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To define it rudely but not ineptly, engineering is the art of doing for ten shillings what any fool can do for a pound. (Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington) Barth was a dump; and the school was awkward: wooden sheds, hastily erected, on a greenfield site. Karl-Hermann Leitloff had seen...

You cannot fight against future. Time is on its side. (William E. Gladstone) Growth was still linear, and the gradient was only slight. This little ice age – or was it a big one? – was taking its time to accrue. Hermann Wölken had analysed the data of the recent year. BBGG was expanding, but...

Progress, therefore, is not an accident, but a necessity… It is part of nature. (Herbert Spencer) Riding in a submarine was… weird. Okay, they didn’t drive submerged, but on the surface – as long as the weather allowed. But slots on the sail were limited to the personnel on duty – in principle...

Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages. (George Washington) The powerplant had been installed; the Siemens folks were now in train of awakening the reactor. They said it was going to take them a fortnight. That, at least, was the time they had needed on Himmelsschmiede. At...

One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them. (Aldous Huxley) Men! Tosspots! It always was the same old story: they would get drunk, no matter the cause. And the kántsler was the worst of the bunch. Damn, Leonid was five years her senior. He was going to be sixty in...

Before all masters, necessity is the one most listened to, and who teaches the best. (Jules Verne) Indeed, close inspection of the Feuerdrache had revealed an alarming quantity of radiation. Peter Vogel had studied the report. Sojourning in the tail end would be very perilous for your health...

No sooner are some false prophets put down than others pop up in all directions. (John Calvin) The Leizhou Peninsula, the southern tip of Guangdong Province, had been chosen as location for the future spaceport of the Middle Kingdom. It had been a long-running decision process. Admiral Ji...

Originality is nothing but judicious plagiarism. (Voltaire) Acting the national figurehead, the Grüßaugust as Sisiliya, his wife, used to say, was demanding but unrewarding for Tsar Vladimir IV. The appointment calendar was always filled: openings, congresses, exhibitions, et cetera ad nauseam...

In practical life we are compelled to follow what is most probable; in speculative thought we are compelled to follow truth. (Baruch Spinoza) The Siemens technicians were still busy assembling the powerplant. General Zeislitz had arrived with the second haulage. He agreed with the steering...

There are so many different kinds of stupidity, and cleverness is one of the worst. (Thomas Mann) Friedrichshafen was a nice place, only that you couldn’t understand the natives. The great advantage of cooperation between Middle Africans and Germans lay in the use of the shared language. But...

Great labour, either of mind or body, continued for several days together is, in most men, naturally followed by a great desire of relaxation, which, if not restrained by force, or by some strong necessity, is almost irresistible. (Adam Smith) Masserberg was only a tiny town, actually a village...

To minds of a certain cast there is nothing so captivating as simplification and generalisation. (Thomas Malthus) Tanrıa şükür, the third attempt had been crowned by success; one had Ateş Kuşu’s pusher plate now. Accordingly, construction of the hull had begun. One had lost a lot of time, but...

Knowledge is one. Its division into subjects is a concession to human weakness. (Halford Mackinder) In astonishment, Vizeadmiral Herbert Kastenmüller had experienced how Arx construction had migrated from Jupiter to Earth. Why hadn’t his planning staff come up with this glorious idea...

In the depths of my heart I can’t help being convinced that my dear fellow-men, with a few exceptions, are worthless. (Sigmund Freud) Having been sent on leave by RRA, Ershter Lutenant Yankel Kerschbaumer duly had reported to the war ministry in Nai Bialystok. Okay, they hadn’t been really...

I was taught that the way of progress is neither swift nor easy. (Marie Curie) Khoroshó, one had a new government. It seemed they were encouraging spaceflight. Generàl Tikhonravov had booked him for a journey to Moscow. His proposal to send three NPPs to Saturn while the fourth handled...