Jim, about those scientists....

Daniel Fusch · 02 Nov 1999, 04:34 · from urth-v0028.mbox · original

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From: "Daniel Fusch" <dfusch at hotmail.com>
Subject: (urth) Jim, about those scientists....
Date: Mon, 01 Nov 1999 20:34:40 PST
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Hi, Jim!

Superior evidence can be a decided advantage!

Actually, I was wondering exactly the same thing...are there any good=20
scientists in The Book of the New Sun? That is--scientists who aren't=20
burning children, eviscerating their captives, or sewing new heads on=20
people....

I don't remember any right off hand. Father Inire, physicist...but as you=20
said, he's the alien. And there's Master Ash, but he's more of a historian=20
than a scientist. I think.

I just remembered that in "The Sword of the Lictor," Severian speaks of the=20
scientists to whom people go when they want to become zoanthropes. Are thes=
e=20
good scientists or bad scientists? They'd be pretty awful in OUR society, I=20
imagine. But in Severian's society?

The curators in the Botanic Gardens are botanists, and they don't seem=20
malevolent. Their task is the preservation of extinct forms of plant life,=20
after all.

Yes, I guess the curators are the good scientists, then.

Hmmm, how come Severian always meets all the bad (or should I say "mad"?)=20
scientists?

Well, Jim, I would surmise that in Severian's age, there are no=20
government-funded scientists (or not many, anyway), and science is an=20
individual pursuit--often for individual gain. Presumably there are also a=20
few good scientists who are acting for the greater good of mankind, but the=
y=20
seem to avoid Severian. It must be his torturer's outfit that scares them=20
away.

Oh, well.

--Daniel

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