ballistics, etc.

[Andrew Dinn]

Brian D. McCary writes:

> 	Yup, you're right, as already covered by others.  The distinction
> between controlled & ballistic flight pointed out by Andrew Dinn is 
> particularly important.  However, I offer the following defense:

> 1	A parabola is a degenerate form of ellipse, with one focus at
> infinity.  This could be a very obscure joke on analytical geometry, 
> given the degenerate nature of most of the population of the book...

But remember that the common-or-garden-ballistics-101-class-parabola
traversed by a projectile moving in a downward gravitational field
ends with a bang back on the ground. Whereas your out-of-the-blue-
degenerate-ellipse-brand-of-parabola zips off in the direction of that
focus at infinity (the one little pig that gets away?) and your
run-of-the-mill-conventional-norm-of-an-ellipse is just the sort of
yoyo that goes around and then comes around (reminds me of all those
green returns). A-and don't forget those hyperbolae.

> 2	This was his way of trying not to confuse the readers too much.
> At least some portion of the population is familiar with the word parabola,
> from parabolic mikes, radar dishes, ect.  Mention ellipses and eyes glaze.
> Since any description of the path is going to be an approximation, you 
> might as well use one people are familiar with

Pynchon worrying about confusing his readers too much? Puhleeze!


Andrew Dinn
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Der allerschoenste Regenbogen / Als Gottes Gnadenzeichen steht!