Scifi writer, DJ, and scientist...Chad Oliver

Not a household name, but a good scifi writer. Here is a complete sample from Startling Stories [March 1952]

Chad Oliver chronology

From the Center for the Bibliography of Science Fiction and Fantasy [Cushing Library, Texas A&M University], an interview conducted by Hal W. Hall and Richard D. Boldt

Howard Waldrop's thoughts

Startling Stories [Wikipedia]

Startling Stories covers

Anders Celsius [Celsius temperature scale]...scifi writer or dreamy speculator?

 

The translated text...

When astronomy has reached so far that we are sure of the status of the inhabitants of the planets; and physics is so forward that we find ways to travel from Earth to the planets, they none-the-less begin to make war in the air and trade and navigate on the planets, and thus they want to conquer each other. Later Earth will be considered as a united realm in opposing e g the Kingdom of Mars. They will then find out how to make alliances with each other, e g Mercury, Venus and Tellus, on one side, and on the other side Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. But as Jupiter and Saturn has conquered so many small kingdoms on their satellites; Mercury, Venus and Tellus would then likely oblige the inhabitants of the Sun to be on their side to keep the balance in the Solar system, and instead they now have Europa. By the way, if science would become as advanced that we could trade with other planetary systems, e g Sirus, our system would then once again be considered as one Kingdom, and then wars start between different systems, and so on ad infinitum. But since you cannot travel between systems in shorter time than a few hundred years, medicine should be improved so that people could become as old as during the time of the Patriarchs.

Who did originally think you could sail the seas, so you couldn’t see see land? Who thought you could begin to do battle on water? Now we have little belief in that people in due time could sail and battle in the air. It could be possible that flesh and skin would become transparent. If one in the future could imagine such people and animals, it would become a possibility for an excellent novel – medicine would then make people long-lived.

Rough translation by Ahrvid Engholm who prefaced the text:

A text of this content by Anders Celsius was published, probably for the first time, in a collection of essays in 1991 (Gyllene äpplen, “Golden Apples”, publisher Atlantis, ed Gunnar Broberg), and in a foreword to the section with Celsius the astronomer and sf author Peter Nilson says Celsius’ text to is likely be from around 1735.

With the kind assistance of sf expert and author Bertil Falk I obtained a photocopy of Celsius original manuscript from the Uppsala University library Carolina Rediviva. (And with a magnifying glass, I was able to fill in a detail from “Golden Apples”, after 278 years… It’s too long to go into, but is reflected in the translation below.) Celsius’ manuscript has two pages, numbered 15 and 16, and seems to be from some sort of “scientific diary” were he writes down thoughts and inserts notes from his scientific correspondents from all over Europe.

Both pages are in two columns. Left column of page 15 is headlined “Astrologica” and has notes on that subject, of no interest here. The right column of page 15 has the headline “Astronomia” and contains most of the sf-related text. It continues on page 16 (right column). The left column page 16 has a note in Latin(which seems of low relevance here – starts “Mathematica…” says something about Plato and the meaning of the word “uhr”, ie “ancient”). The right page 16 column ends with a quote in Italian which must remain undechiphered at present. A short piece from the end of the “Golden Apples” transcription is missing, but is probably on page 17 (which wasn’t obtained).

In my translation of “Astronomia” by Anders Celsius to follow, I’ve tried to use reasonably modern English. The original Swedish used old, strange spelling, some Latin phrases, the astrological symbols instead of actual planet names, and somewhat strange phrasing and word order, which will be particulary noticeable. But this is what the inventor of the temperature scale speculated....

As is stands, it is just a pipe dream.

 

Lyricist and scifi novelist...Lynda Williams

Love Boson

by

Lynda Williams

The Standard Model of Physics
has four forces in it:
the Strong, the Weak, Gravity
and the Electromagnetic.
But I’ve discovered a new force
that rules from high above.
Let me propose to you
a Unified Theory of Love!

Gluons are Strong!
The make a quantum-chromo glue
binding quarks into atoms
like I am bound to you.

Z’s and W’s are Weak!
They make particles decay
and atoms radioactive
that’s how I feel when your away.

Photons mediate E&M -
both particle and wave - they’re so
yin-yang!

Gravitons attract
both mass and energy
they make the world go round and round
that’s what you do to me.

And so I’m searching for the boson
that mediates the force of Love!
But you can’t measure it!
You can only feel it!

Pulling on the superstrings of your heart!
We should add it to the Standard Model Chart
the force that rules from high above
in a Unified Field Theory of Love!

Amazon.com biography...

Lynda Williams has been creating the Okal Rel Universe through three degrees and at least as many careers. Now the books of the ten novel saga are rolling out from Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy one a year (Part 7: Healer's Sword forthcoming in Nov 2011). Works by both Lynda and other writers captivated by the story-potential of the ORU, are published by Edge's sister-press called Absolute X-Press. Lynda taught and worked in educational innovation at the University of Northern B.C. for fifteen years, and now works as Learning Management System Analyst for SFU. She holds two masters degrees (M.L.S. and M.Sc. Computation) and a B.A. in Liberal Studies with emphasis in Chemistry and Creative Writing. "All my life," Lynda explains her eclectic education and life experience, "I had questions that no single discipline could answer without help from others."

Fully-realized characters living the drama and humor of culture clash surrounding power, sexual mores and social values are the hallmark of the Okal Rel experience: dramatizing questions about what it means to be human. Enthusiastic readers range from precocious pre-teens to senior citizens, and include thinking people from PhDs to high school dropouts. The gentle, beautiful, vanilla-scented Amel Dem'Vrel, title character of Part 1: The Courtesan Prince, provides a focus for the series as his life plays out the age-old story of the prince raised as a pauper combined with the notion of the prostitute with a heart of gold, despite being male. But Amel's slow recovery from a traumatic youth and rise to power as his people's leader is only the backdrop for the lives and passions of a cast of characters who seize the stage for as long as a book (e.g. Horth Nersal in Part 2: Righteous Anger) or weave their own bright threads through the ten-novel saga (e.g. reluctant rebel Perry D'Aur, the intense and brooding Di Mon, or trickster, warrior, poet Eler Nersal).

Lynda Williams [Wikipedia]

The Courtesan Prince: Part One of the Okal Rel Saga

ISBN-10: 1894063287
ISBN-13: 978-1894063289

In this volume: When Earth's first attempt to conquer the far reaches of space was thwarted by the failure of a faster than light transportation system, the first colonists were abandoned.

Subsequent colonizations were successful but ideological differences in cloning caused renegade scientists to sever their contact with Earth and establish their own unique world.

Now, thousands of years in the future, the scattered descendents of humanity have evolved into two distinct planetary societies: the Reetions of Rire, who rely on advanced computer technology to regulate every aspect of their lives, and the genetically superior and honor bound Sevolites, of Gelion.