@RUTGERS.ARPA:Tallan.PA@Xerox.ARPA (03/14/85)
From: Michael Tallan <Tallan.pa@XEROX.ARPA> A story on solar sailing that no one has mentioned yet is "Sail 25" by Jack Vance. It has appeared in several of his anthologies, most recently in "The Best of Jack Vance". I saw this book in a local store just yesterday so it is probably still available elsewhere. -- Michael Tallan
msb@lsuc.UUCP (Mark Brader) (03/17/85)
Michael Tallan writes: > A story on solar sailing that no one has mentioned yet is "Sail 25" by > Jack Vance. This is also in the Asimov/Greenberg/Waugh anthology "The Seven Deadly Sins of Science Fiction". "Sail 25" is the only story I've read for quite some time where something called a "computer" can be put out of action by a damaged bearing... Mark Brader
wildbill@ucbvax.ARPA (William J. Laubenheimer) (03/19/85)
>This is also in the Asimov/Greenberg/Waugh anthology "The Seven Deadly Sins >of Science Fiction". "Sail 25" is the only story I've read for quite some >time where something called a "computer" can be put out of action by a >damaged bearing... >Mark Brader OK. Why don't you take a few shots at the bearing on your main system disk someday and see how long you can keep the system up. Admittedly this is more likely to cause a total head crash than the problem described in the story (direct quote: " 'The bearings which suspend the data-separation disks have broken. The shaft has several millimeters play and as a result there is total confusion in the data presented to the analyzer.' "), but when you think about the rpm's involved in disk drives, it's not surprising that a damaged bearing could produce a large amount of grief. Now as to how Captain Belt was able to open up the drive, slip the bearings out, put everything back together, and realign the system without any of the trainee crew noticing, that's a bit tougher... Bill Laubenheimer ----------------------------------------UC-Berkeley Computer Science ...Killjoy went that-a-way---> ucbvax!wildbill