Thursday 15 January 2015

Hydrogen And Helium

There are two ways to reread a text. The first way is just a second reading. The second way is a careful examination of each paragraph for note-taking or, nowadays, blogging purposes. I found a wealth of information in "Lodestar," which has led me back into Mirkheim.

One passage read several times previously suddenly impressed me with a detail that I do not remember having noticed before. Poul Anderson informs his readers of relevant cosmogony by having Adzel screen documentary coverage of the Mirkheim crisis. The speaker intones:

"We believe all matter began as a chaos of hydrogen, the smallest atom. Some of it was fused in the primordial fireball to form helium; more of this process happened later, in the enormous heat and pressure at the hearts of stars which condensed from that gas. And there the higher elements were built..."
-Poul Anderson, Rise of The Terran Empire (New York, 2011), p. 42.

I had known that:

hydrogen is the first and smallest atom;
helium is next in size;
there was a lot of hydrogen and a much smaller quantity of helium at the Beginning;
stellar fusion generates heavier elements -

- but had overlooked the fact that there was pre-stellar fusion and that that is where the original helium came from.

I am currently rereading Mirkheim for information about Coya Conyon/Falkayn but find that I continue reading even when Coya goes offstage. Technic civilization becomes more alive with each detail and datum.

Early tomorrow morning, I will drive Sheila, to whom I have been married since 1974, into the next county for a hip replacement operation which will be followed by several months of recuperation. Posts may be fewer and further between for a while.

4 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Hi, Paul!

Oh dear, I am sorry your wife needs such major surgery as that for replacing a hip. I hope it's successful and that her recovery will be as rapid and complete as possible.

And I certainly agree with you about the many fascinating details which can be found in the works of Poul Anderson!

Sean

Paul Shackley said...

Sean,
Sheila has come through the surgery ok and improved with 2 legs of equal length that had been unequal since childhood.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Hi, Paul!

I'm very glad the surgery was successful and that your wife now has two legs of even length. I hope the recovery and the physical therapy also turns out well!

Sean

Paul Shackley said...

Thank you, Sean.