The Currents of Space

infobox Book |
name = "The Currents of Space"
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Dust-jacket illustration from the first edition
author = Isaac Asimov
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series = Empire Series
genre = Science fiction novel
publisher = Doubleday
release_date = 1952
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 217 pp
isbn = NA
preceded_by = The Stars, Like Dust
followed_by = Pebble in the Sky

"The Currents of Space" is a 1952 novel by the American science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is the second of three books labeled the "Galactic Empire" series. Each occurs after humans have settled many worlds in the galaxy — after the second wave of colonisation that went beyond the Spacer worlds — and before the era of decline that was the setting for the original "Foundation" series. Each of the three is only loosely connected to other works, being separated by a fairly large gulf of centuries.

Plot summary

The story takes place in the backdrop of Trantor's rise from a large regional power to a galaxy-wide empire, unifying millions of worlds. This story occurs around the year 11,000 A.D. (originally 34,500 A.D., according to Asimov's early 1950s chronology [ [http://homepage.mac.com/jhjenkins/Asimov/Timeline.html An Early Asimov Timeline ] ] ), when the Trantorian Empire encompasses roughly half of the galaxy.

The independent planet Sark exploits the planet Florina and derives its great wealth from kyrt, a versatile fiber that can only be grown on Florina. The relationship between the two planets is analogous to the situation between imperial powers and their colonies during the mid-20th century, where the Florinians are forced to work in kyrt fields and are treated as an inferior race by the Sarkites. Attempts to break the Sark monopoly and grow kyrt on other worlds have thus far been unsuccessful. Meanwhile, Trantor would like to add these two worlds to its growing empire.

There is a hidden joke or irony in Sark's dominion over Florina: clear parallels to the American South growing cotton with slave labor. The Florinians are one of the lightest-skinned people in a galaxy where racial categories seem to have been forgotten, but except by the people of Sark. One of the characters, Dr. Selim Junz, comes from Libair, a planet with some of the galaxy's darkest-skinned people, and feels sympathy for the Florinians. [“We are both extremes in a Galaxy of averages... They are unusually pale. We are unusually dark." (Chapter Six)] (The planet Libair takes its name from Liberia, a country in Africa, which would explain a dark-skinned genetic inheritance)

The possible destruction of Florina is predicted by Rik, a "spatio-analyst", who has had his mind manipulated by a "psychic probe" device, resulting in gross amnesia. When Rik starts remembering his past, it produces a political crisis involving Sark, Florina, and Trantor, all. Rik, a native of the Earth, had discovered that Florina's sun is about to go nova because it is being fed carbon by one of the outer-space "currents of space", rather like ocean currents.

It is also revealed at long last that the special energetic wavelength of light that is being emitted by Florina's sun is what causes the very high-quality kyrt fiber to grown there. This is the explanation why kyrt cannot be grown on other planets - since stars going nova are really quite rare, and especially stars with inhabited planets.

Without Florina, Sark would lose its source of wealth, so there is reluctance to accept the message. The solution is for Trantor to buy out the entire planet — expensive, but likely to be repaid in goodwill.Even though Trantor is not yet a full Galactic Empire, it does control the now largely radioactive Earth. The idea of evacuating Earth is mentioned, but that is strongly rejected by Rik. He insists that it is the original planet of the human race, though this is not generally accepted.

cientific accuracy

The idea of "currents of space" causing suns to explode is creative, but has been thoroughly discredited by modern-day science in the decades following the writing of "Currents of Space". There are indeed two types of stellar fusion, one involving the presence of carbon as a kind of catalyst. But the processes are a simple product of the star's size and temperature. It is now believed that stars likely to have habitable planets cannot go nova, though they will become giant stars at the very end of their lifetime.Fact|date=October 2007

Footnotes

References

*cite book | last=Tuck | first=Donald H. | authorlink=Donald H. Tuck | title=The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy | location=Chicago | publisher=Advent | pages=21 |date=1974|id=ISBN 0-911682-20-1