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Hilbert Schenck
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 Hilbert Schenck's stories are rich in the characterization of scientists doing the sometimes
frustrating daily work that leads to sudden moments of discovery and, perhaps, transcendence. A professor of
engineering specializing in the ocean, Schenck's characters are rarely far from water, and his tales usually deal with
the shores, the currents, the storms, the creatures of the sea, particularly of the New England seacoast. His
stories often contain blistering satires on academic life, as here in this story.
Harking back to the traditions of the sea story (of Melville and Conrad) and to Jules Verne's
imaginary voyages, "Send Me a Kiss by Wire" is a story of adventure, exploration, and zoology. It is an
interesting contrast in its depiction of sea creatures to Dickson's "Dolphin's Way," on one hand, and Gallun's "Davy Jones'
Ambassador" on the other, using no overt science fictional inventions, concentrating entirely on accuracy and the
hard sf affect. What if the legendary sea monster were real? Here is a hardheaded, hard-nosed contemporary
scientific expedition, with a veneer of calm over barely-suppressed intellectual excitement. This is science
fiction as the shadow of the hard-boiled, romantic, heroic adventure -- disguised as daily work. And the point of it all
is a moment of revelation: the legend is revealed as a real natural wonder.
This moment of discovery after exploration is one of the goals of science and the scientist. SF
stories such as this one reaffirm that such a desire as this underpins science. Look for the phrase, "what is the price
of true wonder." Then consider for a moment the dying spaceman stories of the 1950s, in which death is the
price of the moment of discovery, as sincere salesmanship for space travel. Wonder is worth any price in hard sf.
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The Ascent of Wonder copyright © 1994 by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. |
Cramer: On Science & Science Fiction || Hartwell: Hard Science Fiction
David G. Hartwell || Kathryn Cramer || About Tor Books || Ordering Info
Interactive Intoduction to THE ASCENT OF WONDER copyright © 1995-1997 by Kathryn Cramer.