Page 79 - Astounding Pulp V2

78
A S TOU.'.\"DTXG SCTE~CE-FTCTION
in s0111e ca,-,cs this i s quit<· s imple, a s in and for how long? F eed your animal
the p1·o duc ti o 11 of 1 ;; p:::.! 1,y reaction ( 7 ), the substance with a radioelement in it, BOOK REVIEW
,-vherc o ne !->imply i nad iates carbb n _cli- and analyze the excrement.
~ s ulpliid c with fa::,t nettl nms . On the 1111- \-\' ant to know how fast the sap flows
. . I . l '·tlph 1 :1h·h-..l ,.11111l. 1 , p:11·1,1\l 11: • r
p act o f the: n e ut rrm with the nuclcm,, or upwa rds in a plan t? Dump some radio- ANii\JALS vVl T JTO ·y BAcKH NL:--. ')L . ~-... •,, , ii t hi,·:1"••
• ·a"() .
as recoil fro m lhc pn>t<m e mission as a active phosphorus in the water around ~ niver -ity of Chicago, 1 11c, ~ · 111\ t 1 ,, _ ,._ 1•, ,., ..... 1•1::-:..
Zoology,
result of the: fo rmation, the sulphur atom the roots-a nd this experiment has been
.
· · . , ti,·,·
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i:-, knoc ked out of chemical combination done recently, too-put a Geiger counter 37} pp. $5.00. . - • . ·tin .' add:- 1111th111g t.i i: -- 11111 , II" t - . .
,
with the carbo n, and a faint p recip itate near an uppe r leaf. and wait. \,Vhen To fi x a 111eal up so that it look:, att1at.. 1· . 1 •l . l lt , 1 ' l' tht· h .111,l" ''"''
!1pp ll':, Ill
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of the newly born phosphorus slowly your recorder begins to clatter. the phos- but you enJOY it more: ,_ luch t 11.: .rn1c tht· infon11atit111 i111pa1·1,d. put, ~ n11 ,_n
appears in the carbo n disu lphide ; o.n phorus has arrived. getup of this hook, while it may not aclcl to ...:· ·1·t1·l,· ' t"1,t111i11•• add, 11, 11 a l·.do1 ,,.
f . I l f
start
• • • •
,...
. ~11111 ,
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· . . · .
evapo ration the n:s iduc is p u re ra<lio - The story of' the ultimate in transmu- a receptive frame o 111111< JC ore you e"t · a hn· y \\ 11tmg- :- t\'I . i1,·itl1t·1· :1, J,I, n,11
.
...:
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II\· tl H· 1111 w
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a ct i ve phos phorus ! to your food but ma <es 1t easier to ... , • . ... __ · 1 lJ ,,. ' 11 . . ~. 1 .
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,
. I· I t makes it ...:,1:-.1...:1
tations is the most recent, and we're
<lctra~ts from theaccur~cy_o :l. \\Or-., J~1 " ·\n ·onc can lc.:11 the diff,·r1.11,·,· lit t \\ t.tt t
only at Chapter V, so far, but things you've read Buchsbaum s fi rst sentence . ·1 ) r u ·He in for a ••u,1<) ti1111..'. ~ .. ,-
·
TRAXs~n : TATI O'N a s a sou rce of 1are a re m oving rapid ly-too rapidly for dis- a tree and a cow," you're reasonably sure t 1at ) o • ,..,
and expensive clements is p retty im - \v l ·11 yoti be disappointed. . .
cussion here. B riefly, thoug h, we do
practical-remember the drunk w ith fi
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J
,
·
know for su re a few things. \tVhei:i Tl booc 1s a cescn p 1011 of· ,vl, ... t ou r sc1cnt1 1c.; - I rd, ... ar~ u :-n I ! ( ) ,··.111 .. 1 Il - ,
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the .22? Of cou rse, if we could sober le ,, They used to think that t he anim:il k111g-clo111 w as d1\'l<kc_ 1 itllc
uranium is bom barded with neutrons,
him up, so he n ever missed- B ut we vertebrates. and invertebrates. , ow we 1 ,now ti "l . · . 1. ·i r·, 1· ,·idt•d 1111t> a
• 1.
,
.
.
several radioactive elements, with half 1.. , 1 1 • 1 1
1 11 111 :-..
haven ·t qu ite done that yet. In the ve1teb1 ates . . 11 l 1· ·I· of which the ,·c111.·hr:11,·~ :u·t.: only rnH -
·
I .
l)er of la1 o-e g1 oups ca ec p 1y ,t,
.• .,
.
lives that do not correspond to any of ~ ~
meantime, the trem e ndo u s value of these ai ge ntJJll • th ' rno ·t , .. 1rio11:- B ,•111"· Y1.·rt 1.· 1 ll .l ll #
the known elemen ts 1icar u ranium, are , 1 1 I neans the most nurnerott!; 0 1 e . • • · ,.., . . ,
reac t ions \,Ve have been d iscu ssing is not <1nc )Y no II f niliar with this phylu111 than a11 v 01 ill 1 · 1' 11 1
~
formed. These were fi rst identified as I are natura y more :11 < • I · . ,·
that t hey g ive u s a n y valua ble, stable, elements 93, 94, and 95, but we know ourse ves, we , 'f I the vertebrates only, w e h::i.nlly l,110\\' atl} t 11n"'
the author shows tl~at, J we stuc y
element s , b ut that they g ive us unstable abollt tile a nimal Jo ngdom at all. .
even more valuable elem en ts . n ow that some of them are isotopes of
. t zoa alone Buc..:hsba u111 pu1m s o ut that .. , lil.'.1·<..' :11·1.•
barium, tellu rium , iodine, and antimony, . tance o f I tie p1 o o - ' ' . . . I
Vvhy ? T he d etection oE the emitted F or ms' ' lone than indiv1duals ol :ill o ther a 111111a s · 111-
. dividual protozoa a
radiation s fro m these elem ents was a and the re seems to be more smaller 111 ' . . . • . . 1
pieces o f one sort or another. W hat's many more ' • 1 - ,ersity ol form and halll t, Ji ,·' 111 pace:-- , Uh
1
fai r ly simple matte r, w e saw , and it gave b. , 1 .1 show an amazing c n . r r . .. • . i
g oing on is something like this : 111ed." 1cy . . • 1 110 other animal w111 s tand. a n cl ha n ~ 1 1..· 1.. ~ 1.. 1 1.. :-. 0
us a test billion s of tim es n-1ore sensitive 238 1 138 36 put up with conchtions t iat ( 1 - ,e in us without o ur 111i11d ing t hc,1 1 in lit~
1
1
th an any c h e mica l analysis . And in ad- 02U + 0n = c;sBa + soKr + ? ? . I . ·ty Some o t iem i , ' . . 1 . .. 1 · t
· our bochcs w e crl't fc n .:1:-. 0 1 11 ,t ' o u
with both of the two major products fantastic comp e::-;i · · 111 • • · . , .
I . • t t J) ho11sckccpmg
dition th at ra dioactive d etermination is least. W hen ot icis se ~ . · r dulls. o r die. \ Vlicn the last ,tpp1. ii:-,.
.
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~
ind ependent of j ust h ow the par ticular bre1 1d ng down into smaller fragments. . . or beo-m cutt111g out pape . .. . . 1 1
becrin w recking opc1 n 1011:,.
.
111 spots or Jumps,
.
element is combined , or w here it is-a Energy ? I'll say- plenty of it! B ut I f P rotozoa mo\'e ll1 anc 1 "' ~ l · . . ..
" ml h)·cl ras. a nd polyps. :111d p ,111-111.tn
f a cto r making the artificial radioele- from the standpoint of transmutations, Qt 1er gangs o t II ahout sponges, " · ·
1nen ts o f tremend ous u se m biological this is none oE the little one and two The author goes on to c , . 1 fl twon ns and i·o1111cl,,·o n 11:,;, a n d h a irworin ..
work. clem en t jump business, but splitting the worms- the cross-eyed cr~wl: 1~~~1;c de: )ite bei;1g a ll ca lled :'"o r111s. B ut_ a ll t l_wse
:
atom smack in half-and then some. These last four are all ve1'f _d1tte1e ' l . ltc- m any of them ,v1th the m ost ingcrno u s
You want to know it som e su bstance I • ·a ·1tic on verte )ta !;, ' . l . . . , .. ..
A is t h e precu r sor of su bstance B in B ut more understanding of, and more phyla have n1e111 ) CJ s pai':, ·t· . themselves and carry m g on t 1e11 species.
the intac t animal ? Feed your anim al A data on , this transformation is accumu- . , • , . cl methods of suppoi mg . . _ _ , . . .
and complicate
I _ __ • lcludm o- such ch fte ren t c1-ca trn 1.: :-, ,ls
lating so rapidly that this discussion of 1 11
•·
a ·e the mo! lJ!j ,s
.. b. t
which h as bee n syn thesized w ith · some Other J11ve1 e i a es , i . . . the hnzzm rr, scuttlmg , b1t 111g . :--.t111::-.111:-..,
• •
. •
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.'b
•
,, ...
t
r adio element in it, isolate you r B an d the uranium reaction is alrea·dy out of • J • the seo-mented woi ms, 'b • 1 · I , - ·
date. Under such circumstances, the oysters and squic s- . b • . .. <ls and the m a ny-sid ed cc 11110 < 1.: 1 Ill s -
s ee if it has a n y radioactivity. p inching and often highly ech ble a1 th1 ?~)O e'ct1·011 on severa l obscure i1n·c1·te h1·a t cs
best we can do is to join the radio an-
VI/ a n t to k now if a par ticula r sub- ' · · , t . T here 1s a s , . . , .
nouncers in saying: "For further de- starfishes, sea urcluns, et ce ei a. • o- ertebrates. At least they w c i c 0 11 1..: 1.. ,
srtu1ce is stored in the an ima l as such , that seem to be on the verge of becon11nb v
tails see your local papers !"
maybe they got discouraged. . t bt1t macrnificen tly illu st1·atcd w it h
J · · 1o-Jy w n t en, • 'b .
The book is not on Y entertaum b • I . If biolocrica l 111a ttc1·s rntcr cSi y u n
I ·. d · ·1ws and photogi ap i::.. . ::, • .
bold black-a11d-w 11te iaw1 ::,• 'c d f b ok that you w ill p u t m the rno :-,t co11s p 1c u u u s
at all 't . . a ''must." It's the km o O • c
' . c ' I is f . 've read it.
place on your shelves a tei you . · L. S P RAC u E DE C .. , M P ·