val is created with
more historical depth and attention to detail, H. Beam Piper's
Terro-Human Future History will stand as the Bayeux Tapestry of
science fiction histories.

In many ways--certainly during his lifetime--Piper was the most
underrated of the John W. Campbell's "Astounding" writers. He was
probably also the most Campbellian; his _self-reliant man_ is almost a
mirror image of Campbell's "Citizen."

Piper died a bitter man, a failure in his own mind; shortly before his
death he believed he could no longer earn a living as a writer without
charity from his friends or the state.

Now he's the cornerstone of Ace Books. Had he lived long enough to
finish another half dozen books, he would have been among the sf
greats of the sixties....

But maybe he does know, after all. Jerry Pournelle, who was very much
influenced by Piper and in many ways considers himself Beam's
spiritual descendant--and incidently was John W. Campbell's last major
_discovery_--has said that sometimes, when he's gotten down a
particularly good line, he can hear the "old man" chuckle and whisper,
_atta boy_.

Introduction

Dr. John D. Clark

THE SILICONE WORLD

1. THE STAR AND ITS MOST IMPORTANT PLANET

The planet is named Uller (it seems that when interstellar travel was
developed, the names of Greek Gods had been used up, so those of Norse
gods were used). It is the second planet of the star Beta Hydri, right
angle 0:23, declension-77:32, G-0 (solar) type star, of approximately
the same size as Sol; distance from Earth, 21 light years.

Uller revolves around it in a nearly circular orbit, at a distance of
100,000,000 miles, making it a little colder than Earth. A year is of
the approximate length of that on Earth. A day lasts 26 hours.

The axis of Uller is in the same plane as the orbit, so that at a
certain time of the year the north pole is pointed directly at the
sun, while at the opposite end of the orbit it points directly away.
The result is highly exaggerated seasons. At the poles the temperature
runs from 120 deg.C to a low of-80 deg.C. At the equator it remains not far
from 10 deg.C all year round. Strong winds blow during the summer and
winter, from the hot to the cold pole; few winds during the spring and
fall. The appearance of the poles varies during the year from baked
deserts to glaciers covered with solid CO_{2}. Free water exists in
the equatorial regions all year round.

2. SOLAR MOVEMENT AS SE