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Editor's Introduction To:
Herbig-Haro

Harry Turtledove

Science has a unity about it: invent one branch of technology, and you'll probably discover others. Burke's delightful Connections makes that clear. Still, it's not invariable. Technology without science can be sterile. Archeologists tell us that batteries and electroplating were invented in the Levant several thousand years ago; and a very modern-looking calculating machine was found in a ship that went down off the island of Antikythera in Greco-Roman times. Heiro made a working model of a steam engine, and Archimedes did surprising things with winches, levers, and burning glasses. None of this led to anything important.

Harry Turtledove has a doctorate in Byzantine history. There being little formal demand for that skill, he works as an administrator in the Los Angeles County Department of Education— where a knowledge of matters byzantine comes in rather handy at that. One of his duties is to assist teachers in coping with Federal regulations.

John W. Campbell would have loved Turtledove, who has the knack of combining new science with old forms.

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Framed