Nonfiction
Assistant Editor's Preface
Wow. Here we go again. Grantville Gazette, Volume Nine. Who knew, back a few years ago, just how many people would be interested in the continuing soap opera of Grantville, WV, United States of Europe? I certainly didn't, but I spend part of every single day being happy that I picked up that book with the pickup truck and hillbillies on the cover.
Radio in 1632, Part 3
In our two previous discussions of telecommunications in the 1632 series, we focused on radio communications uniquely available to up-timers ("Radio in the 1632 Universe," Grantville Gazette, Volume One) , and to wired communications ("So You Want to do Telecommunications in 1633," Grantville Gazette, Volume Two). In this article we will discuss radio options available to down-timers both for transmitters and receivers. This will require a brief discussion of radio theory, which we will restrict to no more than one equation.
The Sound of Mica
Capacitors (also called "condensers") are one of the most basic of electronic components. Their most fundamental electrical characteristic is their capacitance (ability to store electrical energy). So how do you make a capacitor? The simplest one consists of two parallel conductive plates, and an intervening "dielectric." You can actually use a stack of plates, not just two, but the conductive and dielectric layers will alternate. One wire will be connected to the "odd-numbered" plates, and a second wire to the "even-numbered" ones.
A Tempest In a Baptistry
The question of re-baptism and the distress it caused in the sixteen hundreds, including what has at times been described as bloody murder, is still with us.
The Daily Beer
Beer was food. Before the potato arrived in Northern and Central Europe, barley, rye and oats were the main sources of nutrients. Of these, barley was the easiest and most robust crop. Barley isn't that good as bread or porridge, so almost the entire harvest was brewed into beer.
White Gold
As the gentle winds blow, you look out from the veranda of your plantation house over the acres of sugar cane. What you see isn't fields of cane. What you see is fields of gold. The white gold called sugar, slowly growing to maturity.