in -any way. And it was certainly no worse on the physicist's nerves -than the irrelevant mixture of precision and utter sloppiness that -characterized the physicist's work. - -It was, the physicist admitted, beautiful. - -He returned to the engineering data. - - * * * * * - -A poltergeist! - -The "throwing-ghost" of the ancient lore and myth. The fearsome -manifestation of unrealism. Superstition! - -Sheer superstition! - -The physicist's mind rejected it, at first. But that which made -him the physicist prodded neatly and patiently and quietly. "Where -there's smoke, there's fire," it said. And it mentioned situations -where, though exact engineering data had not been taken, certainly the -observers were not incompetent. They were not trained, but they did -attempt to give a valid picture. - -Well, so there might be something to it. So the poltergeist might be -something. - -This case was no flash in the pan. It was real and valid. For nine -full days it had persisted. For nine full days, stones passed through -the air at the direction of--the poltergeist. Pictures of the stones -in full flight. A step-by-step, frame-by-frame sequence picture of -a stone leaving the ground and speeding away gave Thomas a wriggly -feeling up and down his spine. - -Barometric pressure 29.77 inches, temperature 84.66 degrees, both -rising slightly. A graph gave the pressure and temperature throughout -the nine days. The total number of stones and the masses, individual -and aggregate. The district, with a map of both the entire township -and a close-up map-diagram of the area, with motion-traces across it, -each labeled, notated, numbered, and keyed to the text. - -Physical data on the gravitational field. Maps of the magnetic field, -both transverse and vertical. Wind direction during each passage of -the stones. - -A faked report. - -Couldn't be real. Absolutely impossible. Ridiculous, and the work of a -frantic mind, working avidly to create a situation. - -And yet the engineer was a good engineer. He couldn't--it was -psychologically impossible for him--to present fake data. - -Ergo this report must be real. - -Thomas considered the reports of peculiar activity. Mostly the -newspapers reported them as small boys throwing stones as a method -of exerting their ability to be annoying to the police and duly -constituted authority. - -There were reports, he knew. About twelve authentic reports per year, -which considering the possibility of having the poltergeist phenomena -present when no observer was there--how many times had he heard small -stones rattling from the roof or rattling noises of one sort or -another--meant that the poltergeist was a rather common phenomenon. -There were cases he recalled wherein earthquake temblor had been -blamed for the upsetting of a grand piano. He'd wondered about that -one--a grand piano is stable, positionwise--and how it could have been -rolled across the room and dumped upside down. - -Poltergeist phenomena. - -Ah yes. It might be advisable to get slightly soused tonight. But -Thomas was a physicist. He did not quail or get slightly panicky at -the idea of the unknown, even though the unknown was known to have -tossed a slab of marble--appropriately, a tombstone--several hundred -feet through a caretaker's shed. - -To be sure, it was slightly running against the grain to sit there in -the broad daylight and read about things that according to all physics -from Archimedes to Einstein claimed impossible, racial superstition, -and old wives' tales. It was very disquieting to read of stones--dead, -inert, lifeless, immobile bits of granite--that took off from Mother -Earth with no visible means of support, to go whizzing through the -thin daylight air at speeds that raised bruises, cut nicks in trees, -and shattered windows. It bothered the sense of propriety. It was not -right. It was like seeing Lake Louise in violent flame, or watching -Niagara go tumbling up from the whirling pools to the ledge that -flanked Goat Island. It was crushing chrome-vanadium test-bars between -your fingers just after removal from a tensile strength machine that -failed to fracture them at fifteen thousand pounds per square inch. It -was watching phosphorus lying inert in an atmosphere of pure oxygen. - -It was all wrong. - -And yet, thought the physicist, what must the Ancient One have -thought when he considered the act of fire melting hard metal? They -did strange things, in those days. They invented phlogiston, and spent -centuries trying to isolate it. Galileo and his telescope, looking -through it to Jupiter, must have been startled at the concept as well -as the sight of a planetary system in operation. - -Science knew that the poltergeist was a problem--but like the man -who does not care to go crazy because of the insoluble problem, -science shrugged, admitted that it was stumped--intelligently enough, -under the circumstances--and then remarked that after finding the -next decimal place, it would, perhaps, take a look into the natural -phenomena of things that were thrown by nothing. - -Until that date, it could look the other way and claim that small boys -were throwing stones. - -Little boys that they could not see. - -Little green men-- - - * * * * * - -Uh-huh, well, here before Thomas Lionel was a veritable wealth of -intelligent observations and data on the complete operation, including -evidence to substantiate the fact that neither small boys or little -green men were involved. - -The evidence and engineering measurements were made with impersonal -directness. The engineer, recognizing that he knew nothing of the -cause, recorded the effect with court-stenographic impartiality. -A stone of so many grams left point A in a rising parabola and -proceeded to point B where it landed and rolled to point C. It took -X seconds, attained Y velocity at peak, and covered Z feet. Graph 1 -represents acceleration and deceleration, and equation XXVII is the -mathematical representation of the space-curve described by this stone -of so many grams. - -And bottle VQ contained the stone. - -It was all wrong, but it was interesting. It pointed the way to -madness--and unless it could be rationalized, the pathway to madness -would be a one-way street. Thomas knew at that point that his feet -were on that path. He could never retreat until he carried back with -him an answer--and from the data presented, his answer must be right. - -The engineer, he knew, had done it deliberately. As a means of -frustration it was more than air-tight. It was perfect. Show a -physicist something that floats between two plates, and he'll go crazy -until he knows why. And the engineer had shown the physicist any -number of things that floated--sped, indeed--through the air between -heaven and earth, like Mohammed's coffin. - -Without the benefit of mirrors. - -Well, Thomas Lionel, are you licked? - -He found a letter that removed all doubt as to the reason. He opened -it and read: - - Dear Archimedes: - - Since you so gallantly presented me with this aggregation of things - to measure the last three decimal places of everything, I have - decided to put it to work. I have had some fun, thanks to you, in - measuring things that I believe have never been set to music before. - I have spent some time collecting and presenting data. - - This data I do not pretend to understand. I don't intend to try. I - am merely an impartial observer. To harness this power would be a - boon to civilization. I can see a small truck full of equipment - bearing the sign: - - POLTERGEIST MOVING COMPANY - - if you can only unravel the information contained in my data. You, - as a physicist, surely must be able to explain the manifestation in - terms that satisfy all and sundry. Once you decide what makes, I'll - be interested. Until that date I am stumped, admit it, and happy - that I am able to hand the problem to one who by all the evidence, - has the personality and character that will not permit these pages - of painstaking data to molder in the dust. - - Please--old fellow, tell me what's with a poltergeist. - - And don't refer vaguely to space warps or fourth dimensional animals. - That's strictly for _Corny Stories or Vulturesome Tales_. - - Interestedly, - Tom Lionel, - Consulting Engineer. - - P.S. That junk you bought made it possible to make these - measurements. Surely the same stuff should enable you to figure out - the answer. You and your monomolecular films. - -You and your monomolecular films, Thomas snorted. - - * * * * * - -That was the start. Then, for eight solid weeks, the laboratory lights -burned by night, and the machinery turned at all and odd hours of the -clock. Measurements were conducted on all sorts of things; including at -one instance, the astronomical data pertaining to planetary line-up of -the solar system. That one was stamped with a large reject sign; not -only it didn't apply, but it didn't make sense either. Trips to the -library were frequent, and many's the ancient tome that Thomas read -until his eyes burned. - -The equations, graphs, and tabulations came in for their study and he -located a percentage of dispersion in them. It was either experimental -error or true dispersion of effect. - -The engineer had done his work well. He had compiled his information, -and then had presented it in such a manner that left no doubt. And -it proved conclusively that something was there and at the same time -pointed out that if there was something there, it could be analyzed, -and possibly reproduced. - -The physicist knew that no answer would be satisfactory until the -phenomenon could be reproduced. - -And both he and the engineer knew that the chances were more than -possible that a high-order physical effect might be the basic cause. -An effect for which mankind had no instruments; radio as a natural -phenomenon would be inexplicable to a race that had never discovered a -means of detection; the mathematical prediction of radio occurred years -before the original experiments. - -So-- - -The physicist set his mind against frustration. To change over to the -engineer without an answer would be an admission of defeat. At least -without _some_ satisfactory answer. - -He mulled his problem by the hour, by the day, and by the week. He did -take enough time out to consider the chess problem daily. He figured -all the possible moves and finally, one night, he smiled, shrugged his -shoulders and decided to plunge ahead. - -He slid his rook down from one king row to the other through the -square formerly covered by the knight which had been protected by a -bishop. All the way across the board he went, and as he arrived at his -opponent's king row, he took out the little sign and stood it on the -center of the board. - - * * * * * - -Tom Lionel blinked and removed his finger from the pushbutton. He -shook his head. This was all wrong. And, besides, what in the name of -entropy was this little box? He didn't recall putting a finger on that -button--but here he was, removing his hand after holding the button -down. - -It was a small metal box about eight by seven by four inches. The edges -were all die-straight and the surfaces were as optically flat as Tom -could determine without testing. The pushbutton was set flush with the -surface, and made of the same metal as the box. - -No other projection was evident. - -But the button was accompanied with engraving cut in the metal of the -front surface. It said: - - BE AN ENGINEER! - - Away with imagination! Be - practical! Dispense with - theory! Do nothing that - cannot be justified and - explained to perfection. - - To succeed; to enjoy the - wonderful practicality - of the engineer-- - - PRESS HERE! - Poltergeist Conversion Co., Ltd. - -Tom blinked and got the idea at once. The engineer knew. The physicist -had dreamed up this thing; it must contain some sort of thing that -caused the shift in personality at the physicist's will. - -He took hold of it and lifted. - -It slipped out of his fingers. - -He set both hands on it and lifted. It stayed on the table. He grunted -and strained, and succeeded in getting it off the table by several -inches. Then he gave up and returned it slowly to the top again, -fearing to drop it lest it damage the desk top. - -Metal, huh? - -Must be practically solid, then. - -What metal? - -Tom thought. Must be tougher than a battleship's nose, for if entry -were easy, the physicist knew he'd be rebuilding the thing every time -he wanted to use it. - -He took a cold chisel, set the edge against one corner and walloped it -with a hammer. The edge of the cold chisel turned back in a neat Vee. -Tom took a file, set the cutting edge against one corner and filed. -The file slipped across the corner of the box with all the bite of a -solid, slick bar of smooth steel. - -An atomic hydrogen cutting torch stood nearby. Tom fired up and set the -ultra-hot flame against the same corner that had defied his previous -efforts. Nothing much happened excepting that the box got hotter. - -That spoiled Tom's fun for the moment. The desk below the box started -to smoke and then burst into flame. Tom grabbed a carbon tetrachloride -extinguisher but stopped before he played the stream on the hot metal. -It was charring the desk through. - -The desk was ruined anyway, so Tom ignored it for the moment. He ran a -bucket of water and slid it underneath the desk just in time to catch -the ultra-hot box just as it passed through the table. - -While it was sizzling in the bucket of water and sending forth great -clouds of vapor, Tom busied himself with the extinguisher, putting out -the fire on the desk. - -Tungsten! - -Well, tungsten or not, it must be ruined after immersion in water after -being red-hot all over. Nothing on God's green earth-- - -Holy entropy! He'd said that before. It presented a couple of large, -bright red question marks. - -One. That thing was apparently tungsten clear through. Therefore, how -had the physicist cast it? - -Two. Granted that thing had been cast--what in the name of howling -rockets had the physicist used for the inside circuits? - -And three. If running molten tungsten into the mold hadn't ruined the -guts of the box, how could heat and water do anything at all? - -And, disquieting thought, was the pushbutton waterproof? - -With much difficulty, Tom moved the box out from its watery bath below -the bench and hauled it over to the high-power X-ray machine. He looked -at the fluoroscope and grunted in disgust. - -Naturally, tungsten would be completely and utterly blank-faced to any -X-ray manipulation. He wanted to kick it, but he knew that kicking a -sold slab of tungsten would be damaging only to the kickee. - -A means of casting tungsten--something that they'd been seeking ever -since the stuff was isolated. He had it--or at least, the physicist had -it. - -Utter frustration. - - * * * * * - -Thomas Lionel looked at the box and grinned. He knew what had happened. -The engineer hadn't been able to guess-- - -He pressed the button again-- - - * * * * * - -Tom Lionel removed his finger from the button and swore. He used an -engineer's ability to remember and then to improvise and from there -he took up the job of invention. His swearing did him good. At least -he forgot to worry about the tungsten box. He'd find that one out -eventually, anyway. - -And, furthermore, its trial by fire and water had damaged it in -absolutely no way. - -Q.E.D., here he was again! - -He looked further. It was not like the physicist to just do this. There -must be other information pertaining to the problem that the engineer -had left. He went into the living room of his house and sought the -desk. There was more of it, anyway. - -The title page of the manuscript read: - - MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS OF - OBSERVATIONAL DATA MADE - DURING THE MANIFESTATION - OF FORCES OPERATING IN A - NEW FIELD OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE. - - By Thomas Lionel, Ph.D., M.M. - Consulting Engineer. - -Tom lifted the manuscript from the desk-- - -And he got the squeamish feeling of being dropped in an ultra-high -speed elevator that was accelerating at a terrific rate. He -instinctively dropped the manuscript and clutched the edge of the desk. -When the manuscript hit the desk, it caused the phenomenon to stop. - -Tom felt the top page, ran around it with his fingers, and then -carefully slid his hand beneath the last page, found the button on the -desk top, and held it down while he removed the manuscript. - -He lifted. It gave him the screaming willies, and instinctively, Tom -pressed hard on the button. - -His elevator changed direction. It gave him the effect of being hit on -the head with a sand bag. It was now accelerating upward at a violent -rate. - -He let the button up slowly. The feeling ceased as he reached a -pressure about even to the weight of the manuscript; stopping all at -once. He compensated by dropping an equal number of blank pages from -the desk on the button and took the manuscript to his easy chair to -read. - -It was one of those things. It couldn't be denied. He was going to -be _forced_ into presenting this paper before the American Physical -Society, using his full name and all of his degrees and the works. The -physicist and his little tungsten box would see to it that he remained -an engineer until the paper was presented, fully and completely. The -physicist didn't have all the answers, of course, but he had solved -some of the basic problems. - -He finished the manuscript, and then found a letter. It said: - - Dear Galileo: - - The phenomenon of losing fifty pounds is the result of an - antigravity field which I discovered from your data on the good - old poltergeist. The trouble with the thing is simply this: - - In order to make the thing function, it takes something like three - tons of equipment to make the object within the field lose its - fifty pounds. - - I, as a physicist, do not care about the practicality of the device. - I have made it work. You, as an engineer, will appreciate the - possibilities behind the perfection of this device. I offer you the - chance to start your Poltergeist Moving Company, providing, of - course, that you can make something of this effect. - - Incidentally, I have been unable to get or to predict - antigravitational forces of less than fifty pounds regardless of - how the equipment is set up. - - I don't care, I will leave the rest to you. - - Sincerely, - Thomas Lionel, Ph.D., M.M. - -Tungsten casting, antigravity, inefficiency and poltergeists! Tom's -head whirled. With a last-hope gesture, he stalked over to the -chessboard and studied the men. - -It bothered him, he was completely frustrated. The room whirled a bit, -despite Tom's fight against it. This was the last straw, this chess -game. - -Not that he himself was the absolute loser in this game of living -chess. It was just that he had started something that threatened to -boil over at the edges. - -Fundamentally, he'd tried to exorcise the physicist. He'd gone to much -trouble and effort to remove the low-down effect of physicist-thinking -patterns from his immediate locale. Instead--by his supreme efforts to -get rid of the theorist, aforementioned theorist had come up with a -few problems of his own that tickled the imagination, offered all sorts -of interesting problems, and-- - -Had basically shown how utterly impossibly foolish it would be to try -and get rid of the physicist. - -Thomas Lionel, Ph.D., M.M., knew too much to be immediately removed, -obliterated, canceled, or even ignored. - -How do you cast tungsten? How do you make antigravity--even on an -inefficient scale? And if a poltergeist is--and you know his address, -as the physicist seemed to, can you hire the throwing-ghost? Brother, -did he have a lot of problems to reduce to practice! He'd have little -time for getting rid of his pal. - -Tom Lionel snarled at the chessboard. He'd made his gambit, and instead -of ridding himself of a rather powerful threat to his own security, -he'd--well, he reread the significant sign that presided over the -chessboard and began to growl like an insulted cocker spaniel. - -The sign said: - - CHECKMATE! - - THE END. - -THE END. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TROUBLE *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following -the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use -of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for -copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very -easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation -of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project -Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may -do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected -by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark -license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country other than the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where - you are located before using this eBook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm website -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that: - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of -the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the Foundation as set -forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, -Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up -to date contact information can be found at the Foundation's website -and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without -widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our website which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This website includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/68272-0.zip b/old/68272-0.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index f5ba0ce..0000000 --- a/old/68272-0.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/68272-h.zip b/old/68272-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index b5b3eb4..0000000 --- a/old/68272-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/68272-h/68272-h.htm b/old/68272-h/68272-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 2b01174..0000000 --- a/old/68272-h/68272-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1980 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=us-ascii" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Trouble, by George O. Smith. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -table { - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; -} - -.blockquot { - margin-left: 5%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - -div.titlepage { - text-align: center; - page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; -} - -div.titlepage p { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; - font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; - margin-top: 3em; -} - -.ph1 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; } -.ph1 { font-size: large; margin: .67em auto; } - -.ph2 { text-align: right; text-indent: 0em; } -.ph2 { font-size: medium; margin: .67em auto; } - -.ph3 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; } -.ph3 { font-size: medium; margin: .67em auto; } - - - </style> - </head> -<body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Trouble, by George O. Smith</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Trouble</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: George O. Smith</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: June 9, 2022 [eBook #68272]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net.</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TROUBLE ***</div> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus1.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>Trouble</h1> - -<h2>By GEORGE O. SMITH</h2> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Astounding Science-Fiction, July 1946.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Tom Lionel, Consulting Engineer, awoke with a shake of his head. At -once, he was out of bed. He consulted first the calendar and then the -clock. The thought struck him funny. He hadn't been drinking, but the -idea of looking at a calendar upon awakening might be construed as an -admission that he didn't know what time of what day it was.</p> - -<p><i>Or mayhap what month.</i></p> - -<p>"Ding it," he grunted. "I've been away again."</p> - -<p>He dressed by stages. At the trousers department, Tom wandered out into -the living room and stood over a chessboard, studying the set-up. The -opponent had moved the queen to the rook's fourth, menacing his bishop. -Tom smiled and moved his knight to his knight's sixth and checked the -opponent's king on the rook's first, and the queen simultaneously. He -slid the drawer below the table open and removed a little standing -sign that said, in red, block letters:</p> - -<p class="ph1">CHECK!</p> - -<p>"Let him try that one, will he?" laughed Tom. The move was basic; in -checking the king and menacing the queen simultaneously, Tom had—or -would upon the next move—collect himself his opponent's queen with no -great loss.</p> - -<p>At the shirt and necktie stage, Tom Lionel stood teetering on his heels -before the bookcase on the right of the fireplace. He took from the -case a slim volume and read the title with considerable distaste:</p> - -<p class="ph3">"Theory of Monomolecular Films -in Fission-Reaction"</p> - -<p class="ph3">By A. G. Rodan, Ph.D., M.M., LL.D.</p> - -<p>"Yipe!" exploded Tom as he opened the book and glanced at the price: -$9.50. With ease he prorated the price against the thickness of the -volume and came to the estimate that the book had cost approximately -nineteen dollars per inch excluding covers. He riffled through the -pages and paused here and there to read, but the pages themselves were -a good average of four lines of text to the rest of the page full of -nuclear equations.</p> - -<p>Tom Lionel snorted. He ran down through one of the arguments and -followed it to conclusion.</p> - -<p>"Why can't he get something worth reading?" he yawned, putting the book -back in its place. "Darned impractical stuff." As usual with a man -who spends much time in his own company, Tom Lionel talked aloud to -himself—and occasionally was known to answer himself back. "The whole -trouble with the entire tribe of physicists per se is the fact that -once, someone told one of them that he was a theorist, an idealist, -and a dealer in the abstract. Now the bunch of them are afraid to do -anything practical because they're afraid if they do, people won't know -they're physicists. Physicists are a sort of necessary, end-product -evil."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>During the breakfast section of Tom's morning duties, Tom read the -latest copy of the "Proceedings of the I.R.E." with some relish. A -paper on the "Crystallographic Generation of Microwaves" complete with -plainly manipulated differential calculus and engineering data occupied -most of his time. The rest of the time through coffee he was making -marks on the tablecloth with the egg-laden end of his fork and trying -to fit the crystallographic generation of microwaves into a problem -that made the article most timely; the solution for which he had been -seeking for a week.</p> - -<p>The mail arrived. Three household bills were filed in the desk to -await the first of the month. Two advertisements were filed into the -wastebasket. One thick letter addressed to Thomas Lionel, Ph.D., M.M., -was taken carefully between thumb and forefinger and deposited in a -letter file.</p> - -<p>Tom then inspected the other letter file and found two letters -addressed to Tom Lionel, Consulting Engineer, which he opened and read. -One was from a concern in Cedar Rapids that wanted some information on -a method of induction heating glued joints selectively without waiting -for the normal drying time. The other was a letter from a medium-sized -town in Illinois pertaining to some difficulty they were having with -police-radio coverage of that area.</p> - -<p>Both letters meant money, and Tom Lionel set the first aside while he -started to work on the second. From the engineering data supplied by -the local engineer, Tom decided that a change in antenna height and a -conversion from quarter-wave current fed to a one and one quarter-wave -current fed antenna would give the desired coverage. He concluded his -letter with four pages of calc, seven diagrams, and as a last measure -dropped a photograph of a similar installation in the envelope.</p> - -<p>He gloated. That would net him a pretty penny. The guy who hung that -antenna on top of the water tank thought he was smart, getting all that -height. But the roof was metal, and therefore the radiation angle took -off from the rooftop as a basis rather than the true ground a hundred -feet below.</p> - -<p>The tank top was greater than three wave lengths in diameter, and -conical to boot. Tom grinned at the maze of mathematics that solved -it—and as far as he was concerned it was solved, for Tom Lionel was a -top-flight engineer.</p> - -<p>He checked on his calendar. Metal for the sonic job was not due for a -week yet; a minute casting was still being held up for the foundry's -pleasure; and the life-test of the bearing-jewel for the Watson -Instrument Corporation was still on. Good jewel that. No sign of -freeze-up or wear-out after twenty-seven million cycles.</p> - -<p>"Theory of Monomolecular Films be hanged," he snorted. "He's the kind -of a guy that would try to analyze the brew that MacBeth's three -witches were cooking up. And don't ask why!"</p> - -<p>What he objected to most was the other's unconcern at spending money. -Nine bucks and fifty cents for a book of the most questionable -theory—and nine fifty that the other didn't really earn. It was -getting worse. The other was really beginning to obtrude. He hadn't -minded, particularly, except for the mental anguish. He'd become -reconciled to it by sheer rationalization. Way, way down deep in his -heart he knew that he'd have enjoyed being a physicist himself. But -physicists were not particularly practical, and money was made with -practical things. He knew, and recognized, that his retreat from being -a physicist himself had given him a dislike for the breed, especially -when he knew that solution of a problem was theirs, but reduction -to practice was his. He was continuously being forced to take some -physicist's wild-haired scheme and making it cook meat, open cans, -or dig post holes. The physicist had all the fun of standing on the -threshold and delving into phenomena that abounded just over the line. -And then instead of working on the suggestion that the physicist had -located in the wilderness, the physicist just tossed it over his -shoulder into Lionel's lap and went on digging.</p> - -<p>Obviously it must be fun to dig in the unknown, but why in the name of -sense—</p> - -<p>"Theory of Monomolecular Films in Fission-Reaction," scowled Tom -Lionel. "A hypothesis on a theory for an idea, based upon a practical -impossibility, and directed at a problem solvable only by concentrated -masses. He should be working in a negative universe where nonmatter -repels nonmatter disproportionately to the nonmass and inversely -disproportional to the not-square of the not-distance between. Holy -Entropy."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Tom Lionel went out of the house, mentally tinkering with the -glue-joint heating problem. That shouldn't be hard, he thought, -high-frequency heating was no trick, though the furniture company -probably had no one in the place that knew what high frequency really -meant.</p> - -<p>He'd take a chair, rip it apart at the joints, and start tinkering -with the big radio-frequency heater in the lab. Another fat consulting -fee—eminently practical and satisfying—from the simple engineering of -a means to accelerate the drying of glue by electronics.</p> - -<p>Eminently practi—<i>hell</i>!</p> - -<p>Lionel stared. The door closed slowly behind him as he walked ever -so slowly across the floor of the lab. There was his radio-frequency -heater, all right. But it was not in its usual place. It was across the -room nuzzling up against another piece of equipment—the latter new, -shining, and absolutely alien to the lab.</p> - -<p>Tom went over to the set-up and inspected it with critical derision.</p> - -<p>The alien piece of equipment had been a standard model of mass -spectrograph. Its sleek sides were gaping open, and the high-frequency -heater was permanently wired—piped—into the very heart of the -spectrograph. Peering into the maze of one-inch copper tubing that led -from the output of the high-frequency heater to the insides of the -spectrograph, Lionel saw at once what the reason was.</p> - -<p>The spectrograph had been overhauled by the physicist. It now contained -a pair of "D" chambers.</p> - -<p>Operating on the cyclotron principle, the spectrograph was using the -output of the high-frequency heater to energize the D chambers. Lionel -nodded. The frequency was about right; could be adjusted to the proper -value without any trouble at all. He felt an infinitesimally short -twitch of admiration for the idea before he started to roar in anguish.</p> - -<p>His first impulse was to rip the gadget apart so that he could go to -work on something practical. But the engineer's admiration for the idea -stopped him.</p> - -<p>But this was getting thick.</p> - -<p>It had been getting thicker for a long time. It was getting -intolerable. He didn't mind too much having volumes of utterly -cock-eyed theory about the place, but when the physicist starts to -appropriate equipment for his screwball ideas, it was time to call a -halt.</p> - -<p>Lionel left the laboratory, returned to his house, and called a -psychiatrist.</p> - -<p>An hour later he was in Dr. Hamilton's office.</p> - -<p>"Why are you here?" asked Hamilton pleasantly.</p> - -<p>"I want to get rid of a physicist."</p> - -<p>"Tell him to go away."</p> - -<p>"Can't. Impossible."</p> - -<p>"Nothing is impossible."</p> - -<p>"Look, doctor, have you ever tried to light a safety match on a wet bar -of soap?"</p> - -<p>"Suppose you tell me about it, then."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Tom Lionel was more than talkative for a half hour.</p> - -<p>"A clear-cut case of split-personality. A most remarkable cleavage."</p> - -<p>Lionel muttered something.</p> - -<p>"What did you say?"</p> - -<p>"I'd rather not repeat it," said Tom.</p> - -<p>"Please—it may have a bearing on your case."</p> - -<p>"I was merely thinking of an hypothetical case. Says the doctor to his -associate: 'Doctor, look at this magnificent tumor,' and his buddy -answers: 'Lovely, but you should see my case of angina; it's positively -beautiful.'"</p> - -<p>"Oh?"</p> - -<p>"So I'm a most remarkable case, huh?"</p> - -<p>"You are. There seems to be a deep-seated liking for one another that -has been barred psychologically by certain factors in your youth. You -play chess. You respect one another's property—"</p> - -<p>"That's what you say. The other bird just screwed up my dielectric -heater to fiddle up a cyclotronic spectrograph."</p> - -<p>"Might try putting it to work," observed Hamilton.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I will. After all, he can't get ahead of <i>me</i>."</p> - -<p>"Then why the outcry?"</p> - -<p>"Because who knows what he'll do next."</p> - -<p>"He's appropriated things before?"</p> - -<p>"Only to the extent of buying books."</p> - -<p>"What manner of books?"</p> - -<p>"The last one he purchased was entitled 'The Theory of Monomolecular -Films in Fission-Reaction.'"</p> - -<p>"Mind explaining that? It sounds like Greek to me."</p> - -<p>Lionel smiled tolerantly. "If you have a flat table and a pile of kid's -toy blocks, you can either build a structure or lay 'em on the table in -a single layer. Since molecules are often called the building-blocks -of the universe, the analogy is quite clear. The blocks in a single -layer form a monomolecular layer. Fission reaction is a self-sustaining -nuclear reaction."</p> - -<p>"Sounds quite erudite."</p> - -<p>"In the first place, no one with any sense would try to make use of it. -It is the type of volume that a physicist would write in the hope that -he will get letters pro and con on the subject which will be useful in -forming a later theory."</p> - -<p>"Then it is not a complete waste of time."</p> - -<p>"Any time I lay out nine bucks for a half-inch of paper—"</p> - -<p>"Expensive, isn't it?" asked the doctor.</p> - -<p>"Sure. Those things are not best sellers, usually. The publisher puts -it out in the name of science and must at least get his printing cost -out of the very limited edition."</p> - -<p>"I see. And you want to get rid of this physicist?"</p> - -<p>"Who wouldn't? After all, I had this body first. He's an interloper."</p> - -<p>"Seems that way."</p> - -<p>"It is—and it's annoying."</p> - -<p>"We may be able to do something about it," said the psychiatrist. -"Permit me to think about this for a few days. We'll have another -consultation in a week. We may require another one before I make a -decision. But it seems to me that you are both intelligent, useful -citizens. Neither of you is irresponsible or dangerous. You have -enough money to afford schizophrenia for a while. Especially if the -personality B dreams up things that personality A makes practical, -financially advantageous use of. Ergo you need fear nothing for a few -weeks."</p> - -<p>"Ugh. Means I'll have to go out and buy another high-frequency heater. -O.K., doctor. I'll lay low."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Thomas Lionel, Ph.D., M.M., awoke with a shake of his head. At once, he -was out of bed. He consulted first the calendar and then the clock. -The thought struck him funny. He hadn't been drinking, but the idea of -looking at a calendar upon awakening might be construed as an admission -that he didn't know what time of what day it was.</p> - -<p>Or mayhap what month.</p> - -<p>"I've been away again," he grunted.</p> - -<p>He dressed by stages. At the trousers department, Thomas wandered out -into the living room and stood over the chessboard, studying the set-up.</p> - -<p>He removed the little sign that said:</p> - -<p class="ph1">CHECK!</p> - -<p>and dropped it into the drawer again. He moved his king aside with a -contemplative smile. His queen was gone on the next move, he knew. So -he had lost a major piece. So that other bird thought that losing a -major piece was bad, huh? Well, winning battles does not count—it is a -matter of who wins the last one.</p> - -<p>He found the volume on the theory of monomolecular films and started -to read with relish. Over coffee, at breakfast, Thomas made notations -on the margin of the book with a pencil; checked some of the equations -and though he found them balanced properly, the author was amiss in not -considering the lattice-effect in his presumptions. No monomolecular -film could follow that type of reaction simply because—well, it could -follow it, but since the thing was to take place in a monomolecular -film, the fission-reaction and the radiation byproducts that cause the -self-sustaining nature could only be effective in a plane of molecular -thickness. That meant a .999999% loss, since the radiation went off -spherically. Fission-reaction might take place, but it would be most -ineffective. Besides, the equations should have taken that into account.</p> - -<p>He stopped by the desk and wrote for a half hour, filling seventeen -pages full of text and mathematics, explaining the error in the -author's presumption.</p> - -<p>He sealed it up and mailed it with some relish. No doubt that letter -would start a fight.</p> - -<p>He found his letter in the letter file and read it. It was a request to -indulge in some basic research at a fancy figure, but Thomas was not -particularly interested. He was thinking of another particular line of -endeavor. He dropped the letter into the wastebasket.</p> - -<p>He went into the lab and took a look at his cyclotronic spectrograph. -There was a letter hung on the front. Thomas opened it and read:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Dear Isaac Newton:</p> - -<p>I don't particularly mind your laying out thirty-five hundred bucks -for a mass spectrograph.</p> - -<p>Appropriating my high-frequency generator didn't bother me too much.</p> - -<p>Nor did your unsymmetrical wiring and haywire peregrinations in and -about the two of them annoy (too acutely) my sense of mechanical and -electrical precision.</p> - -<p>But the idea of your using the ##&&%!! spectrograph only once—just -for pre-change calibration—makes me madder than mad!</p> - - -<p class="ph2">Sincerely,<br /> -Tom Lionel,<br /> -Consulting Engineer<br /> -</p></div> - -<p>Thomas grinned boyishly and picked up the notebook on top of the -high-frequency heater. It was Tom's, and the physicist riffled through -it to the last-used pages. He found considerable in the way of notes -and sketches on the cyclotronic spectrograph. Cut in size by about one -quarter, the thing would be not only a research instrument of value, -but would be of a price low enough to make it available to schools, -small laboratories, and perhaps production-lines—if Tom Lionel could -find a use for a mass spectrograph on a production line.</p> - -<p>Thomas grinned again. If it were possible, Tom would certainly have it -included on <i>some</i> production line, somewhere.</p> - -<p>He looked the spectrograph over and decided that it was a fine piece -of apparatus. So it wasn't the shining piece of commercial panel and -gleaming meters. The high-frequency plumbing in it had the touch of a -one-thumbed plumber's apprentice after ten days' drinking and the D -plates were soldered together with a heavy hand. But it did work—and -that's all he cared. The knobs and dials he had added were sticking -out at all angles, but they functioned.</p> - -<p>And the line-voltage ripple present in the high-frequency generator -made a particular mess out of the spectrograph separation. But -electronic heaters do not normally come luxuriously equipped with -rectifiers and filters so that the generator tubes were served with -pure direct current—the circuit was self-rectified which would give -a raucous signal if used as a radio transmitter. That generated -a ripple-varied signal for the D plates and it screwed up the -dispersion. The omission of refinement satisfied Thomas. So it wasn't -perfect. It would be by the time Tom Lionel got through with it.</p> - -<p>And for the time being, Thomas would leave it alone. No use trying -to make it work until Tom made an engineering model out of the -physicist's experiment.</p> - -<p>Smiling to himself, Thomas went to work in the laboratory. He ignored -Tom's experiments and started a few of his own accord.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Some hours later, the doorbell rang and Thomas went to the door to -find a letter, addressed to Thomas Lionel, Ph.D. It was from an Arthur -Hamilton, M.D.</p> - -<p>"Hm-m-m," said Thomas. "Is there something the matter with me?" He -slit the envelope and removed a bill for consultation.</p> - -<p>"Consultation? Consultation? What in the name of all that's unholy -is he consulting a doctor about? Or is the doctor consulting—no, -the bill is rendered in the wrong direction. I know my consulting -engineer."</p> - -<p>The physicist put on his hat and headed forth. It was not much later -that he was sitting again in the same chair, facing Hamilton.</p> - -<p>"You're back."</p> - -<p>"Nope," smiled Thomas. "I'm here, not back."</p> - -<p>"But you were here last week."</p> - -<p>"That was another fellow. Look, Hamilton, I think I require your -assistance. I have an engineer that is no end of bother."</p> - -<p>"Want to get rid of him, huh?" answered Hamilton. The suppressed smile -fought valiantly and won, and the doctor's face beamed and then he -broke into laughter. "What am I, anyway? Man, I can't take money from -both sides. That's ... that's ... barratry, or something."</p> - -<p>"I'm the same man."</p> - -<p>"Nope. You are not."</p> - -<p>"Well, by and large, I thought it might be of interest to you to hear -both sides. It might be that I am a useful citizen in spite of what -the engineer says."</p> - -<p>"The engineer's opinion is that no physicist is worth an unprintable."</p> - -<p>"The physicist's opinion is that all engineers are frustrated -physicists."</p> - -<p>"Might challenge him to a fight."</p> - -<p>"Have. But chess isn't too satisfying. I want blood."</p> - -<p>"It's your blood."</p> - -<p>"That's the annoying part of it all. He seems entirely a different -fellow."</p> - -<p>"The cleavage is perfect. You would think him a separate entity." -Hamilton paused, "But neither of you refer to the other by name. That -indicates a psychological block that may be important evidence."</p> - -<p>"O.K., what do we do?"</p> - -<p>"I must discover the reason for the split personality."</p> - -<p>"I can give you that reason. The engineer was forced into being a -practical man because money lies in that direction. Upon getting out -of college, there was a heavy debt. It was paid off by hard work—a -habit formed and never broken. Bad habits, you know, are hard to -break."</p> - -<p>"Interesting."</p> - -<p>"Well, the desire to delve into the physicist's realm stayed with the -engineer, but people who had heavy purses were not interested in new -ways to measure the ether-drift or the effect of cosmic radiation on -the physical properties of carbon. Money wants more perfect pencil -sharpeners, ways of automatically shelling peas, and efficient methods -of de-gassing oil. All these things are merely applications in -practice of phenomena that some physicist has uncovered and revealed -and put on record so that some engineer can use the effect to serve -his ends.</p> - -<p>"At any rate, the desire to be a physicist is strong, strong enough to -cause schizophrenia. I, Dr. Hamilton, am a living, breathing, talking -example that an engineer is but a frustrated physicist. He is the -troubled one—I am the stable personality. I am happy, well-adjusted, -and healthy."</p> - -<p>"I see. Yet he has his point. You, like other physicists, are not -interested in making money. How, then, do you propose to live?"</p> - -<p>"A physicist—or an engineer—can always make out well. The bank -account at the last sitting was something like ninety-four thousand, -six hundred seventeen dollars and thirty-four cents."</p> - -<p>"That's quite a lot of money."</p> - -<p>"The engineer considers it a business backlog," said Thomas. -"Equipment is costly. Ergo—see?"</p> - -<p>"I see. Seems you laid out a large sum of money for a mass -spectrograph."</p> - -<p>"I did."</p> - -<p>"And what did he do?"</p> - -<p>"He made notes on it and is going to peddle it as a commercial -product. He'll probably make fifty thousand dollars out of it."</p> - -<p>"I suggested that," admitted the psychiatrist.</p> - -<p>"That's all right. I don't mind. It sort of tickles me, basically. I -do things constantly that make him roar with anguish. And then his -only rebuttal is to take it and make something practical out of it."</p> - -<p>"I see."</p> - -<p>"That, you understand, is the game that has been going on for some -time between all physicists and engineers."</p> - -<p>"If you'd leave one another alone, you'd all be better off," said -Hamilton. "From what I've heard, the trouble lies in the fact that -physicists are not too interested in the practical details, whilst the -engineer resents the physicist's insistance upon getting that last -point zero two percent of performance."</p> - -<p>"Are you willing to give me my answer?"</p> - -<p>"What answer?"</p> - -<p>"How do I get rid of the engineer? One of us has got to go, and being -the stable, happy one, I feel that all in all I am the best adjusted -and therefore the most likely to succeed. After all, I am the ideal -personality according to the other one. He'd like to be me. That's why -he is, from time to time."</p> - -<p>"Sort of a figment of your own imagination."</p> - -<p>"That's me."</p> - -<p>"Then I wonder—Yet, I did accept his case, not yours."</p> - -<p>"Whose case?"</p> - -<p>"Um ... ah ... I—Look, if you frustrate him to the extreme, he'll -retreat into you more and more until he does not appear. Follow?"</p> - -<p>"I get it. O.K., doctor. He'll be the most frustrated engineer in the -world. And I am just the guy to do it."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Tom Lionel, Consulting Engineer, looked foolishly at the claw hammer -in one hand and wondered about it. About him in the laboratory were -stacks of huge packing cases.</p> - -<p>Unpacked already were several monstrous bits of equipment. Lionel -shook his head. Where had this mess come from? He hadn't ordered it—</p> - -<p>Or,</p> - -<p>Had he?</p> - -<p>Lionel left the laboratory on the dead run. He tripped once and fell -flat on his face and as he started up again, the top of his head came -with a sharp bang against the unyielding bottom of a ruling engine.</p> - -<p>"A grating engine," yelled Tom.</p> - -<p>On the desk, in plain sight, was a pile of bills-of-lading. Tom -riffled through them, consulted packing lists, and a catalog of -ordered equipment. In his own handwriting, too.</p> - -<p>Grand total outlay $94,617.34; balance to be paid within thirty days: -$16,750.00.</p> - -<p>"Not only broke," grunted Tom, "but bleeding too."</p> - -<p>His handwriting was his handwriting. Not a chance in the world of -refuting the order, or packing the stuff up and sending it back. He -was stuck with it.</p> - -<p>But the conglomeration that Thomas had picked out. A sort of -aggregation of large and small parts that would have made a small -college laboratory figuratively drool at the thought; but which would -only grow dust, rust, and corrosion in any manufacturing plant.</p> - -<p>With the possible exception, of course, of a manufacturer of -scientific equipment for colleges and laboratories.</p> - -<p>What production line could make use of a ruling engine?</p> - -<p>And if one could, could it use a micro-densitometer in the same -process?</p> - -<p>Of course, the micro-vacuum pump could be used in vacuum tube -manufacture, in a pinch. Vacuum tube companies normally used -large-volume pumps instead of the little super-efficient exhaustion -pump that could take a few cubic centimeters down to a few -millimicrons of mercury.</p> - -<p>The electron microscope was a nice hunk of stuff, but the thing was -not applicable to anything except research.</p> - -<p>And the instantaneous X-ray gadget was tricky as the devil—and -adapted mostly to the job of taking pictures of bullets under fire as -they passed up through the rifling of a gun.</p> - -<p>One pile of stuff was directed—according to Tom's designation—only -at the problem of investigating the Earth's gravitational field as for -strength, direction, and conflicting urges.</p> - -<p>A transit. Now what in the name of sin would a radio engineer want -with a transit? Nice piece of stuff, and far superior to the little -dumpy-level that Tom used to lay out antenna arrays and directive -antennas of one sort or another. But, a transit!</p> - -<p>And so the list went. $111,367.34 worth of the most interesting, -best made, neatly assembled hunks of utterly impractical scientific -machinery ever collected under one roof.</p> - -<p>A solid vista of impracticality as far as the eye could reach.</p> - -<p>The ton of bricks that broke the camel's back.</p> - -<p>Tom roared through the house, took a look at the chessboard and with a -savage movement, took the physicist's queen with his knight. He'd get -even with that physicist if it took—</p> - -<p>Well, almost anything.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Fifteen minutes later he was in Dr. Hamilton's office, pounding on the -desk.</p> - -<p>"Look," he roared, "that physicist just clipped me for my entire -bankroll and then dropped me into debt by sixteen grand. I want him -clipped!"</p> - -<p>"Now take it easy," said the doctor. "Remember you are talking about -yourself."</p> - -<p>"Doc, if I commit suicide am I liable for murder?"</p> - -<p>"Yup. Going to try?"</p> - -<p>"Nope. Life is too interesting. My main regret with life is that I was -born a hundred years too soon. My only compensation is that I may live -to be a hundred, so that I can see what I've missed by being born too -soon. Follow?"</p> - -<p>"You sound mentally healthy enough."</p> - -<p>"Thanks. But what about him? You've seen him."</p> - -<p>"I have. He came to me about you."</p> - -<p>"And what are you doing about it ... us?"</p> - -<p>Dr. Hamilton laughed. "Mind if I speak bluntly?"</p> - -<p>"Not at all. I can take it."</p> - -<p>"Then consider. Both you and your ... physicist ... are sensible, -useful citizens. Both of you can contribute much to civilization. Both -of you can and will be respectable people, for which other people will -have admiration.</p> - -<p>"I am in the middle," said the doctor, "I can be no more than a -referee. I see both sides. I believe the cleavage came as a result -of frustration on your part—you know the details—and as such, you -become him when you are frustrated. The reason why he becomes you is -also clear. Whenever he finds himself in straits due to the necessity -of practical thought, the slip-over occurs. You awoke with a stripping -hammer in your hand, unpacking scientific equipment that the physicist -bought. He, obviously, became quite worried about the financial -situation upon viewing the stuff he bought and could face it no more."</p> - -<p>"Sounds reasonable."</p> - -<p>"Now consider again. Neither of you is dangerous. You are both -interesting and valuable to society. The only thing that is at all -bothersome is the fact that you, per se, are not happy. You need -an integration of personality. He needs the same. I might hope for -a coalescing of you two, but at the moment—and possibly for all -time—it is impossible. All I can tell you is the same thing that -I told him. Frustration to the extreme will exorcise the other -personality. He tried it by running you into debt; by purchasing -a laboratory full of things that you, as an engineer, can see no -practical use for. You frustrated him—or tried to—by making -something commercial out of his last experiment. That, unfortunately, -was not frustration for him.</p> - -<p>"You must—if you wish to freeze him out—develop something that will -frustrate the physicist and still be possible to rationalize in your -own personality."</p> - -<p>"Um."</p> - -<p>"An insolvable problem would do it—if you can shun the problem -yourself."</p> - -<p>"That might be difficult."</p> - -<p>"Especially when the two of you are inclined to become the other when -faced with a problem that does not fit in your psyche."</p> - -<p>"The problem—I wonder."</p> - -<p>"What do you do when you are faced with a tough or impossible problem -in physics?"</p> - -<p>"I don't get 'em, usually."</p> - -<p>"Well, supposing some company required a casting of tungsten metal, -for instance."</p> - -<p>"I'd ask that they show me exactly why the tungsten couldn't be formed -in another manner."</p> - -<p>"Supposing they demanded that it be cast?"</p> - -<p>"There isn't anything on God's green earth that could be used to -handle molten tungsten. Tungsten metal can be shaped, forged, -machined, or cold-rolled. But you can't cast it. Ergo, if I were -offered that problem I'd merely ask why they needed it. If they -require a tungsten shape, I'd recommend shaping or machining, for -instance, depending upon how the shape is. If they merely want a -tungsten casting for the sake of wanting a tungsten casting, I'd laugh -at them and tell 'em it was impossible as I close the door behind -them."</p> - -<p>"And your physicist?"</p> - -<p>"He wouldn't even consider it. To him, no real problem exists. He'd -have no truck with a production department in the first place, and -in the second, shaping metals isn't particularly of interest to a -physicist, excepting when the shape itself is important. And then he -doesn't give a howling hoot how it gets in that shape as long as it is -shaped properly."</p> - -<p>"Well, as I see it, you must evolve something that will frustrate the -physicist while holding his interest. He must be compelled to consider -this insolvable problem by sheer interest alone. It also must be -something that you can see no interest in save as a problem for him, -otherwise you may find yourself biting your mutual fingernails over -your own devilish plan."</p> - -<p>"Um—that's a large order."</p> - -<p>"That's it," said Hamilton. "And in the meantime, I'd suggest that you -tinker around with some of the stuff you bought. It will lessen the -shock of your problem of the bankroll."</p> - -<p>"That bank of junk might be the means to his own frustration," grinned -Tom. "Every time I look at it, I get a feeling of what can be done -about it that is practical, and that may force him into existence and -keep him there."</p> - -<p>"Well, good luck. And remember, I am just a sort of referee. One -of you will become the stronger. One will succeed. I can hope for -coalescence, but I doubt that it will take place. Lacking that, all I -can hope for is that eventually you will become reintegrated and that -the lesser personality will be frozen out."</p> - -<p>Tom Lionel returned home, thinking furiously.</p> - -<p>"May the best man win, huh?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It was seven solid weeks by the calendar. Seven solid weeks of hard, -backbreaking work during which everything went fine and dandy for Tom -Lionel, Consulting Engineer.</p> - -<p>The balance of his debt was paid off when Americal Electric purchased -the rights and royalties of the cyclotronic spectrograph. The -equipment in Tom's laboratory had been kept in good shape, polished -and even used occasionally. It was all connected for operation, and -though the laboratory had changed from a spacious building into a -place where aisles and areas abounded between banks of equipment, it -did make an impressive sight.</p> - -<p>Even the transit came into use.</p> - -<p>And then at the end of the seventh week, Tom Lionel looked at his -notebook and started to consider in all of its aspects the rather -improbable phenomenon recorded there. He not only let it prey on his -mind; he stopped hourly and invited his mind to consider the evidence. -At first his mind rejected it on the basis that science was not -equipped to consider it, and then as the evidence seemed definite and -leading, his mind accepted the fact that this problem did exist and -that it was a real and utterly baffling problem.</p> - -<p>Then his mind rejected it on the basis of impracticality. It would be -nice—but.</p> - -<p>No known physical effect could possibly explain it in a satisfactory -manner.</p> - -<p>Tom went to sleep.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>And Thomas Lionel, Ph.D. M.M., awoke. His first consideration was the -chessboard. It baffled him. He didn't really think that the engineer -would capture his queen. It was too easy. Obviously, there was more to -the set-up than appeared. For offering the trap of the double-check -and subsequent loss of his queen, Thomas had opened the row blocked by -the knight. That left him in the desirable position of capturing the -engineer's rook, after which if the engineer was not more than careful -in his counterattack, he would find himself staring a checkmate in -the face. Either the engineer was blind to the trap, or he had a more -complicated trap to spring once the physicist started to move in.</p> - -<p>He had time. He wanted to consider the whole thing. He was going to -be darned sure that he was right before he moved.</p> - -<p>He dressed slowly, and as he entered his kitchenette to prepare -breakfast, he saw a new notebook on the table. He picked it up, -riffled the pages first, and then read the lettering on the front page.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>PHYSICAL DATA AND OBSERVATIONS MADE ON THE -OCCURRENCE OF THE MANIPULATION OF NATURAL FORCES WHICH HAVE -NO EXPLANATION IN THE KNOWN REALM OF PHYSICS.</p> - -<p class="ph3">Contents:</p> - -<table summary="contents"> -<tr><td align="right">173</td><td align="left">pages of text.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right">77</td><td align="left"> pages of calculations.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right">48</td><td align="left"> tables of figures.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right">67</td><td align="left"> photographs.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right">13</td><td align="left"> statements made by unbiased—but not trained—observers.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right">7</td><td align="left"> similar incidents not given scientific attention.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right">29</td><td align="left"> graphs and curves.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right">25</td><td align="left"> pages of description and data pertaining to:</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left">meteorological conditions.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left">terran constants—gravity and magnetism.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left">sunspot activity.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left">chemical analyses of earth at discrete intervals near the occurrence.</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left">analysis of atmosphere during phenomena.</td></tr> -</table> - -<p>Accompanying information and data are samples of earth -mentioned above. Atmospheric samples were contaminated during -analysis and have therefore been destroyed.</p></div> - -<p>"Little Tommy has been a busy lad," mused the physicist. "'No -explanation' huh? That's a laugh. <i>Anything</i> can be explained. Well, -my engineering friend, let's see what you have cooked up for me."</p> - -<p>Thomas Lionel started to read the "173 pages of text" and got down as -far as the bottom of the first page. He blinked, did a double take, -and reread it.</p> - -<p>"Great howling entropy," he grunted. "The unmitigated screwball -has spent weeks in the compilation of data on his own, personal -observations of a <i>poltergeist</i> in action!"</p> - -<p>Thomas took the cigarette case from his pocket and extracted a -cigarette. He snapped the lighter and was amazed to see the colors on -the case. They were scintillating, iridescent, and beautiful. They -danced and changed as he moved the lighter, and the swift play of -color across the surface of the case caught his fancy.</p> - -<p>It also caught his scientific sense. He looked at the case carefully -and swore. Tom had been using the ruling engine. The surface of the -cigarette case was a mirror-grating and it was as good a job as the -ruling engine could produce.</p> - -<p>Thomas fumed. The idea! And then he smiled a bit. For the engineer's -use of the ruling engine to decorate a cigarette case was a sort of -prostitution of the machine, but it had not harmed the engine in -any way. And it was certainly no worse on the physicist's nerves -than the irrelevant mixture of precision and utter sloppiness that -characterized the physicist's work.</p> - -<p>It was, the physicist admitted, beautiful.</p> - -<p>He returned to the engineering data.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A poltergeist!</p> - -<p>The "throwing-ghost" of the ancient lore and myth. The fearsome -manifestation of unrealism. Superstition!</p> - -<p>Sheer superstition!</p> - -<p>The physicist's mind rejected it, at first. But that which made -him the physicist prodded neatly and patiently and quietly. "Where -there's smoke, there's fire," it said. And it mentioned situations -where, though exact engineering data had not been taken, certainly the -observers were not incompetent. They were not trained, but they did -attempt to give a valid picture.</p> - -<p>Well, so there might be something to it. So the poltergeist might be -something.</p> - -<p>This case was no flash in the pan. It was real and valid. For nine -full days it had persisted. For nine full days, stones passed through -the air at the direction of—the poltergeist. Pictures of the stones -in full flight. A step-by-step, frame-by-frame sequence picture of -a stone leaving the ground and speeding away gave Thomas a wriggly -feeling up and down his spine.</p> - -<p>Barometric pressure 29.77 inches, temperature 84.66 degrees, both -rising slightly. A graph gave the pressure and temperature throughout -the nine days. The total number of stones and the masses, individual -and aggregate. The district, with a map of both the entire township -and a close-up map-diagram of the area, with motion-traces across it, -each labeled, notated, numbered, and keyed to the text.</p> - -<p>Physical data on the gravitational field. Maps of the magnetic field, -both transverse and vertical. Wind direction during each passage of -the stones.</p> - -<p>A faked report.</p> - -<p>Couldn't be real. Absolutely impossible. Ridiculous, and the work of a -frantic mind, working avidly to create a situation.</p> - -<p>And yet the engineer was a good engineer. He couldn't—it was -psychologically impossible for him—to present fake data.</p> - -<p>Ergo this report must be real.</p> - -<p>Thomas considered the reports of peculiar activity. Mostly the -newspapers reported them as small boys throwing stones as a method -of exerting their ability to be annoying to the police and duly -constituted authority.</p> - -<p>There were reports, he knew. About twelve authentic reports per year, -which considering the possibility of having the poltergeist phenomena -present when no observer was there—how many times had he heard small -stones rattling from the roof or rattling noises of one sort or -another—meant that the poltergeist was a rather common phenomenon. -There were cases he recalled wherein earthquake temblor had been -blamed for the upsetting of a grand piano. He'd wondered about that -one—a grand piano is stable, positionwise—and how it could have been -rolled across the room and dumped upside down.</p> - -<p>Poltergeist phenomena.</p> - -<p>Ah yes. It might be advisable to get slightly soused tonight. But -Thomas was a physicist. He did not quail or get slightly panicky at -the idea of the unknown, even though the unknown was known to have -tossed a slab of marble—appropriately, a tombstone—several hundred -feet through a caretaker's shed.</p> - -<p>To be sure, it was slightly running against the grain to sit there in -the broad daylight and read about things that according to all physics -from Archimedes to Einstein claimed impossible, racial superstition, -and old wives' tales. It was very disquieting to read of stones—dead, -inert, lifeless, immobile bits of granite—that took off from Mother -Earth with no visible means of support, to go whizzing through the -thin daylight air at speeds that raised bruises, cut nicks in trees, -and shattered windows. It bothered the sense of propriety. It was not -right. It was like seeing Lake Louise in violent flame, or watching -Niagara go tumbling up from the whirling pools to the ledge that -flanked Goat Island. It was crushing chrome-vanadium test-bars between -your fingers just after removal from a tensile strength machine that -failed to fracture them at fifteen thousand pounds per square inch. It -was watching phosphorus lying inert in an atmosphere of pure oxygen.</p> - -<p>It was all wrong.</p> - -<p>And yet, thought the physicist, what must the Ancient One have -thought when he considered the act of fire melting hard metal? They -did strange things, in those days. They invented phlogiston, and spent -centuries trying to isolate it. Galileo and his telescope, looking -through it to Jupiter, must have been startled at the concept as well -as the sight of a planetary system in operation.</p> - -<p>Science knew that the poltergeist was a problem—but like the man -who does not care to go crazy because of the insoluble problem, -science shrugged, admitted that it was stumped—intelligently enough, -under the circumstances—and then remarked that after finding the -next decimal place, it would, perhaps, take a look into the natural -phenomena of things that were thrown by nothing.</p> - -<p>Until that date, it could look the other way and claim that small boys -were throwing stones.</p> - -<p>Little boys that they could not see.</p> - -<p>Little green men—</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Uh-huh, well, here before Thomas Lionel was a veritable wealth of -intelligent observations and data on the complete operation, including -evidence to substantiate the fact that neither small boys or little -green men were involved.</p> - -<p>The evidence and engineering measurements were made with impersonal -directness. The engineer, recognizing that he knew nothing of the -cause, recorded the effect with court-stenographic impartiality. -A stone of so many grams left point A in a rising parabola and -proceeded to point B where it landed and rolled to point C. It took -X seconds, attained Y velocity at peak, and covered Z feet. Graph 1 -represents acceleration and deceleration, and equation XXVII is the -mathematical representation of the space-curve described by this stone -of so many grams.</p> - -<p>And bottle VQ contained the stone.</p> - -<p>It was all wrong, but it was interesting. It pointed the way to -madness—and unless it could be rationalized, the pathway to madness -would be a one-way street. Thomas knew at that point that his feet -were on that path. He could never retreat until he carried back with -him an answer—and from the data presented, his answer must be right.</p> - -<p>The engineer, he knew, had done it deliberately. As a means of -frustration it was more than air-tight. It was perfect. Show a -physicist something that floats between two plates, and he'll go crazy -until he knows why. And the engineer had shown the physicist any -number of things that floated—sped, indeed—through the air between -heaven and earth, like Mohammed's coffin.</p> - -<p>Without the benefit of mirrors.</p> - -<p>Well, Thomas Lionel, are you licked?</p> - -<p>He found a letter that removed all doubt as to the reason. He opened -it and read:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Dear Archimedes:</p> - -<p>Since you so gallantly presented me with this aggregation of things to -measure the last three decimal places of everything, I have decided -to put it to work. I have had some fun, thanks to you, in measuring -things that I believe have never been set to music before. I have -spent some time collecting and presenting data.</p> - -<p>This data I do not pretend to understand. I don't intend to try. I am -merely an impartial observer. To harness this power would be a boon to -civilization. I can see a small truck full of equipment bearing the -sign:</p> - -<p class="ph3">POLTERGEIST MOVING COMPANY</p> - -<p>if you can only unravel the information contained in my data. You, -as a physicist, surely must be able to explain the manifestation in -terms that satisfy all and sundry. Once you decide what makes, I'll -be interested. Until that date I am stumped, admit it, and happy that -I am able to hand the problem to one who by all the evidence, has -the personality and character that will not permit these pages of -painstaking data to molder in the dust.</p> - -<p>Please—old fellow, tell me what's with a poltergeist.</p> - -<p>And don't refer vaguely to space warps or fourth dimensional animals. -That's strictly for <i>Corny Stories or Vulturesome Tales</i>.</p> - - -<p class="ph2">Interestedly,<br /> -Tom Lionel,<br /> -Consulting Engineer.</p> - - -<p>P.S. That junk you bought made it possible to make these measurements. -Surely the same stuff should enable you to figure out the answer. You -and your monomolecular films. -</p></div> - -<p>You and your monomolecular films, Thomas snorted.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>That was the start. Then, for eight solid weeks, the laboratory lights -burned by night, and the machinery turned at all and odd hours of the -clock. Measurements were conducted on all sorts of things; including at -one instance, the astronomical data pertaining to planetary line-up of -the solar system. That one was stamped with a large reject sign; not -only it didn't apply, but it didn't make sense either. Trips to the -library were frequent, and many's the ancient tome that Thomas read -until his eyes burned.</p> - -<p>The equations, graphs, and tabulations came in for their study and he -located a percentage of dispersion in them. It was either experimental -error or true dispersion of effect.</p> - -<p>The engineer had done his work well. He had compiled his information, -and then had presented it in such a manner that left no doubt. And -it proved conclusively that something was there and at the same time -pointed out that if there was something there, it could be analyzed, -and possibly reproduced.</p> - -<p>The physicist knew that no answer would be satisfactory until the -phenomenon could be reproduced.</p> - -<p>And both he and the engineer knew that the chances were more than -possible that a high-order physical effect might be the basic cause. -An effect for which mankind had no instruments; radio as a natural -phenomenon would be inexplicable to a race that had never discovered a -means of detection; the mathematical prediction of radio occurred years -before the original experiments.</p> - -<p>So—</p> - -<p>The physicist set his mind against frustration. To change over to the -engineer without an answer would be an admission of defeat. At least -without <i>some</i> satisfactory answer.</p> - -<p>He mulled his problem by the hour, by the day, and by the week. He did -take enough time out to consider the chess problem daily. He figured -all the possible moves and finally, one night, he smiled, shrugged his -shoulders and decided to plunge ahead.</p> - -<p>He slid his rook down from one king row to the other through the -square formerly covered by the knight which had been protected by a -bishop. All the way across the board he went, and as he arrived at his -opponent's king row, he took out the little sign and stood it on the -center of the board.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Tom Lionel blinked and removed his finger from the pushbutton. He -shook his head. This was all wrong. And, besides, what in the name of -entropy was this little box? He didn't recall putting a finger on that -button—but here he was, removing his hand after holding the button -down.</p> - -<p>It was a small metal box about eight by seven by four inches. The edges -were all die-straight and the surfaces were as optically flat as Tom -could determine without testing. The pushbutton was set flush with the -surface, and made of the same metal as the box.</p> - -<p>No other projection was evident.</p> - -<p>But the button was accompanied with engraving cut in the metal of the -front surface. It said:</p> - -<p class="ph3">BE AN ENGINEER!</p> - -<p class="ph3">Away with imagination! Be<br /> -practical! Dispense with<br /> -theory! Do nothing that<br /> -cannot be justified and<br /> -explained to perfection.</p> - -<p class="ph3">To succeed; to enjoy the<br /> -wonderful practicality<br /> -of the engineer—</p> - - -<p class="ph3">PRESS HERE!<br /> -Poltergeist Conversion Co., Ltd.<br /> -</p> - -<p>Tom blinked and got the idea at once. The engineer knew. The physicist -had dreamed up this thing; it must contain some sort of thing that -caused the shift in personality at the physicist's will.</p> - -<p>He took hold of it and lifted.</p> - -<p>It slipped out of his fingers.</p> - -<p>He set both hands on it and lifted. It stayed on the table. He grunted -and strained, and succeeded in getting it off the table by several -inches. Then he gave up and returned it slowly to the top again, -fearing to drop it lest it damage the desk top.</p> - -<p>Metal, huh?</p> - -<p>Must be practically solid, then.</p> - -<p>What metal?</p> - -<p>Tom thought. Must be tougher than a battleship's nose, for if entry -were easy, the physicist knew he'd be rebuilding the thing every time -he wanted to use it.</p> - -<p>He took a cold chisel, set the edge against one corner and walloped it -with a hammer. The edge of the cold chisel turned back in a neat Vee. -Tom took a file, set the cutting edge against one corner and filed. -The file slipped across the corner of the box with all the bite of a -solid, slick bar of smooth steel.</p> - -<p>An atomic hydrogen cutting torch stood nearby. Tom fired up and set the -ultra-hot flame against the same corner that had defied his previous -efforts. Nothing much happened excepting that the box got hotter.</p> - -<p>That spoiled Tom's fun for the moment. The desk below the box started -to smoke and then burst into flame. Tom grabbed a carbon tetrachloride -extinguisher but stopped before he played the stream on the hot metal. -It was charring the desk through.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus2.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>The desk was ruined anyway, so Tom ignored it for the moment. He ran a -bucket of water and slid it underneath the desk just in time to catch -the ultra-hot box just as it passed through the table.</p> - -<p>While it was sizzling in the bucket of water and sending forth great -clouds of vapor, Tom busied himself with the extinguisher, putting out -the fire on the desk.</p> - -<p>Tungsten!</p> - -<p>Well, tungsten or not, it must be ruined after immersion in water after -being red-hot all over. Nothing on God's green earth—</p> - -<p>Holy entropy! He'd said that before. It presented a couple of large, -bright red question marks.</p> - -<p>One. That thing was apparently tungsten clear through. Therefore, how -had the physicist cast it?</p> - -<p>Two. Granted that thing had been cast—what in the name of howling -rockets had the physicist used for the inside circuits?</p> - -<p>And three. If running molten tungsten into the mold hadn't ruined the -guts of the box, how could heat and water do anything at all?</p> - -<p>And, disquieting thought, was the pushbutton waterproof?</p> - -<p>With much difficulty, Tom moved the box out from its watery bath below -the bench and hauled it over to the high-power X-ray machine. He looked -at the fluoroscope and grunted in disgust.</p> - -<p>Naturally, tungsten would be completely and utterly blank-faced to any -X-ray manipulation. He wanted to kick it, but he knew that kicking a -sold slab of tungsten would be damaging only to the kickee.</p> - -<p>A means of casting tungsten—something that they'd been seeking ever -since the stuff was isolated. He had it—or at least, the physicist had -it.</p> - -<p>Utter frustration.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Thomas Lionel looked at the box and grinned. He knew what had happened. -The engineer hadn't been able to guess—</p> - -<p>He pressed the button again—</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Tom Lionel removed his finger from the button and swore. He used an -engineer's ability to remember and then to improvise and from there -he took up the job of invention. His swearing did him good. At least -he forgot to worry about the tungsten box. He'd find that one out -eventually, anyway.</p> - -<p>And, furthermore, its trial by fire and water had damaged it in -absolutely no way.</p> - -<p>Q.E.D., here he was again!</p> - -<p>He looked further. It was not like the physicist to just do this. There -must be other information pertaining to the problem that the engineer -had left. He went into the living room of his house and sought the -desk. There was more of it, anyway.</p> - -<p>The title page of the manuscript read:</p> - -<p class="ph3">MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS OF OBSERVATIONAL<br /> -DATA MADE DURING THE MANIFESTATION OF FORCES<br /> -OPERATING IN A NEW FIELD OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE.</p> - - -<p class="ph3">By Thomas Lionel, Ph.D., M.M.<br /> -Consulting Engineer. -</p> - -<p>Tom lifted the manuscript from the desk—</p> - -<p>And he got the squeamish feeling of being dropped in an ultra-high -speed elevator that was accelerating at a terrific rate. He -instinctively dropped the manuscript and clutched the edge of the desk. -When the manuscript hit the desk, it caused the phenomenon to stop.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus3.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Tom felt the top page, ran around it with his fingers, and then -carefully slid his hand beneath the last page, found the button on the -desk top, and held it down while he removed the manuscript.</p> - -<p>He lifted. It gave him the screaming willies, and instinctively, Tom -pressed hard on the button.</p> - -<p>His elevator changed direction. It gave him the effect of being hit on -the head with a sand bag. It was now accelerating upward at a violent -rate.</p> - -<p>He let the button up slowly. The feeling ceased as he reached a -pressure about even to the weight of the manuscript; stopping all at -once. He compensated by dropping an equal number of blank pages from -the desk on the button and took the manuscript to his easy chair to -read.</p> - -<p>It was one of those things. It couldn't be denied. He was going to -be <i>forced</i> into presenting this paper before the American Physical -Society, using his full name and all of his degrees and the works. The -physicist and his little tungsten box would see to it that he remained -an engineer until the paper was presented, fully and completely. The -physicist didn't have all the answers, of course, but he had solved -some of the basic problems.</p> - -<p>He finished the manuscript, and then found a letter. It said:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Dear Galileo:</p> - -<p>The phenomenon of losing fifty pounds is the result of an antigravity -field which I discovered from your data on the good old poltergeist. -The trouble with the thing is simply this:</p> - -<p>In order to make the thing function, it takes something like three tons -of equipment to make the object within the field lose its fifty pounds.</p> - -<p>I, as a physicist, do not care about the practicality of the device. -I have made it work. You, as an engineer, will appreciate the -possibilities behind the perfection of this device. I offer you the -chance to start your Poltergeist Moving Company, providing, of course, -that you can make something of this effect.</p> - -<p>Incidentally, I have been unable to get or to predict antigravitational -forces of less than fifty pounds regardless of how the equipment is set -up.</p> - -<p>I don't care, I will leave the rest to you.</p> - - -<p class="ph2">Sincerely,<br /> -Thomas Lionel, Ph.D., M.M.<br /> -</p></div> - -<p>Tungsten casting, antigravity, inefficiency and poltergeists! Tom's -head whirled. With a last-hope gesture, he stalked over to the -chessboard and studied the men.</p> - -<p>It bothered him, he was completely frustrated. The room whirled a bit, -despite Tom's fight against it. This was the last straw, this chess -game.</p> - -<p>Not that he himself was the absolute loser in this game of living -chess. It was just that he had started something that threatened to -boil over at the edges.</p> - -<p>Fundamentally, he'd tried to exorcise the physicist. He'd gone to much -trouble and effort to remove the low-down effect of physicist-thinking -patterns from his immediate locale. Instead—by his supreme efforts to -get rid of the theorist, aforementioned theorist had come up with a -few problems of his own that tickled the imagination, offered all sorts -of interesting problems, and—</p> - -<p>Had basically shown how utterly impossibly foolish it would be to try -and get rid of the physicist.</p> - -<p>Thomas Lionel, Ph.D., M.M., knew too much to be immediately removed, -obliterated, canceled, or even ignored.</p> - -<p>How do you cast tungsten? How do you make antigravity—even on an -inefficient scale? And if a poltergeist is—and you know his address, -as the physicist seemed to, can you hire the throwing-ghost? Brother, -did he have a lot of problems to reduce to practice! He'd have little -time for getting rid of his pal.</p> - -<p>Tom Lionel snarled at the chessboard. He'd made his gambit, and instead -of ridding himself of a rather powerful threat to his own security, -he'd—well, he reread the significant sign that presided over the -chessboard and began to growl like an insulted cocker spaniel.</p> - -<p>The sign said:</p> - -<p class="ph1">CHECKMATE!</p> - - -<p class="ph3">THE END.</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TROUBLE ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following -the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use -of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for -copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very -easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation -of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project -Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may -do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected -by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark -license, especially commercial redistribution. -</div> - -<div style='margin-top:1em; font-size:1.1em; text-align:center'>START: FULL LICENSE</div> -<div style='text-align:center;font-size:0.9em'>THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE</div> -<div style='text-align:center;font-size:0.9em'>PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project -Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person -or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the -Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when -you share it without charge with others. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country other than the United States. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work -on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the -phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: -</div> - -<blockquote> - <div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most - other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions - whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms - of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online - at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you - are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws - of the country where you are located before using this eBook. - </div> -</blockquote> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project -Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg™ License. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format -other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain -Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -provided that: -</div> - -<div style='margin-left:0.7em;'> - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation.” - </div> - - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ - works. - </div> - - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - </div> - - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. - </div> -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of -the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set -forth in Section 3 below. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right -of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, -Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up -to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website -and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread -public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state -visit <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/donate/">www.gutenberg.org/donate</a>. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Most people start at our website which has the main PG search -facility: <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. -</div> - -</div> -</body> -</html> diff --git a/old/68272-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/68272-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index a3cd7a6..0000000 --- a/old/68272-h/images/cover.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/68272-h/images/illus1.jpg b/old/68272-h/images/illus1.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index abe575a..0000000 --- a/old/68272-h/images/illus1.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/68272-h/images/illus2.jpg b/old/68272-h/images/illus2.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 1051661..0000000 --- a/old/68272-h/images/illus2.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/68272-h/images/illus3.jpg b/old/68272-h/images/illus3.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 54e5c29..0000000 --- a/old/68272-h/images/illus3.jpg +++ /dev/null |
