Holtzman effect
Encyclopedia
The Holtzman effect is a fictional scientific phenomenon in the Dune universe
created by Frank Herbert
, beginning with the 1965 novel Dune
. The effect is never explained in detail, but it makes (among other things) defensive force shields and instantaneous space travel possible.
Frank Herbert was inconsistent with the spelling of "Holtzman," resulting in the variant spellings "Holtzmann" (1976's Children of Dune
) and "Holzmann" (1985's Chapterhouse: Dune). This may be intentional, as Herbert mutated other words and names over the several millennia the Dune series spans, such as the change of "Arrakis" to "Rakis" and "Caladan" to "Dan" beginning with Heretics of Dune
(1984).
According to the Legends of Dune
prequel
trilogy
by Brian Herbert
and Kevin J. Anderson
(2002–2004), the Holtzman effect is named after the scientist who discovered it, Tio Holtzman (though for many of its applications, Holtzman in fact takes credit for the mathematical theories of his assistant, Norma Cenva
).
In Dune, the technology has been adapted for reliable use in personal defensive shields. These shields, unlike many others in science fiction, are not round projections of force, but form-fitting energy fields which permit penetration only by objects that move below a pre-set velocity. Paul Atreides
notes in Dune, "In shield fighting, one moves fast on defense, slow on attack ... Attack has the sole purpose of tricking the opponent into a misstep, setting him up for the attack sinister. The shield turns the fast blow, admits the slow kindjal!"
As one would be unable to breathe within a shield that did not permit atmospheric gases to penetrate it, man-portable shields have a relatively high penetration velocity, approximately six to nine centimeters per second.
The interaction of a lasgun beam and a Holtzman field results in subatomic fusion
and a nuclear explosion
. The magnitude of this blast is unpredictable; sometimes it destroys only the shielded target and gunner, sometimes the explosion is more powerful than atomics. Using lasguns in a shielded environment can result in military and environmental catastrophe, though at one point in Dune Duncan Idaho
deliberately allows shield/lasgun contact as a discouragement to his enemies. In God Emperor of Dune
(1981), The God Emperor Leto II
notes 3,500 years into his reign that "Shields are banned throughout the Empire" — and it is a capital offense to possess one — to avoid such explosive interactions.
The vibrations of an active shield will drive a sandworm
on Arrakis
into a killing frenzy, drawing them from across territorial lines to attack the shield. For this reason, the native Fremen
eschew them. It is noted in Children of Dune that the Fremen have developed a small shield generator known as a "pseudo-shield" to attract and madden a worm, for use as an ersatz bomb.
The effect is used in this case to fold space at the quantum level, allowing the Spacing Guild
's heighliner ships to instantaneously travel
far distances across space. However, the chaotic
and seemingly non-deterministic
quantum
nature of "foldspace" requires at least limited prescience on the part of the human navigator; otherwise the absurdly complex mathematics involved in producing reliable physical projections of such events would only be possible with advanced thinking machines, which are strictly prohibited because of mankind's crusade against thinking machines
, the Butlerian Jihad
. To this effect, the Guild produces melange-saturated Navigators
who intuitively "see paths through foldspace" in this way. This stumbling block is overcome several thousand years after the events of Dune when Ixian
scientists develop mechanical replacements for Guild Navigators.
within certain limits prescribed by relative mass and energy consumption. Suspensors are used in chairs, tables, and structures that are too massive to be physically sound, among many other obvious uses. In Dune, the grotesquely obese Baron
Vladimir Harkonnen
utilizes suspensor belts and harnesses to buoy his flesh and allow him to walk.
In Dune, Jessica theorizes that suspensors, like shields, attract sandworms, and while some are seen in Fremen sietch communities, none are active in the deep desert.
Dune Encyclopedia (1984) by Willis E. McNelly
invents an extensive, alternate origin and description of the Holtzman effect. In this version, it is discovered by Ibrahim Vaughn Holtzman (born 7593 B.G.):
The son of the planetary governor of Liesco II, Holtzman has a specialized ship constructed and "escapes" into space to "think." His mathematical genius is enhanced by the exponentially-increased mental processing made possible by his new computerized form (which also allows him to exist for nearly 7500 years). He focuses on analyzing the suspensor-nullification effect, which (as Frank Herbert established) makes interstellar travel possible. According to the Encyclopedia, this effect had been discovered 5400 years earlier but is not fully understood. Holtzman's first related discovery is an "instantaneous interstellar communication device" later called the Holtzman Wave.
Until this point, interstellar travel had effected a widespread population of the universe which could no longer be controlled by the Imperial House Ceres. The development of Holtzman Wave generators gives mankind the means to easily communicate across vast distances and results in the long and "ferocious" Wars of Reunification. Holtzman himself remains in seclusion, returning to civilization five times. On his third return, over 2000 years after his original escape, he gives humanity his next related discovery: defensive shields. On his fourth return millennia later, "Holtzman 'published' his unified theory, linking the various effects into a single hierarchy of phenomena." The last intelligent machine left in existence after the Butlerian Jihad, he is apparently destroyed in 108 B.G. Knowing his ship is booby trap
ped with a dormant laser aimed at a defensive shield, the Jihad fleet send a volunteer to board the ship, thereby setting off the explosion which results from shield-laser interaction.
According to the Encyclopedia, the three-dimensional
suspensor-nullification effect is discovered thousands of years before Holtzman explored the associated phenomena; his name is eventually applied to all manifestations of the Holtzman effect.
Residing on the planet Poritrin, Holtzman's career is on the wane, as he has not invented anything significant in several years. He comes across the work of Norma Cenva, a woman from Rossak; realizing her genius, he invites her to come work with him on Poritrin. The machines soon realize that their cymeks (human-machine hybrids) can slip though the planetary force fields to destroy the transmitters because they possess human brains, which are unaffected by the scrambler fields. Cenva has the idea to use the field as an offensive weapon, projecting it with portable transmitters to knock out machines and their installations. Holtzman later calculates that the field can be modified to prevent penetration from physical projectiles; Cenva agrees, correcting the flaws in his concept but noting that objects can still pass through the shield at a slow enough speed. The human forces start installing these new shields on their battleships and most ground forces. However, as it is still a new technology at the time, the shields tend to overheat with too much use and deactivate. As time passes, Holtzman discovers that the young dwarfish woman is much more creative than he, and after being upstaged by her twice, begins to dislike her. Eventually he takes credit for Cenva's mathematical theories, which lead to many practical uses for Holtzman's original discovery, including the Holtzman Drive, Holtzman Shields, suspensors and glowglobes. Cenva is also credited with the realization that hitting a Holtzman field with a lasgun beam results in a large and unpredictable explosion. Her theory is proven in the 2003 novel Dune: The Machine Crusade
, when Holtzman himself is killed by the explosion from such an interaction during a slave uprising on Poritrin.
The Legends of Dune series also establishes that Cenva invents the theory of space folding in 177 B.G. during the Butlerian Jihad after years of working on Holtzman's original field equations. By 174 B.G. she had built a prototype space-folding ship, and soon she and industrialist Aurelius Venport establish a shipyard on the planet Kolhar to produce what would eventually be called heighliners. Within a decade, Venport puts the space-folding technology and shipyards at the disposal of the Jihad forces. Initially, foldspace travel is not completely accurate or safe; only about nine out of every ten heighliners make it to their final destination. Realizing that the spice melange amplifies her psychic and calculative abilities, Norma pioneers the use of massive concentrated doses to presciently perceive space/time. In 88 B.G. she discovers that this is the way to safely navigate foldspace, and essentially becomes the first Navigator. That same year, Norma's son Adrien Venport founds the Foldspace Shipping Company, which later becomes the Spacing Guild and eventually monopolizes space commerce, transport and interplanetary banking. Cenva's name is eventually forgotten by history, but she is more interested in improving defensive shields and developing foldspace travel to make it safer and more efficient. Her efforts help humanity defeat the thinking machines.
(the first novel of the Prelude to Dune
prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Anderson), the following is stated via epigraph
:
Dune universe
Dune is a science fiction franchise which originated with the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert. Considered by many to be the greatest science fiction novel of all time, Dune is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history...
created by Frank Herbert
Frank Herbert
Franklin Patrick Herbert, Jr. was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author. Although a short story author, he is best known for his novels, most notably Dune and its five sequels...
, beginning with the 1965 novel Dune
Dune (novel)
Dune is a science fiction novel written by Frank Herbert, published in 1965. It won the Hugo Award in 1966, and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel...
. The effect is never explained in detail, but it makes (among other things) defensive force shields and instantaneous space travel possible.
Frank Herbert was inconsistent with the spelling of "Holtzman," resulting in the variant spellings "Holtzmann" (1976's Children of Dune
Children of Dune
Children of Dune is a 1976 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, third in a series of six novels set in his Dune universe. Initially selling over 75,000 copies, it became the first hardcover best-seller ever in the science fiction field...
) and "Holzmann" (1985's Chapterhouse: Dune). This may be intentional, as Herbert mutated other words and names over the several millennia the Dune series spans, such as the change of "Arrakis" to "Rakis" and "Caladan" to "Dan" beginning with Heretics of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Heretics of Dune is a 1984 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, fifth in a series of six novels. It was ranked as the #13 hardcover fiction best seller of 1984 by The New York Times.-Plot introduction:...
(1984).
According to the Legends of Dune
Legends of Dune
Legends of Dune is a prequel trilogy of novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in Frank Herbert's Dune universe.* Dune: The Butlerian Jihad * Dune: The Machine Crusade * Dune: The Battle of Corrin...
prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
trilogy
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
by Brian Herbert
Brian Herbert
Brian Patrick Herbert is an American author who lives in Washington state. He is the elder son of science fiction author Frank Herbert....
and Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson is an American science fiction author with over forty bestsellers. He has written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and with Brian Herbert is the co-author of the Dune prequels...
(2002–2004), the Holtzman effect is named after the scientist who discovered it, Tio Holtzman (though for many of its applications, Holtzman in fact takes credit for the mathematical theories of his assistant, Norma Cenva
Norma Cenva
Norma Cenva is a fictional character from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Mentioned briefly in Herbert's God Emperor of Dune , she plays a large role in the Legends of Dune prequel trilogy written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson...
).
Holtzman shield
In Terminology of the Imperium, the glossary of the novel Dune, Frank Herbert provides the following definition:SHIELD, DEFENSIVE: the protective field produced by a Holtzman generator. This field derives from Phase One of the suspensor-nullification effect. A shield will permit entry only to objects moving at slow speeds (depending on setting, this speed ranges from six to nine centimeters per second) and can be shorted out only by a shire-sized electric field.
In Dune, the technology has been adapted for reliable use in personal defensive shields. These shields, unlike many others in science fiction, are not round projections of force, but form-fitting energy fields which permit penetration only by objects that move below a pre-set velocity. Paul Atreides
Paul Atreides
Paul Atreides is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Paul is a prominent character in the first two novels in the series, Dune and Dune Messiah , and returns in Children of Dune . The character is brought back as two different gholas in the Brian Herbert/Kevin J...
notes in Dune, "In shield fighting, one moves fast on defense, slow on attack ... Attack has the sole purpose of tricking the opponent into a misstep, setting him up for the attack sinister. The shield turns the fast blow, admits the slow kindjal!"
As one would be unable to breathe within a shield that did not permit atmospheric gases to penetrate it, man-portable shields have a relatively high penetration velocity, approximately six to nine centimeters per second.
The interaction of a lasgun beam and a Holtzman field results in subatomic fusion
Nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is the process by which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or "fuse", to form a single heavier nucleus. This is usually accompanied by the release or absorption of large quantities of energy...
and a nuclear explosion
Nuclear explosion
A nuclear explosion occurs as a result of the rapid release of energy from an intentionally high-speed nuclear reaction. The driving reaction may be nuclear fission, nuclear fusion or a multistage cascading combination of the two, though to date all fusion based weapons have used a fission device...
. The magnitude of this blast is unpredictable; sometimes it destroys only the shielded target and gunner, sometimes the explosion is more powerful than atomics. Using lasguns in a shielded environment can result in military and environmental catastrophe, though at one point in Dune Duncan Idaho
Duncan Idaho
Duncan Idaho is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Introduced in the first novel of the series, 1965's Dune, the character became a breakout character as the readers liked him and was revived by Herbert in 1969's Dune Messiah...
deliberately allows shield/lasgun contact as a discouragement to his enemies. In God Emperor of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
God Emperor of Dune is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert published in 1981, the fourth in the Dune series. It was ranked as the #11 hardcover fiction best seller of 1981 by Publishers Weekly.-Plot introduction:...
(1981), The God Emperor Leto II
Leto Atreides II
Leto Atreides II is a fictional character from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Born at the end of Dune Messiah , Leto is a central character in Children of Dune and is the title character of God Emperor of Dune . The character is brought back as a ghola in the Brian Herbert/Kevin J...
notes 3,500 years into his reign that "Shields are banned throughout the Empire" — and it is a capital offense to possess one — to avoid such explosive interactions.
The vibrations of an active shield will drive a sandworm
Sandworm (Dune)
The sandworm is a fictional form of desert-dwelling creature from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. They first appear in the 1965 novel Dune, considered to be among the classics in the science fiction genre, and are iconic of the Dune series.In the series, the sandworms called Shai-Hulud...
on Arrakis
Arrakis
Arrakis — informally known as Dune and later called Rakis — is a fictional desert planet featured in the Dune series of novels by Frank Herbert. Herbert's first novel in the series, 1965's Dune, is popularly considered one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time, and it is...
into a killing frenzy, drawing them from across territorial lines to attack the shield. For this reason, the native Fremen
Fremen
The Fremen are a group of people in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. First appearing in the 1965 novel Dune, the Fremen inhabit the desert planet Arrakis and are based on the desert-dwelling Bedouin and Kalahari Bushmen. In Herbert's novels, Arrakis is the sole known source...
eschew them. It is noted in Children of Dune that the Fremen have developed a small shield generator known as a "pseudo-shield" to attract and madden a worm, for use as an ersatz bomb.
Holtzman drive
Spacing Guild
The Spacing Guild is an organization in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. With its monopoly on interstellar travel and banking, the Guild is a balance of power against the Padishah Emperor and the assembled noble Houses of the Landsraad...
's heighliner ships to instantaneously travel
Interstellar travel
Interstellar space travel is manned or unmanned travel between stars. The concept of interstellar travel in starships is a staple of science fiction. Interstellar travel is much more difficult than interplanetary travel. Intergalactic travel, or travel between different galaxies, is even more...
far distances across space. However, the chaotic
Chaos theory
Chaos theory is a field of study in mathematics, with applications in several disciplines including physics, economics, biology, and philosophy. Chaos theory studies the behavior of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions, an effect which is popularly referred to as the...
and seemingly non-deterministic
Indeterminism
Indeterminism is the concept that events are not caused, or not caused deterministically by prior events. It is the opposite of determinism and related to chance...
quantum
Quantum chaos
Quantum chaos is a branch of physics which studies how chaotic classical dynamical systems can be described in terms of quantum theory. The primary question that quantum chaos seeks to answer is, "What is the relationship between quantum mechanics and classical chaos?" The correspondence principle...
nature of "foldspace" requires at least limited prescience on the part of the human navigator; otherwise the absurdly complex mathematics involved in producing reliable physical projections of such events would only be possible with advanced thinking machines, which are strictly prohibited because of mankind's crusade against thinking machines
Thinking machines (Dune)
Thinking machines is a collective term for artificial intelligence in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The Butlerian Jihad a human crusade against thinking machines is an epic turning point in the back-story of the Dune universe...
, the Butlerian Jihad
Butlerian Jihad
The Butlerian Jihad is an event in the back-story of Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. Occurring over 10,000 years before the events chronicled in his 1965 novel Dune, this jihad leads to the outlawing of certain technologies, primarily "thinking machines", a collective term for computers...
. To this effect, the Guild produces melange-saturated Navigators
Guild Navigator
A Guild Navigator is a fictional humanoid in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Humans mutated through the consumption of and exposure to massive amounts of the spice melange, they are able to use a limited form of prescience to safely navigate interstellar space in a starship called a...
who intuitively "see paths through foldspace" in this way. This stumbling block is overcome several thousand years after the events of Dune when Ixian
Ix (Dune)
Ix is a fictional planet featured in the Dune series of science fiction novels written by Frank Herbert, and derivative works. In Dune it is noted that Ix is classed with the planet Richese as "supreme in machine culture," and that Ixian solido projectors "are commonly considered the best." In...
scientists develop mechanical replacements for Guild Navigators.
Suspensors
Hovering devices called suspensors utilize the secondary (low-drain) phase of a Holtzman-field generator to nullify gravityGravitation
Gravitation, or gravity, is a natural phenomenon by which physical bodies attract with a force proportional to their mass. Gravitation is most familiar as the agent that gives weight to objects with mass and causes them to fall to the ground when dropped...
within certain limits prescribed by relative mass and energy consumption. Suspensors are used in chairs, tables, and structures that are too massive to be physically sound, among many other obvious uses. In Dune, the grotesquely obese Baron
Baron
Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...
Vladimir Harkonnen
Vladimir Harkonnen
The Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is a fictional character from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. He is primarily featured in the 1965 novel Dune, in which he is the secondary antagonist, and is also a major character in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson...
utilizes suspensor belts and harnesses to buoy his flesh and allow him to walk.
In Dune, Jessica theorizes that suspensors, like shields, attract sandworms, and while some are seen in Fremen sietch communities, none are active in the deep desert.
Glowglobes
A varied use of the Holtzman effect is the glowglobe. This device is a small glowing sphere that floats gracefully above a surface like a portable, personal sun, since it is typically tuned to a yellowish color. Herbert's description in the glossary of Dune reads:GLOWGLOBE: Suspensor-buoyed illuminating device, self-powered (usually by organic batteries).
The Dune Encyclopedia
The non-canonCanon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
Dune Encyclopedia (1984) by Willis E. McNelly
Willis E. McNelly
Willis Everett McNelly was a professor and writer best known for The Dune Encyclopedia, the 1984 companion to Frank Herbert's classic Dune series of science fiction novels....
invents an extensive, alternate origin and description of the Holtzman effect. In this version, it is discovered by Ibrahim Vaughn Holtzman (born 7593 B.G.):
Young Holtzman was nearly killed in a tragic accident in a racing 'thopter ... He became the first of very few persons to undergo a brain transplant: his brain was placed in a prototypePrototypeA prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
axlotl tank and wired into a large host computer with an unprogrammed personality blank, on the assumption that Holtzman would imprint his own personality on the machine. The process was marred by an induced psychosisPsychosisPsychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
: afterwards, Holtzman suffered from intense paranoiaParanoiaParanoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
and refused treatment. Since Holtzman's was the first brain transplant ever performed, the extent of his powers was not fully understood.
The son of the planetary governor of Liesco II, Holtzman has a specialized ship constructed and "escapes" into space to "think." His mathematical genius is enhanced by the exponentially-increased mental processing made possible by his new computerized form (which also allows him to exist for nearly 7500 years). He focuses on analyzing the suspensor-nullification effect, which (as Frank Herbert established) makes interstellar travel possible. According to the Encyclopedia, this effect had been discovered 5400 years earlier but is not fully understood. Holtzman's first related discovery is an "instantaneous interstellar communication device" later called the Holtzman Wave.
Until this point, interstellar travel had effected a widespread population of the universe which could no longer be controlled by the Imperial House Ceres. The development of Holtzman Wave generators gives mankind the means to easily communicate across vast distances and results in the long and "ferocious" Wars of Reunification. Holtzman himself remains in seclusion, returning to civilization five times. On his third return, over 2000 years after his original escape, he gives humanity his next related discovery: defensive shields. On his fourth return millennia later, "Holtzman 'published' his unified theory, linking the various effects into a single hierarchy of phenomena." The last intelligent machine left in existence after the Butlerian Jihad, he is apparently destroyed in 108 B.G. Knowing his ship is booby trap
Booby trap
A booby trap is a device designed to harm or surprise a person, unknowingly triggered by the presence or actions of the victim. As the word trap implies, they often have some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. However, in other cases the device is placed on busy roads or is...
ped with a dormant laser aimed at a defensive shield, the Jihad fleet send a volunteer to board the ship, thereby setting off the explosion which results from shield-laser interaction.
According to the Encyclopedia, the three-dimensional
Three-dimensional space
Three-dimensional space is a geometric 3-parameters model of the physical universe in which we live. These three dimensions are commonly called length, width, and depth , although any three directions can be chosen, provided that they do not lie in the same plane.In physics and mathematics, a...
suspensor-nullification effect is discovered thousands of years before Holtzman explored the associated phenomena; his name is eventually applied to all manifestations of the Holtzman effect.
Legends of Dune
The Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson Legends of Dune prequel trilogy (2002–2004) establishes that the Holtzman effect is discovered by — and named after — scientist and inventor Tio Holtzman immediately prior to the Butlerian Jihad, some 10,000 years before the events of Dune. The technology is employed for defensive force fields capable of scrambling the gel-circuitry of thinking machines, the force of sentient computers and robots who seek to enslave and exterminate mankind. Networks of towers generating the field from the surface protect entire planets from machine attacks.Residing on the planet Poritrin, Holtzman's career is on the wane, as he has not invented anything significant in several years. He comes across the work of Norma Cenva, a woman from Rossak; realizing her genius, he invites her to come work with him on Poritrin. The machines soon realize that their cymeks (human-machine hybrids) can slip though the planetary force fields to destroy the transmitters because they possess human brains, which are unaffected by the scrambler fields. Cenva has the idea to use the field as an offensive weapon, projecting it with portable transmitters to knock out machines and their installations. Holtzman later calculates that the field can be modified to prevent penetration from physical projectiles; Cenva agrees, correcting the flaws in his concept but noting that objects can still pass through the shield at a slow enough speed. The human forces start installing these new shields on their battleships and most ground forces. However, as it is still a new technology at the time, the shields tend to overheat with too much use and deactivate. As time passes, Holtzman discovers that the young dwarfish woman is much more creative than he, and after being upstaged by her twice, begins to dislike her. Eventually he takes credit for Cenva's mathematical theories, which lead to many practical uses for Holtzman's original discovery, including the Holtzman Drive, Holtzman Shields, suspensors and glowglobes. Cenva is also credited with the realization that hitting a Holtzman field with a lasgun beam results in a large and unpredictable explosion. Her theory is proven in the 2003 novel Dune: The Machine Crusade
Dune: The Machine Crusade
Dune: The Machine Crusade is a 2003 science fiction novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. It is the second book in the Legends of Dune prequel trilogy, which takes place over 10,000 years before the events of Frank Herbert's...
, when Holtzman himself is killed by the explosion from such an interaction during a slave uprising on Poritrin.
The Legends of Dune series also establishes that Cenva invents the theory of space folding in 177 B.G. during the Butlerian Jihad after years of working on Holtzman's original field equations. By 174 B.G. she had built a prototype space-folding ship, and soon she and industrialist Aurelius Venport establish a shipyard on the planet Kolhar to produce what would eventually be called heighliners. Within a decade, Venport puts the space-folding technology and shipyards at the disposal of the Jihad forces. Initially, foldspace travel is not completely accurate or safe; only about nine out of every ten heighliners make it to their final destination. Realizing that the spice melange amplifies her psychic and calculative abilities, Norma pioneers the use of massive concentrated doses to presciently perceive space/time. In 88 B.G. she discovers that this is the way to safely navigate foldspace, and essentially becomes the first Navigator. That same year, Norma's son Adrien Venport founds the Foldspace Shipping Company, which later becomes the Spacing Guild and eventually monopolizes space commerce, transport and interplanetary banking. Cenva's name is eventually forgotten by history, but she is more interested in improving defensive shields and developing foldspace travel to make it safer and more efficient. Her efforts help humanity defeat the thinking machines.
Prelude to Dune
In 1999's Dune: House AtreidesDune: House Atreides
Dune: House Atreides is a 1999 science fiction novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. It is the first book in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy, which takes place before the events of Frank Herbert's celebrated 1965 novel Dune...
(the first novel of the Prelude to Dune
Prelude to Dune
Prelude to Dune is a prequel trilogy of novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in Frank Herbert's Dune universe....
prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Anderson), the following is stated via epigraph
Epigraph (literature)
In literature, an epigraph is a phrase, quotation, or poem that is set at the beginning of a document or component. The epigraph may serve as a preface, as a summary, as a counter-example, or to link the work to a wider literary canon, either to invite comparison or to enlist a conventional...
:
Tio Holtzman was one of the most productive Ixian inventors on record. He often went on creative binges, locking himself up for months on end so that he could work without interruption. Sometimes upon emerging he required hospitalization, and there were constant concerns over his sanity and well-being. Holtzman died young — barely past thirty Standard Years — but the results of his efforts changed the galaxy forever.
— Biographical Capsules, an Imperial filmbook