Paradise Lost Biblical themes permeate the Western canon, and some of them speak either
directly or indirectly to the human role in weather and climate control. In Paradise Lost (1667), John Milton alludes to a divinely instituted shift in the Earth’s axis (and thus its climate) as a consequence of the original ancestors’ lapse from grace. According to Milton, while Eden was the ultimate temperate clime, watered with gentle mists, God, in anger and for punishment, rearranged the Earth and its surroundings to generate excessive heat, cold, and storms: “the Creator, calling forth by name His mightie Angels, gave them several charge.”3 The Sun was to move and shine so as to affect the Earth “with cold and heat scarce tolerable” (10.653–654); the planets were to align in sextile, square, opposition, and trine “thir influence malignant . . . to showre” (10.662); the winds were to blow from the four corners to “confound Sea, Aire, and Shoar” (10.665–666); and the thunder was to roll “with terror through the dark Aereal Hall” (10.667). The biggest change, however, resulted from tipping the axis of the Earth: “Some say he bid his Angels turne ascanse the Poles of Earth twice ten degrees and more from the Sun’s Axle; they with labor push’d oblique the Centric Globe . . . to bring in change of Seasons to each Clime; else had the Spring perpetual smil’d on Earth with vernant Flours, equal in Days and Nights” (10.668–671, 677–680). This led to massive changes in weather and climate on sea and land: “sidereal blast, Vapour, and Mist, and Exhalation hot, Corrupt and Pestilent” (10.693– 695). Northern winds (Boreas, Kaikias, and Skeiron) burst “their brazen Dungeon, armd with ice and snow and haile, and stormie gust and flaw” (10.697– 698), and other winds (Notus, Eurus, and the Tempest-Winds) in their season rent the woods, destroyed crops, churned the seas, and rushed forth noisily with black thunderous clouds, serving the bidding of the storm god Aeolus. But the angels had one last task: evicting “our lingring Parents” (12.638) from Eden. In this, too, Milton evokes climatic change when the blazing sword of God, “fierce as a Comet; which with torrid heat, and vapour as the Libyan Air adust, began to parch that temperate Clime” (12.634–636). Looking back at Paradise, “som natural tears they drop’d, but wip’d them soon; the World was all before them, where to choose thir place of rest, and Providence thir guide: They, hand in hand, with wandring steps and slow, through Eden took their solitarie way” (12.645–649). So you see, the wages of sin are . . . climate change. On Fri, May 6, 2022 at 12:57 PM SALTER Stephen <[email protected]> wrote: > Jim > > Tilting the earth’s axis back to the angle it should have been if properly > constructed would save a great deal of energy for heating and > air-conditioning but anything proposed by a gun club sounds rather energy > intensive. A better way would be to set up a standing wave pattern called > a seich in a sea region running north and south with a period of 24 hours. > The Adriatic looks promising. We would need a reflecting wall at one end > and a line of energy-absorbing and recycling wave-makers at the other. > With deep water and no wave breaking the system is quite efficient. It > would take quite a while but this would give time for people to decide on > the best angle. Once you get it going it takes little extra energy to > overcome losses. > > Stephen > > > > > > *From:* [email protected] <[email protected]> *On > Behalf Of *Jim Fleming > *Sent:* Friday, May 6, 2022 5:07 PM > *To:* Alan Robock <[email protected]> > *Cc:* olivier boucher <[email protected]>; geoengineering < > [email protected]> > *Subject:* Re: [geo] Mark Twain was the first geoengineer > > > > *This email was sent to you by someone outside the University.* > > You should only click on links or attachments if you are certain that the > email is genuine and the content is safe. > > Thanks for the kind acknowledgment Alan. > > I told Oliver Boucher there are more geo-engineering science fiction > vignettes he could use from my 2010 book, Fixing the Sky. One example is > Jules Verne, Sans Dessus Dessous, published in 1889 and appearing > simultaneously in English as The Purchase of the North Pole. The > Baltimore Gun Club attempts to change the Earth's tilt, for profit. > > > > Best regards, > > Jim > > > > > > On Fri, May 6, 2022 at 11:45 AM Alan Robock ☮ <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Dear Olivier, > > First I want to apologize to Jim Fleming. He pointed out to me that he > discusses the same passages of *American Claimant* is his wonderful 2010 > book *Fixing the Sky *(which all of you must have read already, and if > not, you need to read) on pp. 27-30. So although I had forgotten that I > read it (I'm old), it must have still been stuck in my brain somewhere. > Nevertheless, I did really rediscover it by reading the book, and it is > still worth reminding us all of it. > > Second, the part about geoengineering is in the main text of *American > Claimant*, at the end. And for the first part, I tried Google > Translate? How did they do? > > Aucune météo ne sera trouvée dans ce livre. Il s'agit d'une tentative de > tirer un livre sans temps. Il s'agit de la première tentative du genre dans > la littérature fictive, cela peut s'avérer un échec, mais cela a semblé > valoir la peine pour un casse-cou de l'essayer, et l'auteur était juste > d'humeur. Beaucoup de lecteurs qui voulaient lire un conte jusqu'au bout > n'ont pas pu le faire en raison de retards dus au temps. Rien ne brise les > progrès d'un auteur comme devoir s'arrêter toutes les quelques pages pour > perturber la météo. Ainsi, il est clair que les intrusions persistantes du > temps sont mauvaises à la fois pour le lecteur et pour l'auteur. Bien sûr, > le temps est nécessaire à un récit de l'expérience humaine. Cela est > concédé. Mais il doit être placé là où il ne gênera pas; où il > n'interrompra pas le flux du récit. Et ce devrait être la meilleure météo > qui soit, et non une météo amateur ignorante et de mauvaise qualité. La > météo est une spécialité littéraire, et aucune main inexpérimentée ne peut > en faire un bon article. Le présent auteur ne peut faire que quelques > insignifiants genres ordinaires de temps, et il ne peut pas faire ceux qui > sont très bons. Il a donc semblé plus sage d'emprunter la météo nécessaire > à l'ouvrage à des experts qualifiés et reconnus, bien entendu. Cette météo > se trouvera dans la partie arrière du livre, à l'écart. Voir l'annexe. Le > lecteur est prié de se retourner et de se servir de temps en temps au fur > et à mesure de son cheminement. > > > Alan > > On 5/6/2022 6:13 AM, olivier boucher wrote: > > Hi Alan, > > It would be a nice fit to our "le temps des écrivains" section of our > three-monthly meteorological journal. > > See an example here: > https://lameteorologie.fr/issues/2017/98/meteo_2017_98_52 The section > reproduces selected writings on the weather. > > I checked and there is a French translation of the American Claimant, > unfortunately the foreword and annex were not translated at the time. > > All the best, > > Olivier > > > ------------------------------ > > *De: *"Alan Robock" <[email protected]> > <[email protected]> > *À: *"geoengineering" <[email protected]> > <[email protected]> > *Envoyé: *Jeudi 5 Mai 2022 22:07:28 > *Objet: *[geo] Mark Twain was the first geoengineer > > > > Dear All, > > In these days with so much troubling news in the air, I thought some humor > would help. > > It turns out that Mark Twain was the first geoengineer, as explained in > his book * American Claimant*, written in 1891. After beginning the book > with this hilarious explanation about weather, > > “No weather will be found in this book. This is an attempt to pull a book > through without weather. It being the first attempt of the kind in > fictitious literature, it may prove a failure, but it seemed worth the > while of some dare-devil person to try it, and the author was in just the > mood. Many a reader who wanted to read a tale through was not able to do it > because of delays on account of the weather. Nothing breaks up an author’s > progress like having to stop every few pages to fuss-up the weather. Thus > it is plain that persistent intrusions of weather are bad for both reader > and author. Of course weather is necessary to a narrative of human > experience. That is conceded. But it ought to be put where it will not be > in the way; where it will not interrupt the flow of the narrative. And it > ought to be the ablest weather that can be had, not ignorant, poor-quality, > amateur weather. Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can > turn out a good article of it. The present author can do only a few > trifling ordinary kinds of weather, and he cannot do those very good. So it > has seemed wisest to borrow such weather as is necessary for the book from > qualified and recognized experts—giving credit, of course. This weather > will be found over in the back part of the book, out of the way. See > Appendix. The reader is requested to turn over and help himself from time > to time as he goes along.” > > he ends the book with geoengineering. Speaking is Colonel Sellers to his > partner, describing his money-making scheme: > > “This grand new idea of mine—the sublimest I have ever conceived, will > save me whole, I am sure. I am leaving for San Francisco this moment, to > test it, by the help of the great Lick telescope. Like all of my more > notable discoveries and inventions, it is based upon hard, practical > scientific laws; all other bases are unsound and hence untrustworthy. In > brief, then, I have conceived the stupendous idea of reorganizing the > climates of the earth according to the desire of the populations > interested. That is to say, I will furnish climates to order, for cash or > negotiable paper, taking the old climates in part payment, of course, at a > fair discount, where they are in condition to be repaired at small cost and > let out for hire to poor and remote communities not able to afford a good > climate and not caring for an expensive one for mere display. My studies > have convinced me that the regulation of climates and the breeding of new > varieties at will from the old stock is a feasible thing. Indeed I am > convinced that it has been done before; done in prehistoric times by now > forgotten and unrecorded civilizations. Everywhere I find hoary evidences > of artificial manipulation of climates in bygone times. Take the glacial > period. Was that produced by accident? Not at all; it was done for money. I > have a thousand proofs of it, and will someday reveal them. > > “I will confide to you an outline of my idea. It is to utilize the spots > on the sun—get control of them, you understand, and apply the stupendous > energies which they wield to beneficent purposes in the reorganizing of our > climates. At present they merely make trouble and do harm in the evoking of > cyclones and other kinds of electric storms; but once under humane and > intelligent control this will cease and they will become a boon to man. I > have my plan all mapped out, whereby I hope and expect to acquire complete > and perfect control of the sun-spots, also details of the method whereby I > shall employ the same commercially; but I will not venture to go into > particulars before the patents shall have been issued. I shall hope and > expect to sell shop-rights to the minor countries at a reasonable figure > and supply a good business article of climate to the great empires at > special rates, together with fancy brands for coronations, battles and > other great and particular occasions. There are billions of money in this > enterprise, no expensive plant is required, and I shall begin to realize in > a few days—in a few weeks at furthest. > > “I would like you to provide a proper outfit and start north as soon as I > telegraph you, be it night or be it day. I wish you to take up all the > country stretching away from the north pole on all sides for many degrees > south, and buy Greenland and Iceland at the best figure you can get now > while they are cheap. It is my intention to move one of the tropics up > there and transfer the frigid zone to the equator. I will have the entire > Arctic Circle in the market as a summer resort next year, and will use the > surplusage of the old climate, over and above what can be utilized on the > equator, to reduce the temperature of opposition resorts. But I have said > enough to give you an idea of the prodigious nature of my scheme and the > feasible and enormously profitable character of it.” > > This is followed by the weather appendix, with quotes from various other > authors of the time. > > -- > > Alan > > Alan Robock, Distinguished Professor > Department of Environmental Sciences Phone: +1-848-932-5751 > Rutgers University E-mail: > [email protected] > 14 College Farm Road http://people.envsci.rutgers.edu/robock > New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8551 ☮ https://twitter.com/AlanRobock > > [image: Signature] > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "geoengineering" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geoengineering/2596c7a0-e0c3-d8e4-7373-cd3cdb57909b%40envsci.rutgers.edu > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geoengineering/2596c7a0-e0c3-d8e4-7373-cd3cdb57909b%40envsci.rutgers.edu?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "geoengineering" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geoengineering/6a160cbc-2cea-2494-3778-a95f6975043c%40envsci.rutgers.edu > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geoengineering/6a160cbc-2cea-2494-3778-a95f6975043c%40envsci.rutgers.edu?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > > > -- > > *James R. Fleming* > Charles A. Dana Professor of Science, Technology, and Society, Emeritus, > Colby College > > Email: [email protected] > > Profile: *https://www.colby.edu/directory/profile/jfleming/ > <http://www.colby.edu/directory/profile/jfleming/>* > > > > Series Editor, Palgrave Studies in the History of Science and Technology, > https://www.palgrave.com/us/series/14581 > > > "Everything is unprecedented if you don't study history." > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "geoengineering" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geoengineering/CAKg5ObZP-qqKb%3DdjW1%2BoCb1S7mg-XKS1V4kNux8KMp07DKaGQg%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geoengineering/CAKg5ObZP-qqKb%3DdjW1%2BoCb1S7mg-XKS1V4kNux8KMp07DKaGQg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, > with registration number SC005336. Is e buidheann carthannais a th’ ann an > Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann, clàraichte an Alba, àireamh clàraidh SC005336. > -- *James R. Fleming* Charles A. Dana Professor of Science, Technology, and Society, Emeritus, Colby College Email: [email protected] Profile: *https://www.colby.edu/directory/profile/jfleming/ <http://www.colby.edu/directory/profile/jfleming/>* Series Editor, Palgrave Studies in the History of Science and Technology, https://www.palgrave.com/us/series/14581 "Everything is unprecedented if you don't study history." -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geoengineering/CAKg5ObbRJJY%3D7m%2BLckZcK8r5tFcnQfokCGse9M-qtF82kq43LQ%40mail.gmail.com.
