AtDDtA(16): "Now, Set the Special Desert Detail"

Thu Aug 23 16:00:45 CDT 2007

   "'Now, set the Special Desert Detail.... Secure hatches fore and
aft.... all hands prepare to submerge....'"

"'Now, set the Special Desert Detail....'"

Cf. ...

"'Now single up all lines!'
   "'Cheerly now ... handsomely ... very well!  Prepare to cast her
off!'" (AtD, Pt. I, p. 3)

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0701&msg=114290

http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=ATD_1-25#Page_3

"Diamond-edged sand-augers"

Auger drilling

Auger drilling is done with a helical screw which is driven into the
ground with rotation; the earth is lifted up the borehole by the blade
of the screw. Hollow stem Auger drilling is used for environmental
drilling,geotechnical drilling, soil engineering and geochemistry
reconnaissance work in exploration for mineral deposits. Solid flight
augers/bucket augers are used in construction drilling. In some cases,
mine shafts are dug with auger drills. Small augers can be mounted on
the back of a utility truck, with large augers used for sinking piles
for bridge foundations.

Auger drilling is restricted to generally soft unconsolidated material
or weak weathered rock. It is cheap and fast.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drilling_rig#Auger_drilling

"unhurriedly pursuing its dive into the lightless world"

Cf. ...

Edgar Rice Burroughs, At the Earth's Core (1914)

    Then Perry interested me in his invention. He was an old fellow
who had devoted the better part of a long life to the perfection of a
mechanical subterranean prospector. As relaxation he studied
paleontology. I looked over his plans, listened to his arguments,
inspected his working model -- and then, convinced, I advanced the
funds necessary to construct a full-sized, practical prospector.
    I shall not go into the details of its construction -- it lies out
there in the desert now -- about two miles from here. Tomorrow you may
care to ride out and see it. Roughly, it is a steel cylinder a hundred
feet long, and jointed so that it may turn and twist through solid
rock if need be. At one end is a mighty revolving drill operated by an
engine which Perry said generated more power to the cubic inch than
any other engine did to the cubic foot. I remember that he used to
claim that that invention alone would make us fabulously wealthy -- we
were going to make the whole thing public after the successful issue
of our first secret trial -- but Perry never returned from that trial
trip, and I only after ten years.
    I recall as it were but yesterday the night of that momentous
occasion upon which we were to test the practicality of that wondrous
invention. It was near midnight when we repaired to the lofty tower in
which Perry had constructed his "iron mole" as he was wont to call the
thing. The great nose rested upon the bare earth of the floor. We
passed through the doors into the outer jacket, secured them, and then
passing on into the cabin, which contained the controlling mechanism
within the inner tube, switched on the electric lights.
    Perry looked to his generator; to the great tanks that held the
life-giving chemicals with which he was to manufacture fresh air to
replace that which we consumed in breathing; to his instruments for
recording temperatures, speed, distance, and for examining the
materials through which we were to pass.
   He tested the steering device, and overlooked the mighty cogs which
transmitted its marvelous velocity to the giant drill at the nose of
his strange craft.
   Our seats, into which we strapped ourselves, were so arranged upon
transverse bars that we would be upright whether the craft were
ploughing her way downward into the bowels of the earth, or running
horizontally along some great seam of coal, or rising vertically
toward the surface again.
   At length all was ready. Perry bowed his head in prayer. For a
moment we were silent, and then the old man's hand grasped the
starting lever. There was a frightful roaring beneath us -- the giant
frame trembled and vibrated -- there was a rush of sound as the loose
earth passed up through the hollow space between the inner and outer
jackets to be deposited in our wake. We were off!
   The noise was deafening. The sensation was frightful. For a full
minute neither of us could do aught but cling with the proverbial
desperation of the drowning man to the handrails of our swinging
seats. Then Perry glanced at the thermometer.
   "Gad!" he cried, "it cannot be possible -- quick! What does the
distance meter read?"
   That and the speedometer were both on my side of the cabin, and as
I turned to take a reading from the former I could see Perry
muttering.
   "Ten degrees rise -- it cannot be possible!" and then I saw him tug
frantically upon the steering wheel.
   As I finally found the tiny needle in the dim light I translated
Perry's evident excitement, and my heart sank within me. But when I
spoke I hid the fear which haunted me.
   "It will be seven hundred feet, Perry," I said, "by the time you
can turn her into the horizontal."
   "You'd better lend me a hand then, my boy," he replied, "for I
cannot budge her out of the vertical alone. God give that our combined
strength may be equal to the task, for else we are lost."

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/123

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8757

http://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/bookinfo/3869.html

http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/BurEart.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Earth's_Core_(novel)

At the Earth's Core (1976)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074157/

http://youtube.com/watch?v=N1cGf1xNf1A

http://www.mgm.com/title_title.php?title_star=ATTHEEAR

Also ...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ld2DMsyy0go

dust-devils

Main Entry: dust devil
Function: noun
Date:1888

: a small whirlwind containing sand or dust

http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dust%20devil

fantail

Main Entry: fan·tail
Pronunciation: \ˈfan-ˌtāl\
Function: noun
Date: 1728

1 : a fan-shaped tail or end
2 : a domestic pigeon having a broad rounded tail often with 30 or 40 feathers
3 : an architectural part resembling a fan
4 : a counter or after overhang of a ship shaped like a duck's bill

http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fantail

On modern, motorized warships, the ship functions which were once
carried out on the poop deck are moved to the superstructure in the
center of the ship (or the island on the starboard side, in the case
of aircraft carriers), and the aft area, which is clear and flush with
the main deck, is referred to as the fantail.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poop_deck

"the Viscosity Gang"

Viscosity is a measure of the resistance of a fluid to deform under
shear stress. It is commonly perceived as "thickness", or resistance
to flow. Viscosity describes a fluid's internal resistance to flow and
may be thought of as a measure of fluid friction....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscosity

Informally, viscosity is the quantity that describes a fluid's
resistance to flow. Fluids resist the relative motion of immersed
objects through them as well as to the motion of layers with differing
velocities within them.

Formally, viscosity (represented by the symbol η "eta") is the ratio
of the shearing stress (F/A) to the velocity gradient (Δvx/Δz or
dvx/dz) in a fluid....

http://hypertextbook.com/physics/matter/viscosity/

"Eta/Nu Tranformators"

There are actually two quantities that are called viscosity. The
quantity defined above is sometimes called dynamic viscosity, absolute
viscosity, or simple viscosity to distinguish it from the other
quantity, but is usually just called viscosity. The other quantity
called kinematic viscosity (represented by the symbol ν "nu") is the
ratio of the viscosity of a fluid to its density.
ν = η/ρ

Kinematic viscosity is a measure of the resistive flow of a fluid
under the influence of gravity....

http://hypertextbook.com/physics/matter/viscosity/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscosity#Units_of_Measure

Probably an imaginary scientific device. Eta is most likely a
reference to the metric tensor of (four dimensional) Minkowski space.
Nu sometimes symbolizes frequency.

    Alternate view
    In classical electromagnetism, Eta is the wave impedance and Nu is
the velocity of the wave; both are related to the material parameters
of the medium the wave is traveling in. Specifically, Eta determines
how a wave moves between different media (reflection, refraction, and
transmission), while the velocity is related to the frequency and
wavelength of the wave. Thus, the device probably allows the ships
inhabitants to see while in the sand.

http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=ATD_429-459#Page_434

Cf., e.g., ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treknobabble

http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/treknology1.htm

http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/tv/deeper_trek_movies_000919.html

"a succession of colors"

Cf. "pan-spectral" (p. 433), as well as ...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=SIfRZhztNos

pari passu

Main Entry: pa·ri pas·su
Pronunciation: \ˈpa-ri-ˈpa-(ˌ)sü\
Function: adverb or adjective
Etymology: Latin, with equal step
Date: 1567

: at an equal rate or pace

http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pari%20passu

Pari passu is a Latin phrase that means "at the same time", and by
extension also "fairly", "without partiality".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pari_passu