The Tallus chapterWhorl

I alluded to this when I finally got through reading Blue's Waters: doesn't Horn state that he included details in his previous work (the short sun) that were of a technical nature so that the book could also have practical value as an engineering text? That may go a way towards explaining why the tallus passage is so extended. But I like your suggestion too. Paul *This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun.