It might all seem like minutiae, and it all gets swept aside by the whole exploding galaxy problem, but the history of science narrative that Asimov weaves is actually some of the most wonderfully rich writing he ever did. Asimov, who was a scientist and science writer as well as a science fiction author, leans more on those first two backgrounds in recounting the story of the pump, being sure to mention who chaired which conference and whose name appeared as chief author on which paper. Although the section does eventually expand its scope - as you say, we soon find out the Sun might soon explode, taking our entire arm of the Milky Way along with it - it's fascinating how much of the section is devoted to a scholarly history of the Electron Pump. That's right - the whole thing is apparently about a battle for proper academic credit.Ĥ. Until you get to the end of this part, the stakes seem almost comically inconsequential - it's seemingly all about an impulsive young physicist who gets blackballed by the discoverer of the Electron Pump, and his quest to discredit Earth's greatest scientific hero.
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