Dawn (SF novel)
Encyclopedia
Dawn is a science fiction
novel
written in 1980 by Dean McLaughlin
. A re-imagining of Isaac Asimov
's classic 1941 short story
, "Nightfall", it was serialized in Analog
magazine (April–July 1981), with — unusually — two cover illustrations, for both its first and last segments. The story was republished in hardcover in 2006.
The passings of Alpher from east to west across the sky are the primary units of time, but longer periods are marked by the seasonal shift of Alpher north and south, and the overtaking of one god by another, and sand glass
es are used for shorter periods. With two important suns in the sky, the ability to predict their movements would be very valuable to predict conditions over future growing seasons. Alas, while the priests can make useful short-term predictions, over the long term the gods seem to go where they will. The world is a roughly medieval stage of development. Currently, power is held by the priests of the Temple.
Isak is a young scribe with little formal training as a scholar, but he learned of the discovery that a pendulum
can be used as a means of accurately measuring extended periods of time, such as from one rising of a sun to its next rising. With this ability, and knowledge gained from his extensive travels about the world, Isak developed the ability to measure the various cycles of the suns, and a theory to explain them. He has used his theory to calculate accurate, long-term foretellings of the movements of the gods, and has seemingly discovered an unprecedented event: a time will soon come when Gamow overtakes the Pale One and passes directly behind the Pale One so his light is blocked. This will happen at a time when they are the only two in the sky, leaving the world below without sunlight. The overtaking will last more than half a passing, long enough that the whole world will experience the darkness.
If the gods all turn their sight from the world, they must be angry with their representatives.
in a multiple-star system
. Within that system, the planet orbits around Alpher, a yellow star like Earth's sun. Alpher and the smaller, cooler Bethe form a binary system, orbiting around each other but always separated by distances much greater than the orbit of the planet. The Pale One is either a large moon
or a double planet
. The other four stars are much farther away from Alpher than Bethe, and spread around Alpher so that evidently there is no place on the planet where all are below the horizon. Gamow and Dalton each orbit by themselves, while Ephron and Zwicky are another binary system. Gamow is well north of the equator, while Dalton and "the Twinned Ones" are well to the south. The orbits of the moon and stars are sufficiently inclined that the inhabitants of the planet have seldom seen an eclipse
or occultation
.
McLaughlin pays homage to Asimov by naming the protagonist "Isak" and naming a historical figure Duke "Lagash", the name of the planet in "Nightfall". While Asimov simply used the Greek letters
Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc. to name the stars in his story, McLaughlin named his stars Alpher, Bethe, Gamow, Dalton, Ephron, and Zwicky. The first three are an allusion to the famous Alpha-Beta-Gamma paper
written in 1948 by Ralph Alpher and George Gamow
with Hans Bethe
. Dalton
and Zwicky
are also famous scientists.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written in 1980 by Dean McLaughlin
Dean McLaughlin
Dean Benjamin McLaughlin, Jr. is an American science fiction writer.He was the son of astronomer Dean B. McLaughlin.His best known work is "Hawk Among the Sparrows" , which was nominated for both the Hugo Award and Nebula Award for Best Novella.It concerns a late-20th century fighter plane which...
. A re-imagining of Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
's classic 1941 short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
, "Nightfall", it was serialized in Analog
Analog Science Fiction and Fact
Analog Science Fiction and Fact is an American science fiction magazine. As of 2011, it is the longest running continuously published magazine of that genre...
magazine (April–July 1981), with — unusually — two cover illustrations, for both its first and last segments. The story was republished in hardcover in 2006.
Background
Dawn is set on a world with six or seven "gods" — "Blazing Alpher", "Red Bethe", "Actinic Gamow", "Bright Dalton", "Gold Ephron", and "Embrous Zwicky"; and also "The Pale One", which is the largest but dimmest, and variable in color. There is always at least one of the suns in the sky, so there is no place that experiences nightfall; the only truly dark places are in enclosed spaces such as caves or windowless rooms.The passings of Alpher from east to west across the sky are the primary units of time, but longer periods are marked by the seasonal shift of Alpher north and south, and the overtaking of one god by another, and sand glass
Hourglass
An hourglass measures the passage of a few minutes or an hour of time. It has two connected vertical glass bulbs allowing a regulated trickle of material from the top to the bottom. Once the top bulb is empty, it can be inverted to begin timing again. The name hourglass comes from historically...
es are used for shorter periods. With two important suns in the sky, the ability to predict their movements would be very valuable to predict conditions over future growing seasons. Alas, while the priests can make useful short-term predictions, over the long term the gods seem to go where they will. The world is a roughly medieval stage of development. Currently, power is held by the priests of the Temple.
Isak is a young scribe with little formal training as a scholar, but he learned of the discovery that a pendulum
Pendulum
A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced from its resting equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the equilibrium position...
can be used as a means of accurately measuring extended periods of time, such as from one rising of a sun to its next rising. With this ability, and knowledge gained from his extensive travels about the world, Isak developed the ability to measure the various cycles of the suns, and a theory to explain them. He has used his theory to calculate accurate, long-term foretellings of the movements of the gods, and has seemingly discovered an unprecedented event: a time will soon come when Gamow overtakes the Pale One and passes directly behind the Pale One so his light is blocked. This will happen at a time when they are the only two in the sky, leaving the world below without sunlight. The overtaking will last more than half a passing, long enough that the whole world will experience the darkness.
Plot summary
Isak has attempted to explain his foretelling to the priests of the Temple of Center, so that people might be told what to expect, and not to panic when it does. They are unwilling to accept such a bizarre idea. Furthermore, while Isak is innocent of the political implications of the event he describes, the priest are not.If the gods all turn their sight from the world, they must be angry with their representatives.
Situation
Isak's world has no name, since its inhabitants haven't conceived that there could be anywhere else. In fact, their world is a planetPlanet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
in a multiple-star system
Star system
A star system or stellar system is a small number of stars which orbit each other, bound by gravitational attraction. A large number of stars bound by gravitation is generally called a star cluster or galaxy, although, broadly speaking, they are also star systems.-Binary star systems:A stellar...
. Within that system, the planet orbits around Alpher, a yellow star like Earth's sun. Alpher and the smaller, cooler Bethe form a binary system, orbiting around each other but always separated by distances much greater than the orbit of the planet. The Pale One is either a large moon
Natural satellite
A natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called its primary. The two terms are used synonymously for non-artificial satellites of planets, of dwarf planets, and of minor planets....
or a double planet
Double planet
In astronomy, double planet and binary planet are informal terms used to describe a binary system of two astronomical objects that each satisfy the definition of planet and that are near enough to each other to have a significant gravitational effect on each other compared with the effect of the...
. The other four stars are much farther away from Alpher than Bethe, and spread around Alpher so that evidently there is no place on the planet where all are below the horizon. Gamow and Dalton each orbit by themselves, while Ephron and Zwicky are another binary system. Gamow is well north of the equator, while Dalton and "the Twinned Ones" are well to the south. The orbits of the moon and stars are sufficiently inclined that the inhabitants of the planet have seldom seen an eclipse
Eclipse
An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object is temporarily obscured, either by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer...
or occultation
Occultation
An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden by another object that passes between it and the observer. The word is used in astronomy . It can also refer to any situation wherein an object in the foreground blocks from view an object in the background...
.
McLaughlin pays homage to Asimov by naming the protagonist "Isak" and naming a historical figure Duke "Lagash", the name of the planet in "Nightfall". While Asimov simply used the Greek letters
Greek alphabet
The Greek alphabet is the script that has been used to write the Greek language since at least 730 BC . The alphabet in its classical and modern form consists of 24 letters ordered in sequence from alpha to omega...
Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc. to name the stars in his story, McLaughlin named his stars Alpher, Bethe, Gamow, Dalton, Ephron, and Zwicky. The first three are an allusion to the famous Alpha-Beta-Gamma paper
Alpher-Bethe-Gamow paper
In physical cosmology, the Alpher–Bethe–Gamow paper, or αβγ paper, was created by Ralph Alpher, then a physics PhD student, and his advisor George Gamow. The work, which would become the subject of Alpher's PhD dissertation, argued that the Big Bang would create hydrogen, helium and heavier...
written in 1948 by Ralph Alpher and George Gamow
George Gamow
George Gamow , born Georgiy Antonovich Gamov , was a Russian-born theoretical physicist and cosmologist. He discovered alpha decay via quantum tunneling and worked on radioactive decay of the atomic nucleus, star formation, stellar nucleosynthesis, Big Bang nucleosynthesis, cosmic microwave...
with Hans Bethe
Hans Bethe
Hans Albrecht Bethe was a German-American nuclear physicist, and Nobel laureate in physics for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis. A versatile theoretical physicist, Bethe also made important contributions to quantum electrodynamics, nuclear physics, solid-state physics and...
. Dalton
John Dalton
John Dalton FRS was an English chemist, meteorologist and physicist. He is best known for his pioneering work in the development of modern atomic theory, and his research into colour blindness .-Early life:John Dalton was born into a Quaker family at Eaglesfield, near Cockermouth, Cumberland,...
and Zwicky
Fritz Zwicky
Fritz Zwicky was a Swiss astronomer. He worked most of his life at the California Institute of Technology in the United States of America, where he made many important contributions in theoretical and observational astronomy.- Biography :Fritz Zwicky was born in Varna, Bulgaria to a Swiss father....
are also famous scientists.