Aruna in fasting and feasting Essay

2007 was the year in which I failed to finish the Indian novels I started. I read 2 and faltered at the 500 page mark in both. I found Vikram Chandra’s amalgam of literary fiction and crime in Sacred Games remarkably tedious. But my failure with Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy was downright weird. An absolute 5-star epic, I was enjoying it. Unfortunately I had listened to an abridged audio a few years before, so I knew where it was heading and I couldn’t motivate myself to read the extra 1000 pages I needed to reach the end. So 2008 heralds a change of tactic. For starters, a short novel by an Indian authoress. Desai was born and educated in India and has spent many years teaching in the States. Well placed, therefore, to write about the similarities and differences of both cultures and she does this with a text that is by turns witty, farcical, poignant and shocking. It’s quite a mix and one that kept the pages turning †¦.. right to the end! It could be argued that this novel is actually two novellas linked only by the character who moves from India to America. Each section is self-contained. Yet separating them would dilute the impact of the message that modern culture (be it Indian or American) is dissatisfying with gender inequality rife in both. In India, MamaPapa (so in tune with each other, they cannot be divided) are raising their two daughters and a son. Aruna is beautiful. Uma is clumsy and plain. But both must be married off. Aruna has her pick of suitors but finding a bridegroom for Uma is a desperate task and the squandering of two dowries is source of much entertaining farce. Flip the coin, however, and the farce becomes tragedy. A failure to marry means a life of humiliating servitude to parents and a life of spinsterly loneliness and suffocation. My heart aches for Uma but it bleeds for Anamika (Uma’s cousin), denied her Oxford scholarship and married off to a family who cared little for her.  She endures 25 years of servitude and married loneliness before †¦. well, you’ve heard the rumours of what happens when unloved wives grow old and a second dowry is required. Desai barbecues American family life as thoroughly as Mr Patton does his steaks. America, the land where freezers are full yet the food cannot be eaten because what would we eat in an emergency? Housewives wear t-shirts with born-to-shop slogans because that is all they are good for! Keep the cupboards full. We’ll help ourselves. The tv is king – forget spending time together and eating at the dinner table. Eating disorders are both cry for attention and rebellion against the profligate overconsumption of the West. Mrs Patton, as neglected as many as Indian bride. seeks to keep herself cheerful with the shopping and her sun-bathing. One day Arun comes home to find her bikini-clad and oiled-up ready for her day in the sun. She might have been on display in the Foodmart, a special offer for the summer, gleaming with invitation. Almost, one feels, one might see a discount sign above it. Surprising that Desai has painted this incident with so cruel a brush? Yet a major point of the novel is that daughters suffer most when their mothers unquestioningly comply with traditions or the lead of their men-folk. Actually not only daughters. Sons too. Arun is damaged by the excess of education and the weight of familial expectation. Seeking solitude and anonymity (the ultimate freedom) when he reaches America, his behaviour unconsciously mirrors that of his sister Uma, back at home. Just one of many echoes which Desai uses to tie her two stories together. Shortlisted for the 1999 Booker prize, Desai’s novel was, in effect, the runner-up. In a rare glimpse of the judging process, Gerald Kaufmann, the chair that year said, â€Å"If we could have a chosen a runner-up, we would undoubtedly have given the runner-up award to Anita Desai and Fasting, Feasting; a most beautiful novel, very moving, very funny, terribly  illustrative of what happens to women in different parts of the world.†

Literary analysis of “A Good Man is Hard To Find” Essay

In the short story A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Conner, the reader is taken on a journey and tags along with a self-centered family as they explore the sights of the rural south while en route to their destination, a family vacation in Florida. As they travel the dusty road, O’Connor (2012) takes them from heaven, â€Å"all at once, they would be on a hill, looking down over the blue tops of trees for miles around,† (p. 139) and spirals them down to hell â€Å"then the next minute, they would be in a red depression with the dust coated trees looking down on them,† (p. 139) where they meet their sudden and unexpected demise. Through it all, O’Connor spins a violent, dark and dismal tale, utilizing symbolism, allusions, irony and psychological aspects to effectively convey her theme of good versus evil, and reminds us that good does not always win. O’Connor (2012) starts us in an unnamed city, with a family of six as they discuss their upcoming vacation to Florida. The husband, Bailey, is succinct and short with his words. His wife and mother, both remain unnamed in the story but have quite contrasting personalities. Bailey’s mother, the grandmother, is self-centered and often manipulative. His wife, the children’s mother, is quiet and meek as she cares for her youngest child, the baby. His 2 older children, John Wesley and June Star, are outspoken and disrespectful, and their rude behavior goes unpunished. They travel the back roads of Georgia together as the grandmother tells tales of the past and points out uninteresting sights, which fall on the deaf ears of her family. The family stops for lunch at a roadside diner, and the reader gets a further glimpse into their everyday interaction, and for a moment, things actually seem hopeful for the dysfunctional family. After their meal, the family continues on to their destination, and the grandmother and children manipulate Baily into taking a detour to visit an old, mysterious estate that the grandmother once visited in her younger years. A sudden and  embarrassing thought of the grandmother leads to a car accident where miraculously, nobody sustains any serious injury. A moment of hope in rescue turns dismal as their rescuer turns out to an escaped killer, the Misfit, who eventually kills the family. The grandmother, who in more ways than one is responsible for the family’s untimely end, has a moment of grace in her last moment and dies with a smile on her face (p. 134-146). O’Connor’s story is filled with symbolism and allusion, in order to further convey her dark theme of death and ideas surrounding it. An example of such symbolism is when the family is passing the town of Toombsboro. O’Connor (2012) writes â€Å"outside of Toombsboro she woke up and recalled an old plantation that she had visited in this neighborhood once when she was a young lady† (p. 138). The name of the town, Toombsboro plays on the word tomb, which represents death. This alludes to the reader that death may be in the family’s future. O’Connor continues with the symbolism after the family has crashed, and their hope for rescue comes in the form of a hearse. The family sees a car slowly driving towards them, lumbering along the twists and turns of the road they had just traveled. As it appears in front of them, O’Connor (2012) writes â€Å"it was a big black battered hearse-like automobile† (p.140). Again, the image of a hearse, which is used to transport the dead, brings the idea of death to the mind of the reader, and further alludes to the death that the family is about to encounter. O’Connor (2012) furthers her death allusions and symbolism when she writes â€Å"the Misfit pointed the toe of his shoe into the ground and made a little hole and then covered it up again† (p. 142). The Misfit in this case, is digging a hole and then covering it back up, symbolizing the digging of a grave, and then filling the grave back in. O’Connor’s use of symbols of death advance her theme and add to the dark tone of the story. O’Connor also uses a number of psychological aspects to further relate her characters to her readers. As O’Connor starts the story, all members of the family appear in one way or another to be self-centered, which relates to the psychoanalysis term of the â€Å"Id,† which are the unconscious desires of the character and the gratification of those desires. In one passage, the grandmother speaks to the children of an old southern gentleman she once  knew, Mr. Teagarden. O’Connor (2012) writes â€Å"she would have done well to marry Mr. Teagarden because he†¦ had bought Coca-Cola stock when it first came out and that he had died†¦ a very wealthy man† (p.137). This comment by the grandmother hints on her unconscious materialistic desires about money, and is even shameful enough to impart this negative personal quality onto her grandchildren. Moreover, this quality is seen in the children when O’Connor writes about June Star as she speaks about the roadside diner where they have stopped. June Star says â€Å"I wouldn’t live in a broken-down place like this for a million bucks† (O’Connor, 2012, p. 137). June Star is showing her materialistic desires when she states that she has no care to live in anything but luxury, even for a large sum of money. Further in the story, the children throw a tantrum, even resorting to violent tactics, in order to get their way and visit the old estate where hidden valuables are rumored to be stashed. O’Conner (2012) writes: â€Å"The children began to yell and scream that they wanted to see the house with the secret panel. John Wesley kicked the back of the front seat and June Star hung over her mother’s shoulder and whined desperately into her ear†¦ The baby began to scream and John Wesley kicked the back of the seat so hard that his father could feel the blows in his kidney† (p.139). Again, O’Connor illustrates the Id of the children as they seek gratification of their desires, which is to get the hidden valuables. This shows the materialistic values that the young children hold. O’Connor’s use of psychoanalytic ideas helps further convey her theme and tone to the reader. O’Connor also employs a number of examples of irony in her story to better involve the reader. The grandmother states â€Å"I wouldn’t take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it. I couldn’t answer to my conscious if I did† (O’Connor, 2012, p. 134). This statement, while foreshadowing to a certain degree, turns ironic at the end of the story, as it is the grandmother that detours the family down the dirt road, where they ultimately come into contact with the Misfit, and are killed. It is also ironic in that the grandmother does have to answer to her conscious, and O’Connor (2012) describes the grandmother, after being shot by the Misfit, as having â€Å"her face smiling up at the cloudless sky† (p. 145), showing that the grandmother died at peace. Again, this is ironic in that the  grandmother was directly responsible for her children and grandchildren’s deaths, yet she died at peace with the world. O’Connor’s use of irony throughout the story is an excellent way to further her overall tone, and engage the reader deeper into the story. O’Connor’s story brings the reader into the realm of death by her use of symbolism, irony, and psychoanalysis. Her use of symbols and allusions of death, seeking gratification for personal desires, and the idea that the characters meet an ironic death, all build a solid base in which to convey her theme that living a good, pure and wholesome life may spare you from evil. The character’s may feel on top of the world as they travel down the dusty, winding road of life, but ultimately die, due to their selfish ways, in a reddened, deep ditch, at the edge of a dark woods. References O’Connor, F. (2012). A Good Man Is Hard to Find. In P. Schakel, & J. Ridl, Approaching literature: Reading, thinking, writing (3rd ed., pp. 134-146). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

Causes and implications of child marriage in slums in Karachi Pakistan

Causes and implications of child marriage in slums in Karachi Pakistan This chapter includes basic background knowledge of research explaining the key elements of information which is the foundation for the study. The inclusion of reasons for conducting this research are discussed and a methodology write up as an introductory part of study is included and also incorporates a brief summary of limitations that came across in this research and a list of definitions for key word also included. Marriage refers as a â€Å"Mithaq† means a solemn covenant between a wife and a husband and this agreement would be in writing. In Islam and the Quran marriage is a contract. Since an agreement can only be reach in between two parties if they give free consent and such statement make clear that such a contract cannot be relate to children. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that both these individuals must take this decision with a consent at legitimate age. Marriage is a pleasurable bond, a promise to live, matrimony of love and respect in between two souls. The aim of living a satisfying life gets ruined and however the way life thought to live doesn’t exist now and this all becomes reality when a child both a girl and boy forcibly subjected to do early marriage as UNICEF defined early marriage as Child Marriage if a marriage is practicing before the age of 18. UNICEF define early marriage that occur before the age of 18 years or Early marriages are defined as marriages under the age of eighteen. In a condition that an individual to be able to make own self think includes abstract thought process, take decisions and to let live life by taking responsibilities, individual should require to have certain level of mental and spiritual maturity which is physiologically equal to period which will continues till the age of eighteen. Marriage is encountered as a moment of celebration or a milestone in individual’s life but early marriages give no such reason for celebration and, a term child marriage is used to define as marriage or union that take place before 18 years of age, endangers the life trajectories of young girls in many ways, United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that up to 3% of girls before the age of 15 get married in Pakistan and 21% are married before turn to 18. These are the current statistics of the Pakistan Demographics and Health Survey done in 2012-1013. Child Marriage are forced marriage as one or both the partners without giving consent or marry without giving right to refuse.1956 Supplementary Slavery Convention called Child Marriage as Child slavery. Supplementary Slavery Convention recognize the following actions relating to females in context to marriage related to slavery and all have been reported in Child Marriage. The decision taking to promise or giving a female without giving her an authority to say no by her spouse or parents or in consideration with some financial incentives or in case of widow inheritance or associated that female with some values. The Law of child protection (3rd July 2005) said that, a child is a person who didn’t turn eighteen or even if he/she reached stage. UNICEF reported that woman aged 20 to 24 who were married before they were 18 year. A boy and a girl both victimized but girls get affected most as it takes away their emotional, physical and mental wellbeing and limits their childhood a nd decision making ability and mobility.  · Child Marriages is a serious violation of young girls human rights deeply rooted in Pakistani culture, customs and traditional practices.  · In Spite of being illegal by international law, this practice continues and strongly entrenched in sociocultural norms and continue to rob young girl’s childhood. Millions of girls depriving from their basic rights to health, to educate and to empower. Child Marriages denies young girl’s rights to make decisions for their health and wellbeing.  · A framework is needed that would facilitate better to advocates and understand policies and laws that perpetuate Child Marriages.  · In Pakistan Child Marriages incident rates are unknown because of the complexity of this issues and it may often shrouded at provincial level in a wall of silence.  · Child Marriage is a global issue that occur across countries, religions, ethnicities and cultures. Young girls victimized in every region throughout the world.  · If Child Marriages not reduced, around the world, cruel number of women who married as child will increase by 1.2 billion by 2050.In developing countries one in three girls get to married before the age of 18.today more than 700 million women were married as Child. The main objective for doing this research was to explore the immense long existed rationales of Child Marriage practicing in Pakistan. It analyze various religious, social, cultural, traditional, behavioral, economic and political aspects.  · To determine the prevalence and embedded trends of Child Marriage.  · To determine the causes exhibiting Child Marriage.  · To determine and comment on the implication and consequences related to Child Marriages. Very little research has been done on Child marriage prevailing causes and implication in Pakistan. This lack of research creating a knowledge gap that directly affects the work of governmental authorities and policy makers. With this present analysis will enable experts to necessitate to have more understanding of Child Marriage drivers across the globe. In December 2013 World Health Organization arranged meeting of group of experts in alliance with Girls not Bride and UNICEF to identify areas for research and addresses knowledge gap areas. Participants discussed them in relation to following areas  · Inter and intra country dissimilarity in child marriage trends and prevalence: It’s a globalize issue with varying rates within and among different countries. Researchers reported to explore specific segmented analysis in order to address diversity relating to Ethnicity, Geography, socio-economic and educational aspects  · Child Marriage consequences: As it is associated with early pregnancies (births to adolescent’s incidence are around 90% globally in context to child marriage) and child marriage evidence based impact on neonatal, child health and reproductive is expanding. Low level of understanding raising the consequences of domestic violence and mental health issues contributing developmental, gender and social equity outcomes  · Ways to Prevent Child Marriage in Effective Way: In 2011 ICRW done with systematic review of intervention give evidences that how this dilemma should we deal with but limited evaluations found with small number of countries but experts need to have some more attention to rethink how to react to many different drivers of this offensive act and scale more effective program to deal with There is no rigorous data available in Pakistan to make an estimate on number of child marriages as very few cases reported to police and governmental authorities does not menace this actTo identify the gaps associated with Child Marriages incidences and to propose a framework what we should need to do to fill this gap is required.To highlight the contributing factors related to government, society, culture, socioeconomic status and education and propose a framework as an action plan to overcome with it, so that government and regulatory bodies reframe laws and make policies that will help to restru ctured this problem. The research will be done in slums of Karachi, Pakistan. Definitions of key words using in this research are as follows, Poverty: It depends on your access to social services and on income level. In 1995 United Nation World Summit For Social Development define poverty is a state designated by rigorous deprivation of an individual basic human needs such as Health, education, food, shelter, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities. The World Bank describe an individual living on less than with US$ 1.90 per day and defines moderate poverty with less than US$ 3.10 per day. Child Marriages: In 2009 UNICEF define early marriage that occur before the age of 18 years It can be defined as a future action or reasoning evolved with Child Marriages while making any logical judgment that can be the basis for circumstantial evidence. Social Class: Homogenous group of individuals living in a society practicing common social values having similar life interest with enjoying equal position of respect in a society which is being constructed on conceptual structures education, occupation, income and place of residence. Social class can be categorized in Pakistan as Upper Class, Middle Class and Lower Class based on income levels. For income level of Rs 4,000 and less than 25,000were categorized as lower class.For income level of Rs 25,000 to 65,000 less per month were categorized as middle class. For income level of Rs 65,000 to 250,000 per month were categorized as Upper class. Family Honor: The stigma and family distress attached with parents and spouse to premarital sex and child bearing before marriage Social pressure: Define as if a girls left unmarried by the age 15 villagers, neighbors and family naive start making doubt her chastity and health well-being. Haq Mehr: It is defined as the amount of money which the wife is entitled for by her husband in Islam.

Prescription drug costs in primary and secondary care Essay

Prescription drug costs in primary and secondary care - Essay Example For a long time, disease management programs have been developed by physicians. However, their involvement focuses naturally on the health care aspects. Reduction of the costs of care is often a beneficial by-product of such disease management programs. Reduction of cost in most cases is a secondary goal and, importantly, not always achieved. Since economic forces continue to be important drivers of health care policies and managed care programs, it is important for the physician to understand some aspects of medical economics - that there are certain vulnerable groups in the society who cannot afford the ever rising costs of prescription drugs. The concept of disease management is relevant to care needed by a population with a given disease, instead of focusing on individually taken decisions during multiple physician-patient interactions. Disease management principles have always been considered as health care principles; they were indeed adopted from the business world. However, health differs from money. One cannot trade health across time or between individuals, and it is not stable, but affected by illness severity. Moreover, many health outcomes are irreversible. Other aspects of a market-based approach do not fit well with health care, because most health risks are unique as noted by Dewar (2009). Individual values placed on those risks differ widely among individuals. Therefore, health can be converted to monetary terms only with difficulty (Netten and Curtis, 2002). Health care industry is so complex that economic evaluations are not easy even when estimated for a population. Cost identification or minimization analysis simply estimates the costs to produce an intervention. For disease management, this analysis is used to identify interventions where cutting costs would seem to have little impact on outcome, such as provision of drugs at lower costs. However, as simple as this seems, estimating costs of health care services can be very difficult, and

Impact of IT on TQM in an Organization Research Proposal

Impact of IT on TQM in an Organization - Research Proposal Example IT today is a vehicle for making substantial changes in organizations, markets and the economy (Lucas, 2001). The basic purpose of any organization is to either manufacture a product or to provide a service to its customers. An organization is divided into various functions as per the task they perform to achieve the organizational goals. Organizations use various technologies for achieving this goal. However, IT is different from these technologies. Figure 1 below describes the role of IT as per Harold Leavitt. As per this model, IT is the central link between all parts of an organization (Lucas, 2001). It has a separate existence from the other technologies used by the firm. Thus, we can see that IT has taken a central role in today’s organization. Some very big organizations have been pioneers in using IT to revolutionize the way processes are run. Chrysler is one such example. The company is an excellent example of ‘lean’ production, a methodology of production that has revolutionized the manufacturing industry. This production system required the company to work with approximately 1600 external suppliers that shipped materials to 14 car and truck assembly plants in North America (Lucas, 2001). The key to lean production is the Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory system. The company used IT to set up Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) for the efficient running of the JIT mechanism. This meant electronically linking all the suppliers to the company through the EDI and eliminating any manual or paper transactions (Lucas, 2001).  

Business Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business Analysis - Essay Example Cultural norms influence consumer buying behavior. For instance Chinese culture does not associate kitchen utensil with status symbol. Dishwashers in this country are often viewed as a problem creator, encompassing high costs. Hence the business strategy for this product needs to be inclined towards establishing a strong market position (Pringle, 2008). There is desirable percentage of individuals who belong to middle income group in China. Market penetration strategy shall be most suitable for this particular business idea. Low cost products with superior quality are expected to acquire wider base of customers. Segmentation, targeting and positioning are essential components when it comes to trading in foreign markets. Dishwashers are not a necessity in China. Segmentation for this product will be based on demographic factors such as gender and income group. The main target market for the product would be females, specifically housewives. They might understand the need for this product in terms of making their tasks simpler. Middle income group shall be targeted since product price would be low in initial stages of product launch. Positioning statement of the product will be – ‘an affordable cleaning power at doorstep’. This form of positioning clearly reveals that a product which is not a necessity can still prove to be beneficial for living beings (Wintzer, 2007). Market positioning of dishwashers will be aligned with the concept of low cost and high quality. Global marketing strategy is highly dependent on characteristics of customers. It can be stated that marketing mix elements revolves around customer’s needs in context of foreign market. The four P’s of marketing mix such as product, price, place and promotion shall outline marketing strategy of dishwashers in Chinese market. Product is an innovative mechanical device which cleans dishes or utensils in least time possible. Branded dishwashers are sold at 2174 Yuan or $350 via

The Game Theory and Long Run Marginal Cost in Microeconomics Term Paper

The Game Theory and Long Run Marginal Cost in Microeconomics - Term Paper Example The mathematical analysis of these situations is called game theory and was originally developed by Von Neumann and Morgenstern in 1944. As the subject develops, it has gained acceptance, particularly in business, politics and with the military. In 1994 the Nobel Prize for Economics was awarded to Harsanyi, Nash, and Selten for their contributions to Game Theory. The second part of the paper involves the study of the long run marginal cost. The long-run marginal cost curve indicates the change in total cost resulting from a change in production when all inputs including capital and plant size are variable. This paper discusses the different cases of long-run cost curve with the categories of returns to scale. Here we only consider two person’s zero-sum games. These are games with two players normally called A and B wherein any play of the game the amount of As gain equals the amount of Bs loss (so the sum of both players gains is zero). We refer to As gain and Bs loss throughout the theory but naturally, B can win games so As "gain" is not always positive. Our object is to find the best strategy for each player. By a "best strategy" we mean that if A (say) deviates from this strategy then B can adapt Bs strategy to gain more than if A stuck to the best strategy. Pure Strategies: To solve the game we first of all look for a pure strategy. This occurs when the best strategy for each player is to choose the same option for all plays of the game. If there is a pure strategy, A plays i  and B play j (say), then the ijth element (the payoff to A per play) is called a saddle point. Mixed Strategies and Dominance: If there is no pure strategy then we look for a mixed strategy which means each player mixes their options in certain proportions. Solving the game means determining these proportions in this case.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES - Essay Example Air pollution has been further divided into indoor air pollution and outdoor air pollution. There are many causes of each of these types. Outdoor air pollution results due to the release of gases from the industries into the air. This results in contaminating the air. This is also true for the emissions from motor vehicles. Furthermore, the usage of insecticides and pesticides also serves to add contaminants to the air. Accidents in nuclear power plants may also result in the release of toxic gases which may pollute the air. Indoor air pollution results due to the burning of coal, oil and wood in the houses. It mainly implies for the rural areas of the developing nations of the world. Cigarette smoking is another factor which leads to the addition of harmful gases to the atmosphere (Park 2007). Air pollution is a serious global issue that needs to be tackled. Different methods and ways have been devised to overcome this problem. The World Health Organization has presented with differ ent solutions that need to be put into action to overcome air pollution.

Personal Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Personal Development - Essay Example essed, I have had the chance to increase the amount of time that I spend with the instructors in terms of learning after class and made sure that I went over all the material that was delivered in class. In the event that there was a concept or point that needed to be clarified, I made the resolve to talk to the instructors before the next class so that I may understand the concept and catch up with the rest of the group. Social development has also been a considerable part of my personal development as I made the discovery that I was lacking soft skills in comparison to other people. The significance of these skills in the school and work environment cannot be ignored, therefore, I had to develop them so that I could avoid cases of skill mismatching in school as well as the workplace. (Zenger and Folkman 137). Improving interactions with other individuals was among the main goals of my personal development and as the semester progressed, I had to make changes on the ways I related to people through allowing more time for interactions. I was able to achieve this goal through seeking an elective position as a representative of one of the clubs in school and the acquisition of the leadership position was critical for the developing my leadership skills. Being elected for this post has also assisted me to enhance my communication skills as am tasked with communicating the needs and issues of the members of the club to the leaders of the club. This has also assisted me to become a better listener while developing more focus in my activities since I have other responsibilities apart from my schoolwork. I had also intended to better my social interaction both within and outside the school and among the most effective ways, that I chose to achieve this was through more involvement in extra-curricular programs. Settling on a particular activity was not easy as there were numerous programs to choose from, nevertheless, I had an awareness of the significance of this and

Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 27

Research - Essay Example This data is utilized to explore the existing correlation between variables of interests and diseases. In other words, cross-sectional methodology presents an image of the occurrence of a disease in a population in any time interval. This research technique is preferable in the assessment of diseases that pose as a burden to the population. The information gathered by this technique will assist in the allocation of resources related to health and planning. It entails the study of purely descriptive information. It is utilized in the assessment of occurrence and distribution of a given disease in a specified population. For example, schools randomly sampled across New York can be utilized to assess the prevalence or the burden of Yellow Fever among 12-17 years old. Analytically, the study data may also be utilized to investigate the relations between an alleged risk factor and an outcome of health. Nevertheless, this type is limited in the drawing of valid conclusion regarding possible casualty or association since the presence of outcomes and risk factor are determined simultaneously (Blade, 2001). This makes it hard to evaluate which of the exposure or disease came first. Therefore, it requires a combination of more than one methodology for the technique to be rigorous. Information collection regarding the risk factor is retrospective, hence likelihood of biasness. Information collected regarding outcomes; exposure and disease is not reliable in drawing conclusion in reference to the health status of the sample population. Simultaneous evaluation outcomes and risk factor pose the risk of biasness of the results obtained in the analysis (Pine, 1997). Therefore, it will be difficult to trust that the data obtained is of desired accuracy and precision. Another hindrance of the technique lies in the fact that, the mystifying factors in most cases will not be similarly distributed amongst the various sets of interest in the research. The inequality causes

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving Essay Example for Free

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving Essay A popular theme in literature concerns the concept of growing up, a painful process by which a character achieves maturity, self-knowledge and confidence. In the novel, A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, the character of Owen Meany achieves this painful process. Owen Meany is introduced in the novel as a remarkable individual and throughout it can be observed how the brilliant child evolves into the memorable individual that he turns into. In the novel, A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving, Owen Meany matures, gains self-knowledge and confidence to become the miracle that his character was. Owen Meany was obviously a brilliant child, but was still able to improve on his excellent character as he was growing. This can be seen through Owens maturity level. He was always remarkable advanced and mature for his age, but as he became older, he understood even more than before. His best friend was Johnny Wheelwright. In their friendship, Owen looked after Johnny. He gave him advice and even helped him out academically. When Johnny was bitter about his mother not revealing to him who his father was before she died, Owen came up with a mature response, Of course, as Owen pointed out to me, I was only eleven when she died, and my mother was only thirty; she probably thought she had a lot of time left to tell me the story. She didnt know she was going to die, as Owen Meany put it. (Irving 10) In the face of irrationality, Owen found it easy to point out the logic. The easy way he comes up with intelligent responses to difficult questions are proof of this childs brilliance. Later on his life, the reader sees that Owen has matured in regards to his perspective on Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy. Kennedy had been somewhat of a hero in Owens mind and he had felt betrayed by him. He is able to later recover from this viewpoint and analyze the situation differently. Shes just like our whole country not quite young anymore. But not old either; a little breathless, very beautiful, maybe a little stupid, maybe a lot more smarter than she seemed. And she was looking for something I think she wanted to be good. Look at the men in her life Joe DiMaggio, Arthur Miller, maybe the Kennedys. Look at how good they seem! Look at how desirable she was! She was never quite happy She was just like our whole country Those famous powerful men did they really love her? Did they take care of her? If she was ever with the Kennedys, they couldnt have loved her they were just using her . People will do and say anything just to get the power; then theyll use the power just to get a thrill . The country is a sucker for powerful men who look good, we think theyre moralists and then they just use us. Thats whats going to happen to you and me were going to be used. (Irving 431) Owen Meany is very good at analysis, and he uses these talents to make conclusions on many things. It is an excellent example of his maturity. When Owen first discovered that JFK might be having an affair with Marilyn Monroe, he was shocked. Now, he is able to rationalize it and see JFK in a different light. He is able to come up with educated ideas concerning JFK and Marilyn Monroe. His metaphor of Marilyn Monroe and the United States is an excellent one. Both Marilyn Monroe and America have a great deal in common because of their mutual exploitation by the rich and powerful. Owen Meany learns a great deal about himself through the course of his life. He is convinced that there are reasons for all things. One of his strongest conviction stems from what his parents told him about him being born in the same way as Jesus. Due to this, Owen feels very convinced and assured of himself. He is a highly intelligent child: I know three things. I know that my voice doesnt change, and I know when Im going to die. I wish I knew why my voice never changes, I wish I knew how I was going to die; But God has allowed me to know more than most people know so Im not complaining. The third thing I know is that I am Gods instrument; I have faith that God will let me know what Im supposed to do, and when Im supposed to do it. (Irving 366) Owen has complete faith that there are reasons for his being the way he is. This is an example of Owens self-knowledge. He knew these things with a complete certainty and accepted them. Few people will have blind faith in something. Owen had questions, but he still put his faith in God, bowing to his superiority. He knows who he is. He understands his purpose. He is told by many that he is crazy and insane for thinking that there is a plan for why he has the voice he has. He is also told that he should run far away from what he thinks his destiny is, but Owen is not most people. He knows what his destiny is and runs towards it. Owens self-awareness and knowledge is what allows him to feel that he is headed towards the right path. In the end, Owen was right. He is able to save the Vietnamese children, It was not only because he spoke their language; it was his voice that compelled the children to listen to him it was a voice like their voices. That was why they trusted him, why they listened. DOONG SA, he said, and they stopped crying. (Irving 612) In the end, Owen is to be admired for his self-knowledge. Johnny would now be wrong in thinking Owen to be strange for thinking that his odd voice had a purpose. It did have a purpose. Owens voice helped him save the Vietnamese children. Owen Meany has a great deal of confidence in himself. If he sets his mind to do something, he can do anything. Owen Meany desperately wanted to join the army and be able to fight so that he could fulfill his purpose that he discovered in his dream. If theres a war and Im in the army, I want to be in the war I dont want to spend the war at a desk. Look at it this way: we agree that Harry Hoyt is an idiot. Whos going to keep the Harry Hoyts from getting their heads blown off? (Irving 462) The way that Owen ended the statement, almost makes him sound cocky. In a way, he is, but another term to describe it would be that Owen is confident. He places total trust in God that what will happen will happen. He is confident that he is going to die, fulfill his purpose in life and be a hero. It is uncanny how unshakable Owens faith is. Most people are unable to practice what they preach, and Owen does what he thinks is right. He does live by his rules. It is unbelievable that he is willing to throw away his life because of his faith in God. He does not even have any proof of assurance that God does exist, but in his mind he does not need any. When Owen would be practicing his basketball shot with Johnny and it would get dark, he would ask Johnny if he could still see a statue of Mary Magdalene after it became completely dark. He would ask Johnny how he could be certain that she was still there, if he could not see her, You absolutely know she isnt there even though you cant see her? Well, now you know how I feel about God I cant see Him but I absolutely know he is there! (Irving 451) Owen explains to Johnny that he just knows in his gut and instinctively that God exists. In the same way that people can understand and accept that other things exist without physical proof, Owen is convinced of the existence of God. His confidence is daunting. It is unusual for a person to be so rationally convinced about theology and at the same time be willing to go to extremes in the name of God. When he was getting closer to the day of his death, he had doubts, I dont know why hes here I just know he has to be here! But I dont even know that not anymore. It doesnt make sense! Where is Vietnam in all of this? Where are those poor children? Was it all just a terrible dream? Am I simply crazy? Is tomorrow just another day? (Irving 604) Owen is growing up. He is scared and confused. He doesnt know why Johnny has to be there for his dream to come true. He doesnt know if anything is going to happen. His doubts are the most important step to his growing up. In the end, he was right all along. The character, Owen Meany, was a miraculous one, due to his maturity, self-knowledge and confidence, in the novel A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. Owen was always mature for his age, but he was able to improve on it and make better judgements. He understood that although Kennedy was someone who had been a hero to him, that things are not always as you want them to be. He was able to open his mind to this, and eventually accept the possibility that Kennedy might have behaved inappropriately. Owen had an extreme amount of assurance in himself. He just knew some things and did not feel the need to question them too much. He knew that there was a reason for his voice and although, he wanted to know why, he did not feel daunted by this. He had faith in his ability to do things, even some that he did not manage to do, such as, going to war. Owens confidence is the last important point in his path to growing up. He had doubts and fear, but in the end his confidence in God and himself won out. Owen finally grew up, when he did what he was meant to do by God.

How Effectively the Barnardos Website Presents its Campaign to Prevent Child Poverty Essay Example for Free

How Effectively the Barnardos Website Presents its Campaign to Prevent Child Poverty Essay * The layout of material * The way in which language is manipulated * The effect on the intended audience In this essay I will analyse how the use of graphics, language, lay-out and links in this website are effective in raising peoples awareness so that Barnardos can help to stop and prevent child poverty. Barnardos deals with many situations and projects such as day care and play schemes, after school clubs, advice and counselling for parents and parenting education. There are over three hundred of these projects, run by Barnardos, around the UK. In this website, Barnardos are appealing to a younger audience. In the text it tells us that they have launched an e-card campaign asking 1 million children and young people to respond. I think this is a good idea because most of the young people are on the Internet now as opposed to the older generation. The other aspect of the article that appeals to young people is the fact that it is related to people of the similar age groups and the case study can be related to more easily by younger people as it is about a young person. Although it is aimed at younger people it is going to get passed on to the adults anyway by asking for help on the Internet, telling a teacher as part of a school project. The idea of having this campaign on the Internet is more appealing as more people would look on the Internet for a campaign instead of calling in to a store and picking up a leaflet. In this campaign, Barnardos use pictures to try and persuade us to help. They persuade us by making us feel sympathetic towards the children, which will make us want to help the children. They do this by showing us pictures that we can relate to, pictures such as school halls and corridors, outer doors and swing parks. They show us these pictures because these are places that would be related to children. But the difference, however, is that they show them as being derelict and vandalised. The other thing they use is dull colours, which makes the pictures seem sad, lonely and also evil. By making them derelict and dull they make us think that the victims feel sad and lonely because that is the emotion the pictures give across and because of these emotions we feel entitled to help change their lives. The position, on the page, of the pictures also makes us feel different about helping the campaign. The photographs are placed in the centre of the page and the text is surrounding them. This means that you cannot read the text without looking at the pictures and the emotion in the text with the emotion in the pictures makes it appeal more to us and makes us feeling even more obliged to help the children. At the top of each page Barnardos have placed their logo and slogan. It is placed at the top left-hand corner of each page and I think this is effective because people would look there first. The logo is a picture of what looks like two adults with a child and they look quite cheery which makes you think that the lives of children who are victims of child poverty will end up like that if they get the help from Barnardos and the nation-wide public. The slogan underneath this backs it up, it says Giving Children Back Their Future, which is what Barnardos are trying to do with this campaign. The slogan and logo are effective, when presented in this way, because they make you feel like you can trust Barnardos to give them a better future. Throughout the website, Barnardos keep mentioning the other facilities they operate, which reinforces its stability and reliability. On the first page it leans on the fact that it is safe and offers a safe environment, safe and stimulating place to play. The charity does this to show their audience that they are reliable and determined about stopping and preventing child poverty and about getting all the help they can with the campaign. You see can that they always are looking towards the future of the children. The case study that is included supports this. The case study is a human appeal about someone who was a victim of child poverty and the conclusion of the study tells us how Barnardos helped and how the boy is going to change his own life and turn everything around. People can relate to a case study like this because they want a better world and their instincts make them feel sorry for the boy and make them want to help others like him. The other techniques they use are the emotive phrases in the case study. They use phrases such as neither of the adults had much time for Michael and they tell us the boy had no sense of stability. These phrases are quite harsh and can make you think twice about not wanting to help, especially to an older audience because they wouldnt want their children growing up like that. The links on the web page are very clear and helpful, they use FAQs (frequently asked questions) such as who we are and what we do. These sorts of phrases are also used as headings at the top of each page. The links also include a support us heading which you could take as a plea or cry out for help. The contact us link means that if you have any additional questions or need help with anything you can contact them easily and even help them more if they need it. The sort of support and help they want is for young people to send an e-card which is also a link at the concluding page. Because it is set out in this format means you dont need to give any money and it means you have no way out of it because it is eye-catching and you would feel obliged to help because it is any easy thing to do. When people start to read about the campaign they might think they will have to give money but it appeals to the reader because it doesnt involve an awful lot to change someones life. The language in the campaign is very simple and plain in the text. They dont use a large variety of vocabularies so that younger people can understand it better because it isnt difficult or challenging. The text has a lot of emotive language such as, inescapable aspect and lacks local amenities. The word you is used, in the context You can be a force for change, which makes you think that they are talking directly to you and makes you feel that the childrens lives are dependant on you. In the section headed the facts bullet points are used which makes the text a lot easier to read and you think that you are reading very little but you actually take in a lot of information. I think that the idea of a web page is very effective because I know that I would prefer reading something of the Internet than reading a leaflet on a campaign. The most effective technique, I think, is the case study because I thought it was very moving and after I read it I could slightly relate to it because the person seemed to be about the same age as me and obviously wanted to change his life around. What Barnardos did to try and change that boys life was spectacular. After I finished I sent an e-card because I was persuaded into doing the right thing which was the whole point of the campaign.

Malaria: Causes, Effects and Cures

Malaria: Causes, Effects and Cures Solving a Biological Problem Summary The chapter is about the methodology that is involved in exploring some understanding toward solving a biological problem while doing research in quest. With citation of example of malaria as a problem along with historical stage involved towards gradual understanding related to its causes leading to the findings to its cure and preventions, an attempt was made to present the approach that has been involved in addressing the scientific issues in past. A practical approach that is possible to conduct practically at school level to get the students introduced with research at elementary level and built up some interest in students has been presented in the following chapter. Mathematical and statistical tools that are needed in research have been introduced to analyze the data obtained by using research methodology (hypothetical) to arrive on conclusions about certain aspects of the issues related to malaria to accept, discard or modify the hypothesis on a scientific query. Introduction The human being started putting efforts to explore the world around him right from very beginning. The history is full of examples that show that early human being somehow recorded their opinion about different thing. With passage of time, human beings learnt to evaluate the correctness of their thoughts and opinion on any scientific issue, by setting some experiments, drawing conclusion (hypothesis) based on results, verification of hypothesis by other experiments and reporting it. Research methodology is latest approach involving these procedures to address a scientific problem. Steps involved in Biological Research Procedure Identification of a problem Sufferings of mankind that includes diseases, scarcity of food shelter, utilities etc or related matters are the existing problems from biological origin. To initiate research in an area a problem in a particular area is identified. There can be a wide range of problems e.g. an approach to find a cure for newly emerging disease, find a more effective drug for a curable disease, increase the shelf life of a product etc. Generation of hypothesis Available understanding on an issue that is published in scientific journals is used to draw logical opinion, hypothesis, underlying the biological processes and indicate possibilities that can lead to the management of the problem. There are often more than one hypothesis available for a given scientific query. Usually one hypothesis is being testified by given experiments. (a) Shelf life of chadder cheese increases with increase in number of yeast cells present into it. (b) Quality of spinach deteriorates with increase in rate of transpiration. (c) The rate of decrease in microbial population in a food sample in response of heat treatment at 600C is inversely proportional to its total organic content. Laboratory safety Procedures Every type of biological experimentation should comply with necessary safety procedures that ensures the safety of professionals involved in conducting the experiments and other people. That includes use of special clothing e.g. coats, gloves head cover spectacles etc. All the biological material is carried or grown in specially designed containers that ensure no risk for leakage that can be hazards for other people who can come in contact. All the biological material is heated at 121oC under pressure at 15 psi to kill all type of cells before discarding it whereas chemical agents are discarded as mentioned in safety manuals. Experiment Design Experimentation is a practical approach for investigation a scientific query leading to generation of observations called data. A same question can be investigated by using different experimental approaches. The selection of an experimental design mainly depends upon time required, extent of precision, availability of resources etc. Each experiment design has got some limitations and it is important to ensure that the selected experiment design can optimize for investigating the required scientific query. Each experiment is design by usually changing a variable. In order to test a given hypothesis, experiments are set, usually in triplicate and experiments are repeated at least three times to ensure reproducibility of the data. To avoid adding error in the data it is important to set negative and positive control for a given experiment. Positive control has an ingredient instead of ingredient to be test that should positive result when is added in the reagents and processed as per standard method of experiment in given conditions. On other hand Negative control is set same as positive control but has water or other solvent added instead of reagent to be tested. It is very important that selection of sample that is used in the experiment should be random. It is important to ensure that all the experiments should be done at the same conditions. All those factors that can contribute to add errors should be taken care of. Data Collection and analysis Observations can be collected after completion of experiments or while they are in progress depending on nature of experiments. The data is not always a integral values but can be visual observations that can be recorded by photography. The data is usually recorded with appropriate units in tabular form. This is known as raw data. Every data has some error added into it. Mathematic and statistics an integral part of Biological Analysis The observations that are collected as numerical value after experiments comprise raw data. Mathematical or statistical methods are used to minimize the effect of errors present into it the raw data. The most widely and commonly statistical method that is used to decrease error in data is finding an average in any given readings. Beside that mathematical or statistical tools are used to deduce a logical ground based on numerical value to support, modify or discard any scientific opinion (hypothesis) that is built up on earlier reported scientific findings Use of ratio proportion and percentage Data is analyzed by using mathematical or statistical tools, most commonly that are used include ratio and percentage, for finding an effect of changing a variable on other parameters in a given set of condition. If a numerical variable ‘a’ represents intensity of a biological event that needs to be compared with intensity of another similar event represented by numerical variable ‘b’ then ratios are taken out Ratio between intensity of two biological events = a (equation 1) b In order to represent this comparison on scale of 100, percentage of ratio between variables are taken out The general formula for percentage is given as below %= Ratio between two numerical variable x100(equation 2) Substitute equation 1 in general formula of percentage as shown by equation 2 Percent % (ratio between intensity of two biological events) ={ a }x 100 (eq 3) b Usually biological data can comprise of in a range of very small value to very large and hence it is important to convert it on Log10. The general formula for expressing any numerical variable is shown by equation 4 as follow Number(N) on Log 10 scale= Log10(N) (equation 4) Substitute equation 3 into equation 4 Log 10(ratio between intensity of two biological events) =Log10 { a x 100}(eq 5) b Technical limitation associated with use of Log10 scale While expressing any data on Log10 the difficulty arises when it is needed to express integral 0 on Log10 scale (Log10(0)=infinity). In order to cope with this difficulty 1 or any fraction of number that falls within permissible limit of error (10 scale. In later stages the data can easily be plotted on any type of graphs as discussed in later part of this chapter. Significance of error in decision making and predictions on biological data Every data collected has certain extent of error present into it depending upon experimentation design, procedures and method of taking observations. This error needs to be evaluated before using the data for testing any hypothesis, decision making or predictions. It is defined as tentative variation on negative and positive scale in a set of observations from actual value. The actual numerical value of a biological effect is (B). An experiment was done to note this biological effect. The experiment was repeated N times e.g. (N1 N2 N3 †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Nt) to showing observations B as (B1 B2 B3†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.Bt) respectively. The first stage in calculation the error is to find an average The general formula for Average is Average = sum of numerical values of individual observation eq 6 Number of times the observation was taken Substitute the values in equation 6 Average ={B1+ B2+†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.Bt} eq 7 {Nt} Sum of values of observations ={B1+ B2+†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.Bt}is shown by S{B} No of times the experiment was repeated {Nt} ={N} Substitute the value in equations in equation 7 Average= S{B} equation 8 {N} Lets value of Average be represented by X Substitute in equation 7 Average = X Second stage is to find the difference between each numerical value of observation and Average = B1-X, B2-XBt-X, Third stage is to square each of the difference =B1-X)2,(B2-X)2, (B3-X)2(Bt-X)2 Fourth stage is to add the square of differences =(B1-X)2+(B2-X)2+(Bt-X)2 Fifth stage is to divide square sum of difference of average of individual numerical variable with number of observations e.g N =S(B1-X)2,( B2-X)2,†¦..(Bt-X)2 N Standard deviation or Error is obtained by taking square root of the quotient obtained by dividing the square sum of difference between the average and the individual numerical variable with number of observations. =√S(B1-X)2,( B2-X)2,†¦..(Bt-X)2 N It is an integral value that is expressed, as on negative as well as positive scale e.g if error calculated is 3 then it would be +3 as well as –3. It represents a range within which actual value may lie. In olden days, such calculations were done with the help of calculator but now same work can be done more easily by using different software e.g. excel with computer as a tool. It is often very different to understand the effect underlying in any biological data by merely looking at numerical values. The different types of graphs are used for visual presentation of effect by trends available in data The most commonly types of graphs that are used for the presentation of data are given in figure 2.The same data for different sample e.g. A, B, C is presented on percentage scale by using horizontal and vertical bars whereas error is shown by error bars .Another set of data for sample D, E, F was presented by line graph. Data analysis to decide the status of hypothesis After the mathematical and statistical treatment of raw data a logical ground built up by comparing certain numerical values or more often represented on graphs to accept, modify or reject any hypothesis. In order to test the hypothesis â€Å"The rate of decrease in microbial population in a food sample in response of heat treatment at 600C is inversely proportional to its total organic, 100 cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were inoculated in same volume in mediums with concentration as X, 3X and 70X respectively to make final concentration of each medium as 100 cells/ml.(Sample D contains 3X concentration medium, Sample E contains X concentration and Sample F contains 70X concentration). The medium were kept at 600C for 1104hours and cells were assayed for viability after 10 hrs, 100, hours, 1000hrs and 10000 hrs respectively. The viability being dependent value was plotted on a graph Y axis against the time in hours after expressing the value on Log 10 scale. Different data points taken on the graph are sufficiently scattered and can not be joined by a straight line accommodating all the point on it. The trend line can be drawn manually by accommodating maximum number of points and leaving as many point above the line as many are there below that line. Such a manually drawn line can not be used for any type of scientific predictions. Otherwise highly precise trend line for a given data can be drawn as explained in section given in the end of the chapter that can be used for making decisions on a given hypothesis and for making predictions. The error bars extending on positive as well as negative scale in same magnitude of Y scale is plotted against each observation. The observation that were taken in this experiment are shown as graphs in Figure 2 e.g. Sample D, E and F were presented by using line graphs on Log 10 scale. The trend lines are introduced to show the type of dependency of one parameter on another. As already discussed earlier the biological data is often presented on Log 10 scale to observe the effects in broader prospective and ignore the slight changes especially when study is made on larger populations of samples e.g. cells with a wide range of variations. The data show that sample D and E has got similar trend (with an increase in variable on X axis, there is a decrease on Y axis variable, Y axis is dependent on x axis and is inversely proportional to it) whereas in sample F, Y variable is independent of X variable as no change in Y variable is observed with an increase in X variable and this is evident by a straight trend line. The conclusion drawn as evident by three graphs that number of viable yeast cells were found to decrease with passage of time when concentration of organic content in medium was X in sample E or 3X in sample D that is represented by a slopes in respective graphs. But this effect was found to be lost when organic concentration was raised to 70X in sample F and that is. This experiment supports the hypothesis â€Å" The rate of decrease in microbial population in a food sample in response of heat treatment at 600C is inversely proportional to its total organic content†. If reported literature indicate some other type of experiments done to check the same hypothesis then results are compared and reason of the variations if there are any are discussed with scientific reference and is reported in a scientific journal. Research Methodology Theory accepted Modification in hypothesis Publication in scientific Journals Discarding above hypothesis Supporting above hypothesis Results interpretation Different Hypotheses Data analysis Data collection Experimental design for a given hypothesis Literature reported in related area Identification of Biological Problem Interpretation of data The data that is obtained is interpreted to draw scientific conclusions. The reported literature is used to give explanation of the conclusion drawn. In the light of conclusion drawn either the hypothesis is accepted, rejected or is modified. If the hypothesis is proven correct with experiments, then it is known as a theory. Scientific articles based on proven hypothesis e.g. theory, disapproved or modified hypothesis are written by scientist involved in research and are sent for publication in scientific journals. Biological Problem as an example A school teacher planned an excursion for students and took paramedic staff equipped with sample collection facility to country side area to study the prevalence of any non contiguous disease in human beings and animals. Malaria is an example of non contiguous disease that is spread only by infected female mosquito is malaria and is a matter of great concern. As reported in newspapers and other literature there was a population of 100,000 people living with minimal facilities of life that on a huge natural water reservoir for drinking water. Recent heavy rain resulted in collection of water of stagnant water and much of this water in later stage drained in reservoir. The students prepared a report explaining how did they use biological methodology to study this case. a) Identification of problem Prevalence of certain incidences of disease symptoms similar to malaria in a given locality was identified as a biological problem. Students wrote the following note after referring the literature about malaria to get basic information about disease. Please refer the picture given below and the literature cited in later part of this chapter. From Mala aria ( bad air) to Malaria-over a period of time Malaria has been a matter of concerns since very beginning. Understanding about malaria has changed over a period of time. Initially it was considered to be caused by some supernatural power. Supported with the findings of higher incidences near the marshy area, malaria was thought to be caused by bad air that is found near marshy areas. With the emergence of germ theory malaria by Louis Pasteur (1852-1895) was thought to be caused by any bacteria. It is strongly believed until Charles Louis Alphonse Laveron (1845-1922) during microscopy of Blood from infected patients observed causative agent of malaria in 1880 and later on reported it to Academy of Medicine in Paris. Albert Freeman Africanus King (1841-1940) who was associated with George Washington University on basis of supporting reports presented the idea that mosquitoes are the mean of transmission of malaria (vector) and discarded the opinion that bad air in marshy area has any role in causing malaria. On basis of his data he suggested that proper netting can help to control the incidences of malaria in Washington. Ronald Ross (1857-1932) was a physician, who studied the life cycle of malarial parasite in mosquites e.g (different stages of parasite infection with a change in morphology) and its transfer to human beings and birds. In 1898 Giovanni Battista Grassi (1854-1925) on basis of understanding about malaria obtained by published literature set an experiment to infect a person who never had malaria (with his permission) in an area of Rome where there was not any case of malaria reported and mosquitoes were not found by exposing the person with Anopheles clavigar for ten night and later on patient developed the symptoms. On basis of his experiment he proved that malaria is spread by mosquitoes in human beings that carries the causative agent Plasmodium. The complete cycle of P. falciparum was observed by Grassi Bignami and Bastianelli in 1899 and the work has been published by Grassi in 1900. The life cycle of Plasmodium has three reproduction stages with different morphologies (shapes). The mosquitoes inject sporozoites in human being s skin that through blood goes to liver where they multiply and change into Merozoites.The second cycle of multiplication does into RBC. Some of the meroziotes after passing through reproductive cycle in RBC converts into gametocytes (male and female gemates) and enters in gut of mosquitoes when they suck blood from an infected human being where they undergo sexual reproduction to zygote which later on converts Oocyst. Oocyste after under going asexual reproduction burst to release newly formed sporozoites that enters in salivary gland of mosquitoes At the site students made a survey of that area and noted the initial observation with the help of photography. They found that not only human being but also the birds are affected by the disease Initial Findings They found that the reservoir (a) was associated with dark places where high populations of mosquitoes can be seen (b).Beside that a few sick birds were also found resting on ground. Diseased patients report to an increase in high fever with shivering that stays for some times and then fever become low or even normal with sweating or even without it. These symptoms are repeated with intervals and patient feels weakness. Initial findings support that the disease is malaria. b) On the basis of their initial findings the following hypothesis was built up. The disease may be Malaria and is caused by Plasmodium Experimentation Plasmodium infect the red blood cells. In order to established that diseased people are suffering from malaria at least 63 patients having disease were bled to collect blood samples. This type of sample that is under study is called as test sample. Blood were taken from at least 50 healthy who do not have any symptoms of disease. Since these people do not have any symptoms of disease it is very likely that Plasmodium may never be detected in their blood. Such a sample that is known to give a negative test is a called a negative control The blood and water samples were collected in collection tubes specially designed for this purpose. The fixed slides of infected Red Blood Cell (RBC) were purchased from the market and was taken as positive control. (a)The sample was not only collected from human beings but also from the diseased animals as well. That the blood of each sample was spread on a glass slide, fixed and stained with Giemsia and was observed under microscope. (b)Beside that the blood samples from infected people were inoculated (added) in RPMI-1640 medium (name of medium used for the growth of Plasmodium that also contain RBC) present in bottle and were incubated to grow causative agent of the disease under laboratory conditions. The sample from these bottles were observed under microscope for presence of Plasmodium after 72 hours of incubation. Furthermore, the surface water from stagnant regions of reservoir was collected in a container and was assayed for presence of larvae of mosquitoes with help of magnifying glass. Laboratory Safety Procedure All the containers having biological material was heated at 1210 C at 15 psi for 15 minutes to kill every type of living cells before discarding them. The chemical agents were discarded as described in their respective safety manuals Result Microscopy results show that the Red Blood Cell of diseased people were found to be infected with Plasmodium. The causative agent of the disease was successfully found to grow in the medium that supports the growth of Plasmodium (Figure 3) and that was confirmed by microscopy e.g Plasmodium were found in the sample from medium under microscope and slides observed were found similar as shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 Plasmodium Figure 7 The blood sample after mixing with other reagent (as shown with white arrow indicating towards a tube) is then inoculated into the bottle ( as shown in picture) ( source Nature Protocols courtesy to Nature Publishing Group) The surface water samples that was taken from the stagnant water collected near water reservoir were found of have mosquitoes larvae in large number as is shown in Figure 4. Conclusion The results that includes, presence of large number of mosquitoes larvae near the site of outbreak, Plasmodium was found in the infected blood of diseased people, that was successfully grown in the medium and conditions specific confirm that the outbreak is of malaria that was caused by Plasmodium. Skill development to solve a Biological Problem Report A report comprising the incidences of malaria during the years 2002, 2003 and 2004, in three different cities was published in a newspaper. The patient were treated by using drug A and attempt to kill mosquitoes were made by spraying B into environment and adding in water collection. Out of these report related to three cities is given below. In Karachi 530 malarial cases were reported in year of 2002, 534760 in 2003 and 12345668 in 2004 respectively. The mortality reported in these years were 98 in 2002, 120001 in 2003 and 5408889 in 2004.The rain fall recorded in Karachi for year 2002 is 50mm, 2003 is 100 mm and 10,000 mm in 2004.The drug resistance was found in 12 cases in 2002, 60009 cases in 2003 and 9900099 cases in 2004. In 2002, 134 malarial cases were reported in Faisalabad where as in 2003 and 2004 the reported numbers were 1237 and 1379 respectively. The mortality reported in years 2002, 2003 and 2004 were 10, 99, 115 respectively. The annual rainfall reported in these years were 12 mm in 2002, 58 mm in 2003 and 89 mm in 2004.The antimalarial drug resistance was found to be in 2 cases in 2002 , 79 cases in 2003 and 91 cases in 2004. In a similar study that was conducted in Gilgit during these three years, it was found that malaria affected 325 people in 2002, 135 people in 2003 and 350 people in 2004.There were 10 people reported to be died of malarial disease in 2002, 8 people in 2003 and 17 people in 2004. The annual rainfall reported in these years were 130, 120, 105 mm in 2002, 2003 and 2004 respectively. The resistance against anti malarial drug found in 2002, 2003 and 2004 were 9, 4, 9 respectively. Source ( It is an imaginary situation given with data to help student develop research skills) Research Methodology Step 1 Identification of problem from published literature After reading the above mentioned findings, management of heavy occurrence of malarial disease has been identified as a problem. Step 2 literature search for generating the hypothesis taking malaria as a test case Malaria is a very common infectious disease that is commonly associated with poverty. It is caused by protozoan parasites Plasmodium species that is transferred to human being blood circulation system by the vector Anopheles mosquito’s bite(1). Literature show that malarial outbreaks can be related with rainfall in that area (2). Malaria is more common in urban area than in cities. However in Africa it is present in both rural and urban areas (3,4)No literature is available about the relation of malarial incidence with location of the place with height above sea level. The occurrence of malarial outbreak can be related with presence of stagnant water that can support the mosquito survival in populations. Heavy use of anti-malarial drugs and mosquito cidal sprays is reported to produce resistance in the protozoa against commonly used drugs (5). 1) Cox F (2002). History of Human parasitology. Clin Microbiol Rev 15 (4): 595-612. 2) Grover-Kopec E, Kawano M, Klaver R, Blumenthal B, Ceccato P, Connor S. 2005 An online operational rainfall-monitoring resource for epidemic malaria early warning systems in Africa. Malar J 4(1): 6. 3) Van Benthem B, Vanwambeke S, Khantikul N, Burghoorn-Maas C, Panart K, Oskam L, Lambin E, Somboon P 2005.Spatial patterns of and risk factors for seropositivity for dengue infection Am J Trop Med Hyg 72 (2): 201-8. 4) Keiser J, Utzinger J, Caldas de Castro M, Smith T, Tanner M, Singer B 2004. Urbanization in sub-saharan Africa and implication for malaria control. Am J Trop Med Hyg 71 (2 Suppl): 118-27. 5)Rieckmann, K.H.2006 The chequered history of malaria control: are new and better tools the ultimate answer? Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 100(8) 647-662 6) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaria (The Scientific literature is presented with citation of references as is shown in above paragraph) Step 3 Deduction of hypothesis with help of published literature After reading the reported literature as mentioned above following hypothesis can be deduced. Incidence of malaria is dependent on amount of rainfall probably through collection of stagnant water Step 4 Experimental design The data for the parameters analyzed was collected by using standard methods e.g. microscopy of infected blood samples at different hospitals and was published in a newspaper as a scientific report. Step 5 Presentation of Raw data The above mentioned data is presented below in tabular form. Karachi Year Malarial cases reported Mortality Rainfall (mm) No of resistant cases to anti-malarial drug A 2002 530 98 50 12 2003 534760 120001 100 60009 2004 12345668 5408889 10000 9900099 Average/year 4293652.667 1842996 3383.33 3320040 Faisalabad Year Malarial cases reported Mort

The alliterative poems Pearl and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight unite traditional Celtic mythology with Christian orthodoxy to produce a distinctly :: Essays Papers

The alliterative poems Pearl and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight unite traditional Celtic mythology with Christian orthodoxy to produce a distinctly British Christianity The Catholic church in fourteenth century England was undergoing a convulsion. The church was unable to explain why God inflicted the Black Plague on the citizenry, or to conjure up his mercy and end the suffering and death. The Babylonian Captivity saw the papacy in Avignon, under the influence if not the direct control of the hated French. Even when Rome once again became the seat of the Holy See, the Great Western Schism divided the loyalties of Christians between the two rival popes -- who excommunicated each other and all the other's followers. Corruption among the hierarchy of priests and bishops seemed epidemic. As ever, "The obvious alternative, for anyone wishing to withdraw from the ideological and bureaucratic complexities of the Christian empire, was to return to the simplicity of the Church's founder," (Saul 544). We still see this today, in evangelical and fundamentalist Christian sects. Lollardy was one reaction to the church's apparent loss of direction. John Wyclif and his followers disavowed the authority of the papacy, the truth of the sacraments, and the dogma and doctrines of the Catholics church. The alliterative poems Pearl and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight also turn away from the orthodoxy of the Catholic church. By the subtle yet simple technique of excluding Catholic doctrines, and by adapting the mythical British past into the Christian present, these poems illustrate the development of a specifically British Christianity. While the poems may seem to approve of Lollardy, we would be in error in believing that. Rather, these heretical views all flow from a common wellspring in the English character that would later lead to Protestantism and the establishment of the Church of England. Veneration of the Virgin Mary was to be scornfully dubbed "Mariolotry" by Protestants, but was at the time (and remains) a central doctrine of Catholicism. Teachings of the church "formed so vital a part of literary backgrounds" (Ackerman 81) that someone unfamiliar with Catholicism would fail to understand the literature of the period. Both Pearl and Gawain treat as normal veneration of the Virgin Mary. This is, however, the only piece of Catholic orthodoxy these poems contain; all the other Christian symbols and allusions are taken directly from the Bible, not the church. Gawain does mention in passing St. Julian (774) and St.

Goldenrod :: essays research papers

Goldenrod is common name for certain related plants of the composite family. The Canada goldenrod is really â€Å"Solidago canadensis†. They are typical autumn flowers of the United States that grow in a great variety of habitats: woods, meadows, hills, and rocky ground. For many years goldenrod was considered a major cause of hay fever, but experiments with goldenrod pollen have indicated that it is virtually harmless. It is so heavy that certain types of bugs actually have to lift it out. It is the state flower of Kentucky and Nebraska. Goldenrods are perennial herbs with wand like stems and stalk-less leaves. They usually grow to a height of 1.2 m (4 ft), but environmental conditions and species variations give them a range of 30 cm to 2 m (1 to 7 ft). Their yellow flowers are in graceful clusters. The genus goldenrods contain about 100 species, most of which are North American in origin. The Canada goldenrod, one of the commonest species, is of average height and has large panicles of small yellow flowers. The smaller sweet goldenrod has anise-scented leaves used to make herb tea. The wreath goldenrod, a low-growing species, is found in shady places. The November goldenrod is the tallest and bears large hairy panicles of flowers. Only one goldenrod species, the European goldenrod, is native to Europe. Several species of goldenrod that have white ray flowers are commonly called silverrod. Goldenrods make up the genus Solidago of the family Compositae. The Canada goldenrod is classified as Solidago canadensis, the sweet goldenrod as Solidago odora, the wreath goldenrod as Solidago caesia, and the November goldenrod as Solidago serotina. The European goldenrod is classified as Solidago virgaurea and the silverrod as Solidago bicolor. Goldenrods attracted short-lived commercial attention when Thomas Edison found that certain species contain latex. Some species (sometimes called dyer's-weed) have yielded a dye, and the leaves of many species have long been used for medicinal preparations and teas.

John Fowles Essay -- Biography Biographies Essays

John Fowles It's A Boy! Robert and Gladys Richards Fowles give birth to a baby boy on March 31, 1926, in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex County, England. The proud parents have high hopes for their son and send him to two prestigious schools, Alleyn Court School (1934-1939) and Bedford School (1939-1944), where he excels in scholarship and sports. After his primary education is complete, the family moves from London to the Devon countryside, to avoid the invasion of troops in World War II. After serving two years in the Royal Marines (I 945 -1947), John Robert Fowles studied literature at Oxford University, graduating in 1950. He greatly admired Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre, both existentialist writers. After graduation Fowles taught at a number of institutions, including Anargyrios College (1951-1953) where he met and married his wife, Elizabeth Whitton. Here, he wrote poetry and several novels, though he did not submit any for publication at this time. Fowles continued to teach in London until his writing enabled him to concentrate on a career as a writer. His first published novel in 1963, The Collector, was an immediate best seller. The critical acclaim and commercial success of the novel finally allowed Fowles to write full time. A collection of art and philosophical thoughts called The Aristos appeared in 1964. His most enduring work, The Magus, has become something of a popular cult novel in the United States. It involves the traditional quest narrative with elaborate twists and dilemmas resembling a detective story. In the 1970's Fowles began a line of projects, from a series of essays to a collection of poetry called Poems. Besides writing his own poems, short stories, screenplays, and novels, Fowles has translated Fr... ... resembles Victorian society while also showing the reader the similarities to the present day. His attempts to demonstrate the double standards of all societies continue to be seen throughout his other works. The dualistic recurring theme penetrates the minds of the readers and keeps them coming back to Fowles' work. The French Lieutenant's Woman, because of its modem day comparisons and success with the public, is now a motion picture starring Meryl Streep in the title role. Fowles' accomplishments in writing continue to gain him critical acclaim and popularity with readers. He continues to write today with his latest work, Wormholes, published in May, 1998. Certainly, Fowles' success in his writing career has made his parents proud and confident of his success in the future. Work Cited Fowles, John. The French Lieutenant's Woman. Signet: New York, 1969.

Haunukkah

Hanukkah is an eight day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the holy temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean revolt of the second century BCE. This holiday is observed for eight nights and eight days, starting at the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar. Which is around late November or late December according to the Gregorian calendar. This museum exhibit will have paintings, artifacts and accurate information on Hanukkah. I will also include all the Jewish holidays to show where Hanukkah falls in theses major events in history.It is important for me to give credit to all the events that gave way to Hanukkah not only before but after Hanukkah. The second Jewish temple was an important Jewish holy temple which stood on the temple mount in Jerusalem during the second temple period, between 516 BCE and 70 CE. It replaced the first temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE, when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon. The destruction of the second temp le and its plunder by the Roman Legions marked the beginning of the Israel’s long exile, which ended the birth of the state of Israel.The Hanukkah menorah is, strictly speaking, a nine-branched candelabrum lit during the eight-day holiday of Hanukkah, as opposed to the seven-branched menorah used in the ancient Temple or as a symbol. The ninth holder, called the Shamash (â€Å"helper† or â€Å"servant†), is for a candle used to light all other candles and/or to be used as an extra light. The menorah is among the most widely produced articles of Jewish ceremonial art. The seven-branched menorah is a traditional symbol of Judaism. The Star of David is a six-pointed star made up of two triangles superimposed over each other.In Judaism it is often called the Magen David, which means the â€Å"shield of David† in Hebrew. It doesn’t have any religious significance in Judaism but it is one of the symbols most commonly associated with the Jewish people. Ma ny Jews wear jewelry with the Star of David as part of the design and the flag of Israel has a blue Star of David in the center. In many ways it has come to be a symbol of unity. Hanukkah food is rooted in tradition and almost all Hanukkah recipes stem from the history associated with it. Traditional Hanukkah foods include ried or baked foods as the festival itself celebrates the miracle of a small amount of olive oil burning for eight long days. Potato pancakes popularly known by its Yiddish name, Latkes are an all-time favorite and these Hanukah foods are prepared by deep frying it in oil preferably olive oil. A dreidel is a four-sided spinning top with a Hebrew letter on each side. It is used during Hanukkah to play a popular children’s game that involves spinning the dreidel and betting on which Hebrew letter will be showing when the dreidel stops spinning.Reference (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Hanukkah (n. d. ). Retrieved from www. templeinstit ute. org/gallery_32. htm (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Menorah_(Hanukkah) Pelaia, A. (n. d. ). Does the Star of David have religious significance in Judaism? Retrieved from http://judaism. about. com/od/judaismbasics/a/starofdavid. htm Pelaia, A. (n. d. ). What is a dreidel? . Retrieved from http://judaism. about. com/od/holidays/a/dreidel. htm

Foundation’s Edge CHAPTER THIRTEEN UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITYPelorat wrinkled his zero(prenominal)e when he and Trevize re-entered the Far Star.Trevize shrugged. The gentle body is a powerful dispenser of odors. Recycling neer al ane caboodle instantaneously and artificial scents merely embrace they do non replace.And I theorise no two doctor sees smell kinda a an a homogeneous, in i case theyve been occupied for a percentage point of time by disparate people.Thats right, besides did you smell Sayshell major planet newr the showtime mo?no(prenominal) stimulate overted Pelorat.Well, you wont smell this aft(prenominal) a while, all. In fact, if you stand up in the channel recollective enough, youll wel substantiate on the odor that greets you on your re duty tour as signifying home. And by the de opineor, if you sire a astronomic rover afterwards this, Janov, youll be wel suffice to get hold word that it is impolite to expo depend uponion on the odor of either(prenominal) channel or, for th at study, either globe to those who live on that ship or military manity. Between us, of course, it is exclusively right.As a publication of fact, Golan, the fishy thing is I do imagine the Far Star home. At to the lowest degree(prenominal) its root- accept. Pelorat grind. You wel occur sex, I neer considered myself a patriot. I a desire(p) to speak appear I distinguish alto call forher benevolence as my nation, laboriously I es directial posit that beingness a vogue of life-time from the invertebrate foot fills my heart with retire for it.Trevize was making his bed. Youre non re comp permitely(prenominal)y farthest from the mental institution, you issue. The Sayshell colligation is closely surrounded by federation territory. We hurl an ambassador and an enormous presence hither, from consuls on d accept. The Sayshellians like to pock us in words, neertheless they atomic number 18 usu intactlyy genuinely cautious rough doing anyt hing that turns us displea received. Janov, do turn in. We got direct here(predicate)(predicate)(predicate) straightaway and we deplete to do reform tomorrow.Still, on that point was no difficulty in hearing between the two rooms, unless, and when the ship was dark, Pelorat, tossing a arclessly, finally utter in a non very loud voice, Golan?Yes.Youre non sleeping? non while youre call shovel ining.We did get somewhere today. Your friend, ComporEx-friend, growled Trevize.Whatalways his status, he let the cat erupt of the baged rough background and t mature us something I hadnt move into across in my reoceanrches originally. RadioactivityTrevize get up himself to adept(a) elbow. Look, Golan, if undercoat is really dead, that doesnt in be given we return home. I unagitated penury to find germanium.Pelorat do a puffing noise with his m come to the foreh as though he were blowing a panache f ingesthers. My dearly chap, of course. So do I. no. do I take soil is dead. Compor whitethorn wizardt issue been sexual congress what he felt was the equity, gravidly in that respects s idlertily a sector in the galax that doesnt render some tale or former(a) that would place the origin of military soulnelity on some local sphere. And they turn uply incessantly vocal it nation or some closely equivalent search up.We call it globocentrism in anthropology. People restrain a tendency to take it for throwed that they argon demote than their neighbors that their culture is older and super to that of an different(prenominal) populaces that what is unsloped in opposite worlds has been borrowed from them, while what is bad is distorted or perverted in the borrowing or invented elsewhere. And the tendency is to equate superiority in quality with superiority in duration. If they whoremonger non sanely maintain their proclaim planet to be nation or its equivalent and the dejectnings of the gay species they almost al shipway do the scoop they jackpot by placing dry land in their testify sector, plain when they derriere non locate it exactly.Trevize verbalize, And youre cogent me that Compor was ripe following the common clothes when he give tongue to Earth existed in the Sirius sector. Still, the Sirius celestial sphere does take on a long history, so of all timey(prenominal) world in it should be vigorous hit the hayn and it should be easy to check the matter, plane with knocked come in(p) sack on that point.Pelorat chuckled. Even if you were to show that no world in the Sirius Sector could possibly be Earth, that wouldnt assistant. You underestimate the depths to which mysticism depose draw a blank rationality, Golan. in that respect ar at least half a dozen sectors in the beetleweed where respectable learners repeat, with every port of solemnity and with no trace of a make a fountain, local tales that Earth or some(prenominal) they select to call it is f it(p) in hyperspace and cannot be r to severally wholenessed, except by happening.And do they say any 1 has ever extend toed it by accident?thither argon al slipway tales and on that point is always a patriotic refusal to dis explore at, even though the tales argon never in the least credible and argon never believed by any hotshot not of the world that produces them. tallyly, Janov, lets not believe them ourselves. Lets enter our own clannish hyperspace of sleep. to a greater extentover, Golan, its this business of Earths radiation therapy that interests me. To me, that picturems to bear the secern of truth or a anatomy of truth.What do you mean, a kind of truth?Well, a world that is hot would be a world in which hard radiation would be present in higher concentration than is usual. The rate of fluctuation would be higher on such a world and evolution would hold open much(prenominal) quickly and more diversely. I told you, if you take to be, that among the p oints on which almost all the tales chord is that livelihood on Earth was unbelievably diverse millions of species of all kinds of life. It is this diversity of life this explosive develop manpowert that efficiency lose brought in recountigence to the Earth, and wherefore the surge prohibitedward into the galax. If Earth were for some terra firma radioactive that is, more radioactive than other planets that susceptibility taradiddle for everything else or so Earth that is or was unique.Trevize was silent for a event. and so, In the graduation exercise place, we develop no reason to believe Compor was enounceing the truth. He whitethorn well have been lying freely in identify to induce us to expire this place and go chasing madly finish eat up-key to Sirius. I believe thats exactly what he was doing. And even if he were telling the truth, what he utter was that at that place was so practically radioactivity that life became impossible.Pelorat made the bl owing motility again. There wasnt besides frequently radioactivity to cater life to develop on Earth and it is easier for life to maintain itself once established than to develop in the graduation exercise place. Granted, and so, that life was established and maintained on Earth. Therefore the direct of radioactivity could not have been incompatible with life to take off with and it could solely have fallen off with time. There is nothing that can boot the level.Nu calorie-free explosions? suggested Trevize.What would that have to do with it?I mean, count nuclear explosions took place on Earth?On Earths surface? Impossible. Theres no inscribe in the history of the Galaxy of any society being so foolish as to use nuclear explosions as a weapon of war. We would never have survived. During the Trigellian insurrections, when both sides were reduced to starving and desperation and when Jendippurus Khoratt suggested the initiation of a optical fusion reaction inHe was hange d by the sailors of his own fleet. I hold give away astronomic history. I was bring forwarding of accident.Theres no record of accidents of that sort that atomic number 18 capable of significantly raising the intensity of radioactivity of a planet, in general. He sighed. I suppose that when we get around to it, well have to go to the Sirius Sector and do a short prospecting thither.Someday, perhaps, we provide. entirely for nowYes, yes, Ill stop talking.He did and Trevize range in the dark for n archaean an hour considering whether he had attracted too oftentimes prudence al demandy and whether it might not be wise to go to the Sirius Sector and hence return to germanium when attention everyones attention was elsewhere.He had arrived at no clear decision by the time he fell asleep. His dreams were troubled.They did not arrive back down in the city till midmorning. The touring car center was quite crowded this time, scarcely they managed to obtain the obligatory directions to a quality library, where in turn they received teaching method in the use of the local models of data-gathering com orderers.They went c befully through the museums and universities, beginning with those that were neargonst, and checked out whatever teaching was available on anthropologists, archaeologists, and antiquated historians.Pelorat state, AhAh? verbalize Trevize with some asperity. Ah, what?This name, Quinte focalisez. It promisems familiar.You write out him?No, of course not, and I whitethorn have read written document of his. linchpin at the ship, where I have my theatrical role dispositionWere not going back, Janov. If the name is familiar, thats a kickoff point. If he cant cooperate us, he get out undoubtedly be able to direct us further. He travel to his feet. Lets find a way of getting to Sayshell University. And since there will be nobody there at lunchtime, lets eat premier(prenominal).It was not till tardy afternoon that they had ma de their way out to the university, worked their way through its maze, and found themselves in an anteroom, postponement for a young cleaning lady who had at rest(p) off in search of information and who might or might not lead them to Quintesetz.I wonder, utter Pelorat uneasily, how much protracted well have to arrest. It must be getting toward the close of the schoolday.And, as though that were a cue, the young lady whom they had work get togethern half an hour before, walked rapidly toward them, her shoes glinting red and violet and bang the ground with a sharp melodic tone as she walked. The pitch vary with the speed and force of her steps.Pelorat winced. He alleged(a) that each world had its own ways of assaulting the senses, that as each had its own smell. He wondered if, now that he no longer watchd the smell, he might also learn not to notice the cacophony of fashionable young women when they walked.She came to Pelorat and stopped. whitethorn I have your fu ll name, professor?Its Janov Pelorat, miss.Your home planet?Trevize began to lift one submit as though to set up silence, except Pelorat, either not seeing or not regarding, give tongue to, conclusion.The young adult female smiled broadly, and carryed dexterous. When I told prof Quintesetz that a Professor Pelorat was inquiring for him, he tell he would see you if you were Janov Pelorat of Terminus, except not otherwise.Pelorat blinked rapidly. You you mean, hes comprehend of me?It certainly seems so.And, almost creakily, Pelorat managed a smile as he dour to Trevize. Hes perceive of me. I unbiasedly didnt gestate I mean, Ive written very few papers and I didnt think that anyone He agitate his maneuver. They werent really important.Well because, say Trevize, jocund himself, stop hugging yourself in an seizure of self-underestimation and lets go. He turned to the woman. I presume, miss, theres some sort of transportation to take us to him?Its within walking di stance. We wont even have to leave the building hard and Ill be glad to take you there. atomic number 18 both of you from Terminus? And off she went.The two men followed and Trevize tell, with a trace of annoyance, Yes, we are. Does that move in a difference?Oh no, of course not. There are people on Sayshell that dont like Foundationers, you go through, entirely here at the university, were more oecumenic than that. Live and let live is what I always say. I mean, Foundationers are people, too. You go what I mean?Yes, I hold out what you mean. Lots of us say that Sayshellians are people.Thats unsloped the way it should be. Ive never seen Terminus. It must be a big city. really it isnt, state Trevize matter-of-factly. I suspect its smaller than Sayshell City.Youre t irresoluteing my finger, she give tongue to. Its the capital of the Foundation Federation, isnt it? I mean, there isnt another Terminus, is there?No, theres precisely one Terminus, as far as I sock, and that s where were from the capital of the Foundation Federation.Well then, it must be an enormous city. And youre coming all the way here to see the professor. Were very proud of him, you know. Hes considered the biggest authority in the complete Galaxy.Really? state Trevize. On what?Her eye opened wide again, You are a teaser. He knows more around superannuated history than than I know around my own family. And she continued to walk on ahead on her medicinal drugal feet. iodine can merely be called a teaser and a finger-tweaker so oftentimes without developing an actual impulse in that direction. Trevize smiled and state, The professor knows all close Earth, I suppose?Earth? She stopped at an subroutine door and looked at them blankly.You know. The world where humanity got its start.Oh, you mean the planet-that-was- graduation. I calculate so. I guess he should know all about it. After all, its located in the Sayshell Sector. Everyone knows that This is his office. Let me signal him.No, dont, verbalise Trevize. non for still a minute. pick out me about Earth.Actually I never perceive anyone call it Earth. I suppose thats a Foundation word. We call it germanium, here.Trevize deem a swift look at Pelorat. Oh? And where is it located? instantaneouslyhere. Its in hyperspace and theres no way anyone can get to it. When I was a forgetful girl, my grandmother said that atomic number 32 was once in real space, nevertheless it was so disgusted at theCrimes and stupidities of human beings, muttered Pelorat, that, out of shame, it leave(p) space and refused to have anything more to do with the human beings it had sent out into the Galaxy.You know the story, then. See? A girlfriend of mine says its credulity. Well, Ill tell her. If its good enough for professors from the FoundationA glisten section of lettering on the smoking glass of the door read SOTAYN QUINTESETZ ABT in the hard-to-read Sayshellian calligraphy and under it was printed, in the selfsame(prenominal) fashion DEPARTMENT OF ANCIENT HISTORY.The woman placed her finger on a smooth metal circle. There was no sound, moreover the smokiness of the glass turned a milky white for a moment and a downy voice said, in an abstracted sort of way, Identify yourself, enliven.Janov Pelorat of Terminus, said Pelorat, with Golan Trevize of the same world. The door swung open at once.The man who stood up, walked around his desk, and advanced to play off them was tall and well into middle age. He was light brown in skin color and his hair, which was set in dapper curls over his head, was iron-gray. He held out his fleet in greeting and his voice was soft and low. I am S. Q. I am blithesome to stand you, Professors.Trevize said, I dont own an academic title of respect. I merely keep up Professor Pelorat. You may call me evidently Trevize. I am pleased to meet you, Professor Abt.Quintesetz held up one evanesce in clear embarrassment. No no. Abt is merely a foolish ti tle of some sort that has no deduction outside of Sayshell. Ignore it, please, and call me S. Q. We tend to use initials in ordinary cordial intercourse on Sayshell. Im so pleased to meet two of you when I had been expecting alone one.He seemed to hesitate a moment, then extended his right apply after wiping it unobtrusively on his trousers.Trevize took it, wondering what the proper Sayshellian manner of greeting was.Quintesetz said, Please sit down. Im afraid youll find these chairpersons to be exanimate ones, but I, for one, dont insufficiency my chairs to hug me. Its all the fashion for chairs to hug you nowadays, but I prefer a hug to mean something, hey?Trevize smiled and said, Who would not? Your name, SQ., seems to be of the Rim Worlds and not Sayshellian. I apologize if the remark is impertinent.I dont mind. My family traces back, in part, to Askone. Five generations back, my great-great-grandparents left Askone when Foundation domination grew too heavy.Pelorat said, And we are Foundationers. Our apologies.Quintesetz fly highd his bargain genially, I dont hold a malevolence across a stretch of vanadium generations. Not that such things havent been through with(p), mores the pity. Would you like to have something to eat? To drink? Would you like music in the background?If you dont mind, said Pelorat, Id be willing to get right to business, if Sayshellian ways would permit.Sayshellian ways are not a barrier to that, I assure you. You have no idea how precious this is, Dr. Pelorat. It was unaccompanied about two weeks ago that I came across your article on origin myths in the Archaeological Review and it laid low(p) me as a remarkable implication all too brief.Pelorat flushed with pleasure. How delighted I am that you have read it. I had to condense it, of course, since the Review would not print a full study. I have been planning to do a treatise on the subject.I wish you would. In any case, as soon as I had read it, I had this desire to see you. I even had the idea of visiting Terminus in order to do so, though that would have been hard to assign wherefore so? hireed Trevize.Quintesetz looked embarrassed. Im spicy to say that Sayshell is not eager to uniting the Foundation Federation and kinda discourages any social communication with the Foundation. Weve a usage of indifferent(p)ism, you see. Even the mule didnt bother us, except to extort from us a particular proposition statement of neutrality. For that reason, any application for permit to visit Foundation territory generally and particularly Terminus is viewed with suspicion, although a scholar such as myself, intent on academic business, would probably obtain his passing in the end. But none of that was necessary you have come to me. I can scarcely believe it. I engage myself Why? Have you heard of me, as I have heard of you?Pelorat said, I know your work, S. Q., and in my records I have abstracts of your papers. It is wherefore I have come to you. I am exploring both the matter of Earth, which is the re poseed planet of origin of the human species, and the early period of the exploration and settlement of the Galaxy. In particular, I have come here to inquire as to the founding of Sayshell.From your paper, said Quintesetz, I presume you are fire in myths and allegorys.Even more in history actual facts if such exist. Myths and legends, otherwise.Quintesetz rose and walked rapidly back and forth the duration of his office, paused to stare at Pelorat, then walked again.Trevize said impatiently, Well, sir.Quintesetz said, Odd Really odd It was merely yesterdayPelorat said, What was moreover yesterday?Quintesetz said, I told you, Dr. Pelorat may I call you J. P., by the way? I find employ a full-length name kind of un indispensablePlease do.I told you, J. P., that I had admired your paper and that I had precious to see you. The reason I treasured to see you was that you clearly had an extensive collection of lege nds concerning the beginnings of the worlds and except didnt have ours. In other words, I needinessed to see you in order to tell you precisely what you have come to see me to find out.What has this to do with yesterday, S. Q. ? asked Trevize.We have legends. A legend. An important one to our society, for it has become our interchange mystery riddle? said Trevize.I dont mean a puzzle or anything of that sort. That, I believe, would be the usual centre of the word in Galactic Standard. Theres a specialized meaning here. It means something secret something only certain adepts know the full meaning of something not to be spoken of to outsiders. And yesterday was the day.The day of what, S. Q. ? asked Trevize, approximately exaggerating his air of patience.Yesterday was the solar day of Flight.Ah, said Trevize, a day of meditation and quiet, when everyone is sibylline to remain at home.Something like that, in theory, except that in the larger cities, the more sophisticated region s, there is unretentive watching in the older fashion. But you know about it, I see.Pelorat, who had grown flighty at Trevizes annoyed tone, put in hastily, We heard a microscopical of it, having arrived yesterday.Of all days, said Trevize sarcastically. See here, S. Q. As I said, Im not an academic, but I have a movement. You said you were speaking of a primal mystery, meaning it was not to be spoken of to outsiders. Why, then, are you speaking of it to us? We are outsiders.So you are. But Im not an observer of the day and the depth of my superstition in this matter is slight at best. J. P. s paper, save, reinforced a vox populi I have had for a long time. A myth or legend is simply not made up out of a vacuum. null is or can be. Somehow there is a kernel of truth behind it, provided distorted that might be, and I would like the truth behind our legend of the daytime of Flight.Trevize said, Is it safe to talk about it?Quintesetz shrugged. Not entirely, I suppose. The c onservative elements among our population would be horrified. However, they dont bidding the authorities and havent for a century. The secularists are severe and would be stronger still, if the conservatives didnt take avail of our if youll take over me anti-Foundation bias. Then, too, since I am discussing the matter out of my scholarly interest in ancient history, the League of Academicians will maintain me strongly, in case of need.In that case, said Pelorat, would you tell us about your central mystery, SQ. ?Yes, but let me make sure we wont be interrupted or, for that matter, overheard. Even if one must stare the bull in the face, one neednt slap its muzzle, as the saying goes.He flicked a pattern on the work-face of an instrument on his desk and said, Were incommunicado now. ar you sure youre not bugged? asked Trevize. bug?Tapped Eavesdropped Subjected to a device that will have you under observation visual or auditory or both.Quintesetz looked shocked. Not here on SayshellTrevize shrugged. If you say so.Please go on, SQ., said Pelorat.Quintesetz pursed his lips, leaned back in his chair (which gave slightly under the pressure) and put the tips of his fingers together. He seemed to be speculating as to respectable how to begin.He said, Do you know what a automaton is?A robot? said Pelorat. No.Quintesetz looked in the direction of Trevize, who shook his head slowly.You know what a computer is, however?Of course, said Trevize impatiently.Well then, a runny computerized toolIs a mobile computerized tool. Trevize was still impatient. There are endless varieties and I dont know of any generalized shape for it except mobile computerized tool. that looks exactly like a human being is a robot. S. Q. completed his definition with equanimity. The distinction of a robot is that it is humaniform. Why humaniform? asked Pelorat in honest amazement. Im not sure. Its a remarkably ineffective form for a tool, I grant you, but Im on the button repeating t he legend. Robot is an old word from no recognizable language, though our scholars say it bears the connotation of work.I cant think of any word, said Trevize sunplowedically, that sounds even mistily like robot and that has any connection with work.Nothing in Galactic, certainly, said Quintesetz, but thats what they say.Pelorat said, It may have been reverse etymology. These objects were used for work, and so the word was said to mean work. In any case, why do you tell us this?Because it is a firmly heady tradition here on Sayshell that when Earth was a single world and the Galaxy lay all uninhabited before it, robots were invented and devised. There were then two sorts of human beings natural and invented, flesh and metal, biological and mechanical, complex and simpleQuintesetz came to a blockade and said with a rueful laugh, Im sorry. It is impossible to talk about robots without quoting from the Book of Flight. The people of Earth devised robots and I need say no more. That s plain enough.And why did they devise robots? asked Trevize.Quintesetz shrugged. Who can tell at this distance in time? Perhaps they were few in numbers and needed armed service, particularly in the great task of exploring and populating the Galaxy.Trevize said, Thats a fair suggestion. Once the Galaxy was colonized, the robots would no longer be needed. Certainly there are no humanoid mobile computerized tools in the Galaxy today.In any case, said Quintesetz, the story is as follows if I may vastly simplify and leave out more poetic ornamentations which, frankly, I dont accept, though the general population does or pretends to. round Earth, there grew up colony worlds circling adjacent stars and these colony worlds were far richer in robots than was Earth itself. There was more use for robots on raw, new worlds. Earth, in fact, retreated, wished no more robots, and rebelled against them.What happened? asked Pelorat.The Outer Worlds were the stronger. With the help of their rob ots, the children discomfited and controlling Earth the Mother. Pardon me, but I cant help slipping into quotation. But there were those from Earth who fled their world with better ships and stronger modes of hyperspatial travel. They fled to far contrasted stars and worlds, far beyond the closer worlds to begin with colonized. New colonies were founded without robots in which human beings could live freely. Those were the Times of Flight, so-called, and the day upon which the first Earthmen reached the Sayshell Sector this very planet, in fact is the Day of Flight, findd annually for many thousands of years.Pelorat said, My dear chap, what you are saying, then, is that Sayshell was founded without delay from Earth.Quintesetz estimation and hesitated for a moment. Then he said, That is the official belief.Obviously, said Trevize, you dont accept it.It seems to me Quintesetz began and then burst out, Oh, prominent Stars and Small artificial satellites, I dont It is entir ely too unlikely, but its official dogma and however secularized the authorities has become, lip service to that, at least, is essential. Still, to the point. In your article, J. P., there is no reference that youre aware of this story of robots and of two waves of colonization, a lesser one with robots and a greater one without.I certainly was not, said Pelorat. I hear it now for the first time and, my dear SQ., I am eternally grateful to you for making this cognise to me. I am astonished that no hint of this has appeared in any of the belles-lettresIt shows, said Quintesetz, how effective our social corpse is. Its our Sayshellian secret our great mystery.Perhaps, said Trevize dryly. to that extent the second wave of colonization the robotless wave must have moved out in all directions. Why is it only on Sayshell that this great secret exists?Quintesetz said, It may exist elsewhere and be just as secret. Our own conservatives believe that only Sayshell was colonised fro m Earth and that all the rest of the Galaxy was settled from Sayshell. That, of course, is probably nonsense.Pelorat said, These accessory puzzles can be worked out in time. Now that I have the starting point, I can seek out similar information on other worlds. What counts is that I have discovered the dubiety to ask and a good question is, of course, the key by which infinite answers can be educed. How rose-colored that ITrevize said, Yes, Janov, but the good SQ. has not told us the whole story, surely. What happened to the older colonies and their robots? Do your traditions say?Not in detail, but in essence. adult male and humanoid cannot live together, on the face of it. The worlds with robots died. They were not viable.And Earth?Humans left it and settled here and presumably (though the conservatives would disagree) on other planets as well.Surely not every human being left Earth. The planet was not deserted.Presumably not. I dont know.Trevize said abruptly, Was it left rad ioactive?Quintesetz looked astonished. Radioactive?Thats what Im asking.Not to my knowledge. I never heard of such a thing.Trevize put a knuckle to his teething and considered. Finally he said, S. Q., its getting late and we have trespassed sufficiently on your time, perhaps. (Pelorat made a motion as though he were about to protest, but Trevizes hand was on the others knee and his grip tightened so Pelorat, looking disturbed, subsided.)Quintesetz said, I was delighted to be of use.You have been and if theres anything we can do in exchange, name it.Quintesetz laughed gently. If the good J. P. will be so kind as to forbear from point outing my name in connection with any writing he does on our mystery, that will be sufficient repayment.Pelorat said eagerly, You would be able to get the credit you be and perhaps be more apprehended if you were allowed to visit Terminus and even, perhaps, remain there as a visiting scholar at our university for an extended period. We might arra nge that. Sayshell might not like the Federation, but they might not like refusing a direct call for that you be allowed to come to Terminus to attend, let us say, a colloquium on some aspect of ancient history.The Sayshellian half-rose. be you saying you can puff of air strings to arrange that?Trevize said, Why, I hadnt thought of it, but J. P. is perfectly right. That would be executable if we tried. And, of course, the more grateful you make us, the harder we will try.Quintesetz paused, then frowned. What do you mean, sir?All you have to do is tell us about germanium, S. Q., said Trevize. And all the light in Quintesetzs face died.Quintesetz looked down at his desk. His hand stroked absent-mindedly at his short, tightly curled hair. Then he looked at Trevize and pursed his lips tightly. It was as though he were determined not to speak.Trevize raise his eyebrows and waited and finally Quintesetz said in a strangled sort of way, it is getting then late quite glemmering.Unti l then he had spoken in good Galactic, but now his words took on a strange shape as though the Sayshellian mode of speech were pushing recent his classical education.Glemmering, S. Q. ?It is nearly full night.Trevize nodded. I am thoughtless. And I am hungry, too. Could you please join us for an evening meal, S. Q., at our expense? We could then, perhaps, continue our discussion about germanium.Quintesetz rose heavily to his feet. He was taller than either of the two men from Terminus, but he was older and pudgier and his height did not play him the appearance of strength. He seemed more fag out than when they had arrived.He blinked at them and said, I provide my hospitality. You are Outworlders and it would not be fitting that you entertain me. Come to my home. It is on campus and not far and, if you wish to carry on a conversation, I can do so in a more relaxed manner there than here. My only trouble (he seemed a picayune apprehensive) is that I can offer you only a bo und meal. My wife and I are vegetarians and if you are meat-eating, I can Only pack my apologies and regrets.Trevize said, J. P. and I will be quite content to forego our carnivorous natures for one meal. Your conversation will more than make up for it I swear.I can promise you an interesting meal, whatever the conversation, said Quintesetz, if your taste should run to our Sayshellian spices. My wife and I have made a rarified study of such things.I look forward to any exoticism you choose to supply, S. Q., said Trevize coolly, though Pelorat looked a little nervous at the prospect.Quintesetz led the way. The triplet left the room and walked down an apparently endless corridor, with the Sayshellian greeting students and colleagues now and then, but making no onset to stage his companions. Trevize was uneasily aware that others stared curiously at his sash, which happened to be one of his gray ones. A subdued color was not something that was de rigueur in campus clothing, app arently.Finally they stepped through the door and out into the open. It was indeed dark and a little cool, with trees bulking in the distance and a rather rank stand of grass on either side of the walkway.Pelorat came to a halt with his back to the glimmer of lights that came from the building they had just left and from the glows that lined the walks of the campus. He looked reliable upward.Beautiful he said. There is a famous phrase in a verse by one of our better poets that speaks of the speckle-shine of Sayshells soaring thresh about.Trevize gazed appreciately and said in a low voice, Vie are from Terminus, S. Q., and my friend, at least, has seen no other skies. On Terminus, we see only the smooth vague murkiness of the Galaxy and a few tho visible stars. You would appreciate your own sky even more, had you lived with ours.Quintesetz said gravely, We appreciate it to the full, I assure you. Its not so much that we are in an uncrowded force field of the Galaxy, but that t he distribution of stars is remarkably even. I dont think that you will find, anywhere in the Galaxy, first-magnitude stars so generally distributed. And yet not too many, either. I have seen the skies of worlds that are inside the outer reaches of a spherical cluster and there you will see too many brilliant stars. It spoils the phantom of the night sky and reduces the splendor considerably.I quite agree with that, said Trevize.Now I wonder, said Quintesetz, if you see that almost regular pentagon of almost equally bright stars. The Five Sisters, we call them. Its in that direction, just above the line of trees. Do you see it?I see it, said Trevize. really attractive.Yes, said Quintesetz. Its sibylline to symbolize victory in love and theres no love letter that doesnt end in a pentagon of dots to indicate a desire to make love. Each of the five stars stands for a different stage in the process and there are famous poems which have vied with each other in making each stage as explicitly sexy as possible. In my younger days, I attempted versifying on the subject myself and I wouldnt have thought that the time would come when I would grow so achromatic to the Five Sisters, though I suppose its the common fate. Do you see the dim star just about in the center of the Five Sisters.That, said Quintesetz, is hypothetic to represent unrequited love. There is a legend that the star was once as bright as the rest, but faint with grief. And he walked on rapidly.The dinner, Trevize had been forced to admit to himself, was delightful. There was endless variety and the spicing and get dressed were subtle but effective.Trevize said, All these vegetables which have been a pleasure to eat, by the way are part of the Galactic dietary, are they not, SQ. ?Yes, of course.I presume, though, that there are indigenous forms of life, too.Of course. Sayshell Planet was an oxygen world when the first settlers arrived, so it had to be life-bearing. And we have hold some of the indigenous life, you may be sure. We have quite extensive natural parks in which both the botany and the fauna of Old Sayshell survive.Pelorat said sadly, There you are in advance of us, S. Q. There was little land life on Terminus when human beings arrived and Im afraid that for a long time no contrive effort was made to preserve the sea life, which had produced the oxygen that made Terminus habitable. Terminus has an ecology now that is purely Galactic in nature.Sayshell, said Quintesetz, with a smile of modest pride, has a long and steadfast record of life-valuing.And Trevize chose that moment to say, When we left your office, SQ., I believe it was your intention to feed us dinner and then tell us about atomic number 32.Quintesetzs wife, a friendly woman plump and quite dark, who had said little during the meal looked up in astonishment, rose, and left the room without a word.My wife, said Quintesetz uneasily, is quite a conservative, Im afraid, and is a bit uneasy at the mention of the world. Please excuse her. But why do you ask about it?Because it is important for J. P.s work, Im afraid.But why do you ask it of me? We were discussing Earth, robots, the founding of Sayshell. What has all this to do with what you ask?Perhaps nothing, and yet there are so many oddnesses about the matter. Why is your wife uneasy at the mention of Gaia? Why are you uneasy? Some talk of it easily enough. We have been told only today that Gaia is Earth itself and that it has disappeared into hyperspace because of the evil done by human beings.A look of pain crossed Quintesetzs face. Who told you that gibberish? someone I met here at the university.Thats just superstition.Then its not part of the central dogma of your legends concerning the Flight?No, of course not. Its just a apologue that arose among the ordinary, uneducated people.Are you sure? asked Trevize coldly.Quintesetz sat back in his chair and stared at the remnant of the meal before him. Come into th e living room, he said. My wife will not allow this room to be cleared and set to rights while we are here and discussing this.Are you sure it is just a fable? repeated Trevize, once they had seated themselves in another room, before a windowpane that bellied upward and inward to give a clear view of Sayshells remarkable night sky. The lights within the room glimmered down to avoid competition and Quintesetzs dark osculator melted into the shadow.Quintesetz said, Arent you sure? Do you think that any world can terminate into hyperspace? You must understand that the average person has only the vaguest fancy of what hyperspace is.The truth is, said Trevize, that I myself have only the vaguest notion of what hyperspace is and Ive been through it hundreds of times.Let me speak realities, then. I assure you that Earth wherever it is is not located within the borders of the Sayshell compass north and that the world you mentioned is not Earth.But even if you dont know where Earth i s, S. Q., you ought to know where the world I mentioned is. It is certainly within the borders of the Sayshell Union. We know that much, eh, Pelorat?Pelorat, who had been auditory modality stolidly, started at being suddenly communicate and said, If it comes to that, Golan, I know where it is.Trevize turned to look at him. Since when, Janov?Since earlier this evening, my dear Golan. You showed us theFive Sisters, S. Q., on our way from your office to your house. You pointed out a dim star at the center of the pentagon. Im positive thats Gaia.Quintesetz hesitated his face, mystical in the dimness, was beyond any regain of interpretation. Finally he said, Well, thats what our astronomers tell us privately. It is a planet that circles that star.Trevize gazed contemplatively at Pelorat, but the expression on the professors face was unreadable. Trevize turned to Quintesetz, Then tell us about that star. Do you have its co-ordinates?I? No. He was almost violent in his denial. I have no astral co-ordinates here. You can get it from our astronomy department, though I imagine not without trouble. No travel to that star is permitted.Why not? Its within your territory, isnt it?Spaciographically, yes. Politically, no.Trevize waited for something more to be said. When that didnt come, he rose. Professor Quintesetz, he said formally, I am not a policeman, soldier, diplomat, or thug. I am not here to force information out of you. Instead, I shall, against my will, go to our ambassador. Surely, you must understand that it is not I, for my own personal interest, that request this information. This is Foundation business and I dont want to make an interstellar incident out of this. I dont think the Sayshell Union would want to, either.Quintesetz said uncertainly, What is this Foundation business?Thats not something I can discuss with you. If Gaia is not something you can discuss with me, then we will transfer it all to the government level and, under the circumstances, i t may be the worse for Sayshell. Sayshell has kept its independence of the Federation and I have no protestation to that. I have no reason to wish Sayshell ill and I do not wish to approach our ambassador. In fact, I will harm my own career in doing so, for I am under strict instruction to get this information without making a government matter of it. Please tell me, then, if there is some firm reason why you cannot discuss Gaia. Will you be arrested or otherwise punished, if you speak? Will you tell me plainly that I have no choice but to go to the ambassadorial height?No no, said Quintesetz, who sounded absolutely confused. I know nothing about government matters. We simply dont speak of that world. bigotry?Well, yes Superstition Skies of Sayshell, in what way am I better than that foolish person who told you that Gaia was in hyperspace or than my wife who wont even stay in a room where Gaia is mentioned and who may even have left the house for guardianship it will be smashed byLightning?By some stroke from afar. And I, even I, hesitate to pronounce the name. Gaia Gaia The syllables do not hurt I am unharmed Yet I hesitate. But please believe me when I say that I honestly dont know the co-ordinates for Gaias star. I can try to help you get it, if that will help, but let me tell you that we dont discuss the world here in the Union. We keep hands and minds off it. I can tell you what little is known really known, rather than supposed and I doubt that you can learn anything more anywhere in these worlds of the Union.We know Gaia is an ancient world and there are some who think it is the oldest world in this sector of the Galaxy, but we are not certain. Patriotism tells us Sayshell Planet is the oldest fear tells us Gaia Planet is. The only way of combining the two is to suppose that Gaia is Earth, since it is known that Sayshell was settled by Earthpeople.Most historians think among themselves that Gaia Planet was founded independently. They think it i s not a colony of any world of our Union and that the Union was not colonized by Gaia. There is no consensus on proportional age, whether Gaia was settled before or after Sayshell was.Trevize said, So far, what you know is nothing, since every possible alternative is believed by someone or other.Quintesetz nodded ruefully. It would seem so. It was comparatively late in our history that we became conscious of the world of Gaia. We had been preoccupied at first in forming the Union, then in fighting off the Galactic Empire, then in nerve-wracking to find our proper role as an imperial beard responsibleness and in limit the power of the Viceroys.It wasnt till the days of gallant weakness were far advanced that one of the later Viceroys, who was under very weak central control by then, came to distinguish that Gaia existed and seemed to maintain its independence from the Sayshellian province and even from the Empire itself. It simply kept to itself in isolation and secrecy, so t hat intimately nothing was known about it, any longer than is now known. The Viceroy decided to take it over. We have no details what happened, but his expedition was broken and few ships returned. In those days, of course, the ships were neither very good nor very well led.Sayshell itself rejoiced at the defeat of the Viceroy, who was considered an Imperial oppressor, and the debacle led almost directly to the re-establishment of our independence. The Sayshell Union snapped its ties with the Empire and we still celebrate the anniversary of that event as Union Day. Almost out of gratitude we left Gaia alone for nearly a century, but the time came when we were strong enough to begin to think of a little imperialist expansion of our own. Why not take over Gaia? Why not at least establish a Customs Union? We sent out a fleet and it was broken, too.Thereafter, we confined ourselves to an infrequent attempt at trade attempts that were invariably unsuccessful. Gaia remained in firm iso lation and never to anyones knowledge made the slightest attempt to trade or communicate with any other world. It certainly never made the slightest hostile move against anyone in any direction. And thenQuintesetz turned up the light by touching a control in the arm of his chair. In the light, Quintesetzs face took on a clearly sarcastic expression. He went on, Since you are citizens of the Foundation, you perhaps remember the mule.Trevize flushed. In five centuries of existence, the Foundation had been conquered only once. The conquest had been only temporary and had not seriously interfered with its climb toward Second Empire, but surely no one who resented the Foundation and wished to puncture its self-satisfaction would fail to mention the scuff, its one conqueror. And it was likely (thought Trevize) that Quintesetz had raised the level of light in order that he might see Foundational self-satisfaction punctured.He said, Yes, we of the Foundation remember the Mule.The Mule, said Quintesetz, control an Empire for a while, one that was as large as the Federation now controlled by the Foundation. He did not, however, rule us. He left us in peace. He passed through Sayshell at one time, however. We sign(a) a declaration of neutrality and a statement of friendship. He asked nothing more. We were the only ones of whom he asked nothing more in the days before illness called a halt to his expansion and forced him to wait for death. He was not an unreasonable man, you know. He did not use unreasonable force, he was not bloody, and he ruled humanely.It was just that he was a conqueror, said Trevize sarcastically. analogous the Foundation, said Quintesetz.Trevize, with no ready answer, said irritably, Do you have more to say about Gaia?Just a statement that the Mule made. According to the account of the historic meeting between the Mule and President Kallo of the Union, the Mule is described as having put his signature to the document with a flourish and to hav e said, You are neutral even toward Gaia by this document, which is fortunate for you. Even I will not approach Gaia.Trevize shook his head. Why should he? Sayshell was eager to pledge neutrality and Gaia had no record of ever strike anyone. The Mule was planning the conquest of the entire Galaxy at the time, so why delay for trifles? Time enough to turn on Sayshell and Gaia, when that was done.Perhaps, perhaps, said Quintesetz, but according to one witness at the time, a person we tend to believe, the Mule put down his pen as he said, Even I will not approach Gaia. His voice then dropped and, in a whisper not meant to be heard, he added again.Not meant to be heard, you say. Then how was it he was heard?Because his pen rolled off the table when he put it down and a Sayshellian automatically approached and solidification to pick it up. His ear was close to the Mules communicate when the word again was spoken and he heard it. He said nothing until after the Mules death.How can you analyze it was not an invention.The mans life is not the kind that makes it probable he would invent something of this kind. His report is accepted.And if it is?The Mule was never in or anywhere near the Sayshell Union except on this one occasion, at least after he appeared on the Galactic scene. If he had ever been on Gaia, it had to be before he appeared on the Galactic scene.Well?Well, where was the Mule born?I dont think anyone knows, said Trevize.In the Sayshell Union, there is a strong feeling he was born on Gaia.Because of that one word?Only partly. The Mule could not be defeated because he had strange mental powers. Gaia cannot be defeated either.Gaia has not been defeated as yet. That does not necessarily prove it cannot be.Even the Mule would not approach. seem the records of his Overlordship. See if any region other than the Sayshell Union was so gingerly treated. And do you know that no one who has ever gone to Gaia for the purpose of unruffled trade has ever retur ned? Why do you suppose we know so little about it?Trevize said, Your attitude seems much like superstition.Call it what you will. Since the time of the Mule, we have wiped Gaia out of our thinking. We dont want it to think of us. We only feel safe if we pretend it isnt there. It may be that the government has itself secretly initiated and support the legend that Gaia has disappeared into hyperspace in the hope that people will forget that there is a real Star of that name.You think that Gaia is a world of Mules, then?It may be. I advise you, for your good, not to go there. If you do, you will never return. If the Foundation interferes with Gaia, it will show less experience than the Mule did. You might tell your ambassador that.Trevize said, Get me the co-ordinates and I will be off your world at once. I will reach Gaia and I will return.Quintesetz said, I will get you the co-ordinates. The astronomy department works nights, of course, and I will get it for you now, if I can. Bu t let me suggest once more that you make no attempt to reach Gaia.Trevize said, I intend to make that attempt.And Quintesetz said heavily, Then you intend suicide.