"I'm going to sleep, darling." Up in the ceiling, the ventilator hummed. "I must get somesleep…"In the morning, I woke up feeling calm and refreshed. The experiment seemed a petty matter,and I could not understand how I had managed to take the encephalogram so seriously. Norwas I much bothered by having to bring Rheya into the laboratory. In spite of all her exertions,she could not bear to stay out of sight and earshot for longer than five minutes, so I hadabandoned my idea of further tests (she was even prepared to let herself be locked upsomewhere), asked her to come with me, and advised her to bring something to read.
I was especially curious about what I would find in the laboratory. There was nothing unusualabout the appearance of the big, blue-and-white-painted room, except that the shelves andcupboards meant to contain glass instruments seemed bare. The glass panel in one door wasstarred, and in some doors it was missing altogether, suggesting that there had been a strugglehere recently, and that someone had done his best to remove the traces.
Snow busied himself with the equipment, and behaved quite civilly, showing no surprise at thesight of Rheya, and greeting her with a quick nod of the head.
I was lying down and Snow was swabbing my temples and forehead with saline solution, whena narrow door opened and Sartorius emerged from an unlighted room. He was wearing a whitesmock and a black anti-radiation overall that came down to his ankles, and his greeting wasauthoritative and very professional in manner. We might have been two researchers in somegreat institute on Earth, continuing from where we had left off the day before. He was notwearing his dark glasses, but I noticed that he had on contact lenses, which I took to be theexplanation of his lack of expression.
Satorius looked on with arms folded as Snow attached the electrodes and wrapped a bandagearound my head. He looked around the room several times, ignoring Rheya, who sat on a stoolwith her back against the wall, pretending to read.
Snow stepped back, and I moved my head, which was bulging7 with metal discs and wires, towatch him switch on. At this point Sartorius raised his hand and launched into a floweryspeech:
"Dr. Kelvin, may I have your attention and concentration for a moment. I do not intend todictate any precise sequence of thought to you, for that would invalidate the experiment, but Ido insist that you cease thinking of yourself, of me, our colleague Snow, or anybody else.
Make an effort to eliminate any intrusion of individual personalities8, and concentrate on thematter in hand. Earth and Solaris; the body of scientists considered as a single entity9, althoughgenerations succeed each other and man as an individual has a limited span; our aspirations10,and our perseverance11 in the attempt to establish an intellectual contact; the long historic marchof humanity, our own certitude of furthering that advance, and our determination to renounceall personal feelings in order to accomplish our mission; the sacrifices that we are prepared tomake, and the hardships we stand ready to overcome…These are the themes that mightproperly occupy your awareness12. The association of ideas does not depend entirely13 on yourown will. However, the very fact of your presence here bears out the authenticity14 of theprogression I have drawn15 to your attention. If you are unsure that you have acquitted16 yourselfof your task, say so, I beg you, and our colleague Snow will make another recording17. We haveplenty of time."A dry little smile flickered18 over his face as he spoke19 these last words, but his expressionremained morose20. I was still trying to unravel21 the pompous22 phraseology which he had spun23 outwith the utmost gravity. Snow broke the lengthening24 silence:
"Ready Kris?"He was leaning with one elbow on the control-panel of the electro-encephalograph, lookingcompletely relaxed. His confident tone reassured25 me, and I was grateful to him for calling meby my first name.
"Let's get started." I closed my eyes.
A sudden panic had overwhelmed me after Snow had fixed26 the electrodes and walked over tothe controls: now it disappeared just as suddenly. Through half-closed lids, I could see the redlights winking27 on the black control-panel. I was no longer aware of the damp, unpleasant touchof the crown of clammy electrodes. My mind was an empty grey arena28 ringed by a crowd ofinvisible onlookers29 massed on tiers of seats, attentive30, silent, and emanating31 in their silence anironic contempt for Sartorius and the Mission. What should I improvise32 for these spectators?…Rheya…I introduced her name cautiously, ready to withdraw it at once, but no protest came,and I kept going. I was drunk with grief and tenderness, ready to suffer prolonged sacrificespatiently. My mind was pervaded33 with Rheya, without a body or a face, but alive inside me,real and imperceptible. Suddenly, as if printed over that despairing presence, I saw in the greyshadows the learned, professorial face of Giese, the father of Solarist studies and of Solarists. Iwas not visualizing34 the nauseating35 mud-eruption which had swallowed up the gold-rimmedspectacles and carefully brushed moustache. I was seeing the engraving36 on the title-page of hisclassic work, and the close-hatched strokes against which the artist had made his head standout—so like my father's, that head, not in its I features but in its expression of old-fashionedwisdom and honesty, that I was finally no longer able to tell which of them was looking at me,my father or Giese. They were dead, and neither of them buried, but then deaths without burialare not uncommon37 in our time.
The image of Giese vanished, and I momentarily forgot the Station, the experiment, Rheya andthe ocean. Recent memories were obliterated38 by the overwhelming conviction that these twomen, my father and Giese, nothing but ashes now, had once faced up to the totality of theirexistence, and this conviction afforded a profound calm which annihilated39 the formlessassembly clustered around the grey arena in the expectation of my defeat.
I heard the click of circuit-breakers, and light penetrated40 my eyelids41, which blinked open.
Sartorius had not budged42 from his previous position, and was looking at me. Snow had hisback turned to operate the control-panel. I had the impression that he was amusing himself bymaking his sandals slap on the floor.
"Do you think that stage one has been successful, Dr. Kelvin?" Sartorius inquired, in the nasalvoice which I had come to detest43.
"Yes.""Are you sure?" he persisted, obviously rather surprised, and perhaps even suspicious.
"Yes."My assurance and the bluntness of my answers made him lose his composure briefly44.
"Oh…good," he stammered45.
Snow came over to me and started to unwrap the bandage from my head. Sartorius steppedback, hesitated, then disappeared into the dark-room.
I was rubbing the circulation back into my legs when he came out again, holding the developedfilm. Zigzag46 lines traced a lacy pattern along fifty feet of glistening47 black ribbon. My presencewas no longer necessary, but I stayed, and Snow fed the ribbon into the modulator48. Sartoriusmade a final suspicious examination of the last few feet of the spool49, as if trying to decipher thecontent of the wavering lines.
The experiment proceeded with a minimum of fuss.
Snow and Sartorius each sat at a bank of controls and pushed buttons. Through the reinforcedfloor, I heard the whine50 of power building up in the turbines. Lights moved downward insideglass-fronted indicators51 in time with the descent of the great X-ray beamer to the bottom of itshousing. They came to a stop at the low limit of the indicators.
Snow stepped up the power, and the white needle of the voltmeter described a left-to-rightsemicircle. The hum of current was barely audible now, as the film unwound, invisible behindthe two round caps. Numbers clicked through the footage indicator52.
I went over to Rheya, who was watching us over her book. She glanced up at me inquiringly.
The experiment was over, and Sartorius was walking towards the heavy conical head of themachine.
"Can we go?" Rheya mouthed silently.
I replied with a nod, Rheya stood up and we left the room without taking leave of mycolleagues.
A superb sunset was blazing through the windows of the upper-deck corridor. Usually thehorizon was reddish and gloomy at this hour. This time it was a shimmering53 pink, laced withsilver. Under the soft glow of the light, the somber54 foothills of the ocean shone pale violet. Thesky was red only at the zenith.
We came to the bottom of the stairway, and I stopped, reluctant to wall myself up again in theprison cell of the cabin.
"Rheya, I want to look something up in the library. Do you mind?""Of course not," she exclaimed, in a forced attempt at cheerfulness. "I can find something toread…"I knew only too well that a gulf55 had opened between us since the previous day. I should havebehaved more considerately, and tried to master my apathy56, but I could not summon thestrength.
We walked down the ramp57 leading to the library. There were three doors giving onto the littleentrance hall, and crystal globes containing flowers were spaced out along the walls. I openedthe middle door, which was lined with synthetic58 leather on either side. I always avoided contactwith this upholstery when entering the library. We were greeted by a pleasant gust59 of fresh air.
In spite of the stylized sun painted on the ceiling, the great circular hall had remained cool.
Idly running a finger along the spines60 of the books, I was on the point of choosing, out of allthe Solarist classics, the first volume of Giese, so as to refresh my memory of the portrait onthe title-page, when I came upon a book I had not noticed before, an octavo volume with acracked binding5. It was Gravinsky's Compendium61, used mostly by students, as a crib.
Sitting in an armchair, with Rheya at my side, I leafed through Gravinsky's alphabeticalclassification of the various Solarist theories. The compiler, who had never set foot on Solaris,had combed through every monograph63, expedition report, fragmentary outline and provisionalaccount, even making excerpts64 of incidental comments about Solaris in planetological worksdealing with other worlds. He had drawn up an inventory66 crammed67 with simplisticformulations, which grossly diminished the subtlety68 of the ideas it resuméd. Originallyintended as an all-embracing account, Gravinsky's book was little more than a curiosity now. Ithad only been published twenty years before, but since that time such a mass of new theorieshad accumulated that there would not have been room for them in a single volume. I glancedthrough the index—practically an obituary69 list, for few of the authors cited were still alive, andamong the survivors70 none was still playing an active part in Solarist studies. Reading all thesenames, and adding up the sum of the intellectual efforts they represented in every field ofresearch, it was tempting71 to think that surely one of the theories quoted must be correct, andthat the thousands of listed hypotheses must each contain some grain of truth, could not betotally unrelated to the reality.
In his introduction, Gravinsky divided the first sixty years of Solarist studies into periods.
During the initial period, which began with the scouting72 ship that studied the planet from orbit,nobody had produced theories in the strict sense. 'Common sense' suggested that the ocean wasa lifeless chemical conglomerate73, a gelatinous mass which through its 'quasi-volcanic' activityproduced marvellous creations and stabilized74 its eccentric orbit by virtue75 of a self-generatedmechanical process, as a pendulum76 keeps itself on a fixed path once it is set in motion. To beprecise, Magenon had come up with the idea three years after the first expedition, butaccording to the Compendium the period of biological hypotheses does not begin until nineyears later, when Magenon's idea had acquired numerous supporters. The following yearsteemed with theoretical accounts of the living ocean, extremely complex, and supported bybiomathematical analysis. During the third period, scientific opinion, hitherto practicallyunanimous, became divided.
What followed was internecine77 warfare78 between scores of new schools of thought. It was theage of Panmaller, Strobel, Freyus, Le Greuille and Osipowicz: the entire legacy79 of Giese wassubmitted to a merciless examination. The first atlases80 and inventories81 appeared, and newtechniques in remote control enabled instruments to transmit stereophotographs from theinterior of the asymmetriads, once considered impossible to explore. In the hubbub82 ofcontroversy, the 'minimal83' hypotheses were contemptuously dismissed: even if the long-awaited contact with the 'reasoning monster' did not materialize, it was argued that it was stillworth investigating the cartilaginous cities of the mimoids and the ballooning mountains thatrose above the ocean because we would gain valuable chemical and physio-chemicalinformation, and enlarge our understanding of the structure of giant molecules84. Nobodybothered even to refute the adherents85 of this defeatist line of reasoning. Scientists devotedthemselves to drawing up catalogues of the typical metamorphoses which are still standardworks, and Frank developed his bioplasmatic theory of the mimoids, which has since beenshown to be inaccurate88, but remains89 a superb example of intellectual audacity90 and logicalconstruction.
The thirty or so years of the first three 'Gravinsky periods,' with their open assurance andirresistibly optimistic romanticism, constitute the infancy91 of Solarist studies. Already agrowing scepticism heralded92 the age of maturity93. Towards the end of the first quarter-centurythe early colloido-mechanistic theories had found a distant descendant in the concept of the'apsychic ocean,' a new and almost unanimous orthodoxy which threw overboard the view ofthat entire generation of scientists who believed that their observations were evidence of aconscious will, teleological95 processes, and activity motivated by some inner need of the ocean.
This point of view was now overwhelmingly repudiated96, and the ground was cleared for theteam headed by Holden, Ionides and Stoliva, whose lucid97, analytically98 based speculationsconcentrated on scrupulous99 examination of a growing body of data. It was the golden age ofthe archivists. Microfilm libraries burst at the seams with documents; expeditions, some ofthem more than a thousand strong, were equipped with the most lavish100 apparatus101 Earth couldprovide—robot recorders, sonar and radar102, and the entire range of spectrometers, radiationcounters and so on. Material was being accumulated at an accelerating tempo103, but the essentialspirits of the research flagged, and in the course of this period, still an optimistic one in spite ofeverything, a decline set in.
The first phase of Solaristics had been shaped by the personality of men like Giese, Strobel andSevada, who had remained adventurous104 whether they were asserting or attacking a theoreticalposition. Sevada, the last of the great Solarists, disappeared near the south pole of the planet,and his death was never satisfactorily explained. He fell victim to a mistake which not even anovice would have made. Flying at low altitude, in full view of scores of observers, his aircrafthad plunged105 into the interior of an agilus which was not even directly in its path. There wasspeculation about a sudden heart attack or fainting fit, or a mechanical failure, but I havealways believed that this was in fact the first suicide, brought on by the first abrupt106 crisis ofdespair.
There were other 'crises,' not mentioned in Gravinsky, whose details I was able to fill in out ofmy own knowledge as I stared at the yellowed, closely printed pages.
The later expressions of despair were in any case less dramatic, just as outstandingpersonalities became rarer. The recruitment of scientists to any particular field of study in agiven age has never been studied as a phenomenon in its own right. Every generation throwsup a fairly constant number of brilliant and determined107 men; the only difference lies in thedirection they choose to take. The absence or presence of such individuals in a particular fieldof study is probably explicable in terms of the new perspectives offered. Opinions may differabout the researchers of the classical age of Solarist studies, but nobody can deny their stature,even their genius. For several decades, the mysterious ocean had attracted the bestmathematicians and physicists108, and the top specialists in biophysics, information theory andelectro-physiology. Now, without warning, the army of researchers found itself leaderless.
There remained a faceless mass of industrious109 collectors and compilers. The occasionaloriginal experiment might be devised, but the succession of vast expeditions mounted on aworldwide scale petered out, and the scientific world no longer echoed with ambitious,controversial theories.
The machinery110 of Solaristics fell into disrepair, and rusted111 over with hypotheses differentiatedonly in minor112 details, and unanimous in their concentration on the theme of the ocean'sdegeneration, regression and introversion113. Now and then a bolder, more interesting conceptmight emerge, but it always amounted to a kind of indictment114 of the ocean, viewed as the end-product of a development which long ago, thousands of years before, had gone through a phaseof superior organization, and now had nothing more than a physical unity115. The argument wentthat its many useless, absurd creations were its death-throes—impressive enough, nonetheless—which had been going on for centuries. Thus, for instance, the extensors and mimoids wereseen as tumors, and all the surface processes of the huge fluid body as expressions of chaos116 andanarchy. This approach to the problem became an obsession117. For seven or eight years, theacademic literature produced a spate118 of assertions which although framed in polite, cautiousterms, amounted to little more than insults, the revenge of a rabble119 of leaderless suitors whenthey realized that the object of their most pressing attentions was indifferent to the point ofobstinately ignoring all their advances.
A group of European psychologists once carried out a public opinion poll spread over a periodof several years. Their report had no direct bearing on Solarist studies, and was not included inthe library collection, but I had read it, and retained a clear memory of its findings. Theinvestigators had strikingly demonstrated that the changes in lay opinion were closelycorrelated to the fluctuations120 of opinion recorded in scientific circles.
That change was expressed even in the coordinating121 committee of the Institute of Planetology,which controls the financial appropriations122 for research, by means of a progressive reduction inthe budgets of institutes and appointments devoted86 to Solarist studies, as well as by restrictionson the size of the exploration teams.
Some scientists adopted a position at the other extreme, and agitated123 for more vigorous steps tobe taken. The administrative124 director of the Universal Cosmological Institute ventured to assertthat the living ocean did not despise men in the least, but had not noticed them, as an elephantneither feels nor sees the ants crawling on its back. To attract and hold the ocean's attention, itwould be necessary to devise more powerful stimuli125, and gigantic machines tailored to thedimensions of the entire planet. Malicious126 commentators127 were not slow to point out that thedirector could well afford to be generous, since it was the Institute of Planetology which wouldhave to foot the bill.
Still the hypotheses rained down—old, 'resurrected' hypotheses, superficially modified,simplified, or complicated to the extreme—and Solaristics, a relatively128 well-defined disciplinein spite of its scope, became an increasingly tangled129 maze130 where every apparent exit led to adead end. In the despondency, the ocean of Solaris was submerging under an ocean of printedpaper.
Two years before I began the stint131 in Gibarian's laboratory which ended when I obtained thediploma of the Institute, the Mett-Irving Foundation offered a huge prize to anybody who couldfind a viable132 method of tapping the energy of the ocean. The idea was not a new one. Severalcargoes of the plasmatic87 jelly had been shipped back to Earth in the past, and various methodsof preservation133 had been patiently tested: high and low temperatures, artificial micro-atmospheres and micro-climates, and prolonged irradiation. The whole gamut134 of physical andchemical processes had been run, only to end with the same outcome, a gradual process ofdecomposition which passed through well-defined stages, starting with wasting, maceration,then first-degree (primary) and late (secondary) liquefaction. The samples removed from theplasmatic growths and creations met with the same fate, with certain variations in the phases ofdecomposition. The end-product was always a light metallic135 ash.
Once the scientists recognized that it was impossible to keep alive, or even in a 'vegetative'
state, any fragment of the ocean, large or small, in dissociation from the entire organism, agrowing tendency developed (under the influence of the Meunier-Proroch school) to isolatethis problem as the key to the mystery. It was seen as a matter of interpretation136—solve it, andthe back of the problem would be broken.
The quest for this key, the philosopher's stone of Solarist studies, had absorbed the time andenergy of all kinds of people with little or no scientific training. During the fourth decade ofSolaristics the craze spread like an epidemic137, and provided a fertile ground for thepsychologists. An unknown number of cranks and ignorant fanatics138 toiled139 at their fumblingresearches with a greater enthusiasm than any which had animated140 the old prophets ofperpetual motion, or the squaring of the circle. The craze fizzled out in only a few years, andby the time I was ready to leave for Solaris it had vanished from the headlines and fromconversation, and the ocean itself was practically forgotten by the public.
I took care to replace the Compendium in its correct alphabetical62 position, and in doing sodislodged a slim pamphlet by Grastrom, one of the most eccentric authors in Solarist literature.
I had read the pamphlet, which was dictated141 by the urge to understand what lies beyond thegrasp of mankind, and aimed in particular against the individual, man, and the human species.
It was the abstract, acidulous142 work of an autodidact who had previously143 made a series ofunusual contributions to various marginal and rarefied branches of quantum physics. In thisfifteen-page booklet (his magnum opus!), Grastrom set out to demonstrate that the mostabstract achievements of science, the most advanced theories and victories of mathematicsrepresented nothing more than a stumbling one- or two-step progression from our rude,prehistoric, anthropomorphic understanding of the universe around us. He pointed144 outcorrespondences with the human body—the projections145 of our senses, the structure of ourphysical organization, and the physiological146 limitations of man—in the equations of the theoryof relativity, the theorem of magnetic fields and the various unified147 field theories. Grastrom'sconclusion was that there neither was, nor could be, any question of 'contact' between mankindand any nonhuman civilization. This broadside against humanity made no specific mention ofthe living ocean, but its constant presence and scornful, victorious148 silence could be feltbetween every line, at any rate such had been my own impression. It was Gibarian who drew itto my attention, and it must have been Gibarian who had added it to the Station's collection, onhis own authority, since Grastrom's pamphlet was regarded more as a curiosity than a truecontribution to Solarist literature.
With a strange feeling almost of respect, I carefully slid the slim pamphlet back into thecrowded bookshelf, then stroked the green bronze binding of the Solaris Annual with myfingertips. In the space of a few days, we had unquestionably gained positive information abouta number of basic questions, which had made seas of ink flow and fed innumerablecontroversies, yet had remained sterile149 for lack of arguments. Today the mystery practicallyhad us under siege, and we had powerful arguments.
Was the ocean a living creature? It could hardly be doubted any longer by any but lovers ofparadox or obstinacy150. It was no longer possible to deny the 'psychic94' functions of the ocean, nomatter how that term might be defined. Certainly it was only too obvious that the ocean had'noticed' us. This fact alone invalidated that category of Solarist theories which claimed that theocean was an 'introverted' world, a 'hermit151 entity,' deprived by a process of degeneration of thethinking organs it once possessed152, unaware153 of the existence of external objects and events, theprisoner of a gigantic vortex of mental currents created and confined in the depths of thismonster revolving154 between two suns.
Not only that, we had discovered that the ocean was capable of reproducing what we ourselveshad never succeeded in creating artificially—a perfect human body, modified in its sub-atomicstructure for purposes we could not guess.
The ocean lived, thought and acted. The 'Solaris problem' had not been annihilated by its veryabsurdity. We were truly dealing65 with a living creature. The 'lost' faculty155 was not lost at all. Allthis now seemed proved beyond doubt. Like it or not, men must pay attention to this neighbor,light years away, but nevertheless a neighbor situated156 inside our sphere of expansion, and moredisquieting than all the rest of the universe.
Perhaps we had arrived at a turning-point. What would the high-level decision be? Would webe ordered to give up and return to Earth, immediately or in the near future? Was it evenpossible that we would be ordered to liquidate158 the Station? It was at least not improbable. But Idid not favor the solution by retreat. The existence of the thinking colossus was bound to go onhaunting men's minds. Even when man had explored every corner of the cosmos159, andestablished relations with other civilizations founded by creatures similar to ourselves, Solariswould remain an eternal challenge.
Misplaced among the thick volumes of the Annual, I discovered a small calf-bound book, andscanned its scuffed160, worn cover for a moment. It was Muntius's Introduction to Solaristics,published many years before. I had read it in a single night, after Gibarian had smilingly lentme his personal copy; and when I had turned the final page the light of a new Earth dawn wasshining through my window. According to Muntius, Solaristics is the space era's equivalent ofreligion: faith disguised as science. Contact, the stated aim of Solaristics, is no less vague andobscure than the communion of the saints, or the second coming of the Messiah. Exploration isa liturgy161 using the language of methodology; the drudgery162 of the Solarists is carried out only inthe expectation of fulfillment, of an Annunciation, for there are not and cannot be any bridgesbetween Solaris and Earth. The comparison is reinforced by obvious parallels: Solarists rejectarguments—no experiences in common, no communicable notions—just as the faithfulrejected the arguments that undermined the foundations of their belief. Then again, what canmankind expect or hope for out of a joint163 'pooling of information' with the living ocean? Acatalogue of the vicissitudes164 associated with an existence of such infinite duration that itprobably has no memory of its origins? A description of the aspirations, passions andsufferings that find expression in the perpetual creation of living mountains? The apotheosis165 ofmathematics, the revelation of plenitude in isolation166 and renunciation? But all this represents abody of incommunicable knowledge. Transposed into any human language, the values andmeanings involved lose all substance; they cannot be brought intact through the barrier. In anycase, the 'adepts167' do not expect such revelations—of the order of poetry, rather than science—since unconsciously it is Revelation itself that they expect, and this revelation is to explain tothem the meaning of the destiny of man! Solaristics is a revival168 of long-vanished myths, theexpression of mystical nostalgias which men are unwilling169 to confess openly. The cornerstoneis deeply entrenched170 in the foundations of the edifice171: it is the hope of Redemption.
Solarists are incapable172 of recognizing this truth, and consequently take care to avoid anyinterpretation of Contact, which is presented in their writings as an ultimate goal, whereasoriginally it had been considered as a beginning, and as a step onto a new path, among manyother possible paths. Over the years, Contact has become sanctified. It has become the heavenof eternity173.
Muntius analyzes174 this 'heresy175' of planetology very simply and trenchantly176. He brilliantlydismantles the Solarist myth, or rather the myth of the Mission of Mankind.
Muntius's had been the first voice raised in protest, and had encountered the contemptuoussilence of the experts, at a time when they still retained a romantic confidence in thedevelopment of Solaristics. After all, how could they have accepted a thesis that struck at thefoundations of their achievements?
Solaristics went on waiting for the man who would reestablish it on a firm foundation anddefine its frontiers with precision. Five years after the death of Muntius, when his pamphlethad become a rare collectors' piece, a group of Norwegian researchers founded a school namedafter him. In contact with the personalities of his various spiritual heirs, the quiet thought of themaster went through profound transformations177; it led to the corrosive178 irony179 of Erie Ennessonand, on a more mundane180 plane, the 'utilitarian181' or 'utilitarianistic' Solaristics of Fa-leng, whoargued that science should settle for the immediate157 advantages offered by exploration, and notconcern itself with any intellectual communion of two civilizations, or some illusory contact.
Compared with the ruthless, lucid analysis of Muntius, the works of his disciples182 are hardlymore than compilations183 and sometimes vulgarizations, with the exception of Ennesson's essaysand perhaps the studies of Takata. Muntius himself had already defined the completedevelopment of Solarist concepts. He called the first phase the era of the 'prophets,' amongwhom he included Giese, Holden and Sevada; the second, the 'great schism'—thefragmentation of the one Solarist church into a number of waning184 sects185; and he anticipated athird phase, which would set in when there was nothing left to investigate, and manifest itselfin a crabbed186, academic dogmatism. This prophecy was to prove inaccurate, however. In myopinion, Gibarian was right to characterize Muntius's strictures as a monumental simplificationwhich ignored all the aspects of Solarist studies that had nothing in common with a creed187, sincethe work of interpretation based itself only on the concrete evidence of a globe orbiting twosuns.
Slipped between two pages of Muntius's pamphlet, I discovered an off-print of the quarterlyreview Parerga Solariana, which turned out to be one of the first articles written by Gibarian,even before he was appointed director of the Institute. The article was called "Why I Am aSolarist" and began with a concise188 account of all the material phenomena189 which confirmed thepossibility of contact. Gibarian belonged to that generation of researchers who had been daringand optimistic enough to hark back to the golden age, and who did not disown their ownversion of a faith that overstepped the frontiers imposed by science, and yet remained concrete,since it pre-supposed the success of perseverance.
Gibarian had been influenced by the classical work in bio-electronics for which the Eurasianschool of Cho En-min, Ngyalla and Kawakadze is famous. Their studies established an analogybetween the charted electrical activity of the brain and certain discharges occurring deep in theplasma before the appearance, for example, of elementary polymorphs or twin solarids.
Gibarian was opposed to anthropomorphizing interpretations190, and the mystifications of thepsychoanalytic, psychiatric and neurophysiological schools which attempted to endow theocean with the symptoms of human illnesses, epilepsy among them (supposed to correspondwith the spasmodic eruptions191 of the asymmetriads). He was one of the most cautious andlogical proponents192 of Contact, and saw no advantage in the kind of sensationalism which wasin any case becoming more and more rare as applied193 to Solaris.
My own doctoral thesis received a fair amount of attention, not all of it welcome. It was basedon the discoveries of Bergmann and Reynolds, who had succeeded in isolating194 and 'filtering'
the elements of the most powerful emotions—despair, grief and pleasure—out of the mass ofgeneral mental processes. Systematically195 comparing their recordings196 with the electricaldischarges from the ocean, I had observed oscillations in certain parts of symmetriads and atthe bases of nascent197 mimoids which were sufficiently198 analogous199 to deserve furtherinvestigation. The journalists pounced200 on my thesis, and in some newspapers my name wascoupled with grotesque201 headlines—'The Despairing Jelly,' 'The Planet in Orgasm.' But thisdubious fame did have the fortunate consequence (or so I had thought a few days previously)of attracting the attention of Gibarian, who naturally could not read every new publicationdealing with Solaris. The letter he sent me ended a chapter of my life, and began a new one…
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speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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lured
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| 吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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plasma
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| n.血浆，细胞质，乳清 | |
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binding
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| 有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的 | |
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fumbled
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| （笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下 | |
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bulging
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personalities
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| n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 ) | |
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entity
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| n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物 | |
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aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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11
perseverance
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| n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠 | |
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12
awareness
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| n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智 | |
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13
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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14
authenticity
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| n.真实性 | |
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15
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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acquitted
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| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
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17
recording
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| n.录音，记录 | |
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18
flickered
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| （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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20
morose
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| adj.脾气坏的，不高兴的 | |
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21
unravel
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| v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开 | |
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22
pompous
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的；夸大的；豪华的 | |
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23
spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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24
lengthening
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| （时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的现在分词 )； 加长 | |
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25
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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26
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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27
winking
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| n.瞬眼，目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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28
arena
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| n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台 | |
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29
onlookers
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| n.旁观者，观看者( onlooker的名词复数 ) | |
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30
attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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31
emanating
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| v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的现在分词 )；产生，表现，显示 | |
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32
improvise
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| v.即兴创作；临时准备，临时凑成 | |
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33
pervaded
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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34
visualizing
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| 肉眼观察 | |
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35
nauseating
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| adj.令人恶心的，使人厌恶的v.使恶心，作呕( nauseate的现在分词 ) | |
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36
engraving
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| n.版画；雕刻（作品）；雕刻艺术；镌版术v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的现在分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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37
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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38
obliterated
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| v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭 | |
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39
annihilated
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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40
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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41
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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42
budged
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| v.（使）稍微移动( budge的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）改变主意，（使）让步 | |
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43
detest
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| vt.痛恨，憎恶 | |
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44
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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45
stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46
zigzag
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| n.曲折，之字形；adj.曲折的，锯齿形的；adv.曲折地，成锯齿形地；vt.使曲折；vi.曲折前行 | |
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47
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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48
modulator
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| 调节器； 调制器 | |
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49
spool
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| n.（缠录音带等的）卷盘（轴）；v.把…绕在卷轴上 | |
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50
whine
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| v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣 | |
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51
indicators
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| （仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号 | |
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52
indicator
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| n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器 | |
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53
shimmering
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| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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54
somber
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| adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的 | |
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55
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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56
apathy
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| n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡 | |
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57
ramp
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| n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速 | |
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58
synthetic
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| adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品 | |
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59
gust
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| n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发 | |
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60
spines
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| n.脊柱( spine的名词复数 )；脊椎；（动植物的）刺；书脊 | |
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61
compendium
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| n.简要，概略 | |
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62
alphabetical
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| adj.字母（表）的，依字母顺序的 | |
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63
monograph
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| n.专题文章，专题著作 | |
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64
excerpts
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| n.摘录，摘要( excerpt的名词复数 )；节选（音乐，电影）片段 | |
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65
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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66
inventory
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| n.详细目录，存货清单 | |
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67
crammed
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| adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式) | |
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68
subtlety
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| n.微妙，敏锐，精巧；微妙之处，细微的区别 | |
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69
obituary
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| n.讣告，死亡公告；adj.死亡的 | |
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70
survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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71
tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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72
scouting
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| 守候活动，童子军的活动 | |
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73
conglomerate
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| n.综合商社，多元化集团公司 | |
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74
stabilized
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| v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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75
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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76
pendulum
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| n.摆，钟摆 | |
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77
internecine
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| adj.两败俱伤的 | |
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78
warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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79
legacy
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| n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西 | |
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80
atlases
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| 地图集( atlas的名词复数 ) | |
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81
inventories
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| n.总结( inventory的名词复数 )；细账；存货清单（或财产目录）的编制 | |
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82
hubbub
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| n.嘈杂；骚乱 | |
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83
minimal
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| adj.尽可能少的，最小的 | |
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84
molecules
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| 分子( molecule的名词复数 ) | |
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85
adherents
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| n.支持者，拥护者( adherent的名词复数 )；党羽；徒子徒孙 | |
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86
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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87
plasmatic
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| adj.血浆的 | |
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88
inaccurate
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| adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的 | |
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89
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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90
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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91
infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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92
heralded
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| v.预示( herald的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布（好或重要） | |
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93
maturity
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| n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期 | |
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94
psychic
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| n.对超自然力敏感的人；adj.有超自然力的 | |
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95
teleological
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| adj.目的论的 | |
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96
repudiated
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| v.（正式地）否认( repudiate的过去式和过去分词 )；拒绝接受；拒绝与…往来；拒不履行（法律义务） | |
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97
lucid
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| adj.明白易懂的，清晰的，头脑清楚的 | |
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98
analytically
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| adv.有分析地，解析地 | |
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99
scrupulous
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| adj.审慎的，小心翼翼的，完全的，纯粹的 | |
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100
lavish
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| adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍 | |
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101
apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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102
radar
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| n.雷达，无线电探测器 | |
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103
tempo
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| n.(音乐的)速度；节奏，行进速度 | |
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104
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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105
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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106
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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107
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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108
physicists
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| 物理学家( physicist的名词复数 ) | |
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109
industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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110
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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111
rusted
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| v.（使）生锈( rust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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112
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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113
introversion
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| n. [心理]内向性, 内省性 | |
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114
indictment
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| n.起诉；诉状 | |
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115
unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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116
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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117
obsession
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| n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感) | |
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118
spate
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| n.泛滥，洪水，突然的一阵 | |
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119
rabble
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| n.乌合之众，暴民；下等人 | |
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120
fluctuations
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| 波动，涨落，起伏( fluctuation的名词复数 ) | |
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121
coordinating
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| v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等 | |
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122
appropriations
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| n.挪用（appropriation的复数形式） | |
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123
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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124
administrative
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| adj.行政的，管理的 | |
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125
stimuli
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| n.刺激（物） | |
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126
malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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127
commentators
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| n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员 | |
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128
relatively
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| adv.比较...地，相对地 | |
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129
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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130
maze
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| n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑 | |
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131
stint
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| v.节省，限制，停止；n.舍不得化，节约，限制；连续不断的一段时间从事某件事 | |
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132
viable
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| adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的 | |
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133
preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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gamut
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| n.全音阶，(一领域的)全部知识 | |
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metallic
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| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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137
epidemic
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| n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的 | |
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138
fanatics
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| 狂热者，入迷者( fanatic的名词复数 ) | |
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139
toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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dictated
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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acidulous
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| adj.微酸的；苛薄的 | |
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143
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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projections
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| 预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物 | |
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physiological
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| adj.生理学的，生理学上的 | |
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unified
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| (unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的 | |
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victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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sterile
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| adj.不毛的，不孕的，无菌的，枯燥的，贫瘠的 | |
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obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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151
hermit
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| n.隐士，修道者；隐居 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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revolving
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| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
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faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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liquidate
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| v.偿付，清算，扫除；整理，破产 | |
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cosmos
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| n.宇宙；秩序，和谐 | |
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scuffed
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| v.使磨损( scuff的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚走 | |
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liturgy
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| n.礼拜仪式 | |
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drudgery
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| n.苦工，重活，单调乏味的工作 | |
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joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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vicissitudes
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| n.变迁，世事变化；变迁兴衰( vicissitude的名词复数 )；盛衰兴废 | |
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apotheosis
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| n.神圣之理想；美化；颂扬 | |
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isolation
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| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
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adepts
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| n.专家，能手( adept的名词复数 ) | |
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revival
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| n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振 | |
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unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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entrenched
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| adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯) | |
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edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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173
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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analyzes
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| v.分析( analyze的第三人称单数 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析 | |
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heresy
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| n.异端邪说；异教 | |
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trenchantly
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177
transformations
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| n.变化( transformation的名词复数 )；转换；转换；变换 | |
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corrosive
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| adj.腐蚀性的；有害的；恶毒的 | |
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irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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mundane
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| adj.平凡的；尘世的；宇宙的 | |
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utilitarian
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| adj.实用的，功利的 | |
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182
disciples
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| n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 )；门徒；耶稣的信徒；（尤指）耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
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183
compilations
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| n.编辑，编写( compilation的名词复数 )；编辑物 | |
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waning
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| adj.（月亮）渐亏的，逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡 | |
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185
sects
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| n.宗派，教派( sect的名词复数 ) | |
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186
crabbed
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| adj.脾气坏的；易怒的；（指字迹）难辨认的；（字迹等）难辨认的v.捕蟹( crab的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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187
creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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188
concise
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| adj.简洁的，简明的 | |
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189
phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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190
interpretations
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| n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 )；表演；演绎；理解 | |
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eruptions
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| n.喷发，爆发( eruption的名词复数 ) | |
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192
proponents
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| n.（某事业、理论等的）支持者，拥护者( proponent的名词复数 ) | |
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193
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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194
isolating
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| adj.孤立的，绝缘的v.使隔离( isolate的现在分词 )；将…剔出（以便看清和单独处理）；使（某物质、细胞等）分离；使离析 | |
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195
systematically
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| adv.有系统地 | |
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196
recordings
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| n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片 | |
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197
nascent
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| adj.初生的，发生中的 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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analogous
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| adj.相似的；类似的 | |
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200
pounced
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| v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
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201
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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