Gulf (Heinlein)
Encyclopedia
Gulf is a novella
by Robert A. Heinlein
, originally published as a serial
in the November and December 1949
issues of Astounding Science Fiction
. It concerns a secret society
of genius
es who act to protect humanity. The novel Friday
, written in 1982, was loosely a sequel.
could, if they banded together and kept themselves genetically separate, create a new species
. In the process they would develop into a hidden and benevolent "ruling" class
. The story invokes the notions of the General Semantics
of Alfred Korzybski
and the work of Samuel Renshaw
to explain the nature of thought and how people could be trained to think more rapidly and accurately; critics have said that both systems are misrepresented and never claimed the kinds of results shown in the story. The material on human intelligence and self-guided evolution
is intermixed with a more standard "secret agent
" adventure story.
, there known mostly as "Boss." (Boss briefly mentions Gulfs protagonists Joe and Gail as examples of "honorable hatchet men.") While the earlier version of the character had strongly argued that smarter people are, and ought to be, separate from the human race in general, Boss appears to categorically deny this premise, perhaps reflecting a drastic change of beliefs on Heinlein's part.
The dialogue between the male and female leads, Joe and Gail, is reminiscent of the exchanges between the characters in Heinlein's last five novels from 1980-1987. Gail is strongly evocative of the powerful, free-spirited female characters from these novels. Joe is quite similar to the more taciturn male heroes such as Zebadiah Carter and Richard Ames from, respectively, The Number of the Beast
and The Cat Who Walks Through Walls
.
, which is both unintelligible and unlearnable by outsiders. Speedtalk is founded upon two principles: a reduced lexicon
, and an enlarged phonology
.
Any English sentence can be composed from a small vocabulary, such as the word set of Basic English
. Also, although the human vocal tract
can produce hundreds of different sounds, no existing human language normally makes use of more than a few dozen of them. In Speedtalk, each word from the Basic English set is assigned to a different sound. A sentence in Basic English can therefore be pronounced in perhaps one fourth the normal time.
" issue of Astounding Science Fiction
. The issue was prompted by a letter from a reader commenting on the stories in an issue, referring to the stories by author and title, and offering his respective praise and derision for those works. The magazine commonly received these kinds of letters; however, in this case, the reader described an issue whose cover date was more than a year away. Editor John W. Campbell
printed the letter, then set about making the predictions come true by arranging with the authors mentioned to write and submit stories with the given titles. Gulf, by Heinlein, was one of the stories involved.
Heinlein has written that he had a different idea for the story originally, but decided that it was too large for a novella and could not be written in the time he had available. The idea later became one of the inspirations for his novel Stranger in a Strange Land
. For the magazine, he decided that the gulf between man and superman would provide an adequate basis for the title.
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
by Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
, originally published as a serial
Serial (literature)
In literature, a serial is a publishing format by which a single large work, most often a work of narrative fiction, is presented in contiguous installments—also known as numbers, parts, or fascicles—either issued as separate publications or appearing in sequential issues of a single periodical...
in the November and December 1949
1949 in literature
The year 1949 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Arthur C. Clarke becomes Assistant Editor of Science Abstracts.*Bertrand Russell receives the Order of Merit....
issues of Astounding Science Fiction
Analog Science Fiction and Fact
Analog Science Fiction and Fact is an American science fiction magazine. As of 2011, it is the longest running continuously published magazine of that genre...
. It concerns a secret society
Secret society
A secret society is a club or organization whose activities and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla insurgencies, which hide their...
of genius
Genius
Genius is something or someone embodying exceptional intellectual ability, creativity, or originality, typically to a degree that is associated with the achievement of unprecedented insight....
es who act to protect humanity. The novel Friday
Friday (novel)
Friday is a 1982 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein. It is the story of a female "artificial person," the titular character, genetically engineered to be stronger, faster, smarter, and generally better than normal humans...
, written in 1982, was loosely a sequel.
Story
The story postulates that humans of superior intelligenceIntelligence
Intelligence has been defined in different ways, including the abilities for abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, planning, emotional intelligence and problem solving....
could, if they banded together and kept themselves genetically separate, create a new species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
. In the process they would develop into a hidden and benevolent "ruling" class
Ruling class
The term ruling class refers to the social class of a given society that decides upon and sets that society's political policy - assuming there is one such particular class in the given society....
. The story invokes the notions of the General Semantics
General Semantics
General semantics is a program begun in the 1920's that seeks to regulate the evaluative operations performed in the human brain. After partial program launches under the trial names "human engineering" and "humanology," Polish-American originator Alfred Korzybski fully launched the program as...
of Alfred Korzybski
Alfred Korzybski
Alfred Habdank Skarbek Korzybski was a Polish-American philosopher and scientist. He is remembered for developing the theory of general semantics...
and the work of Samuel Renshaw
Samuel Renshaw
Samuel Renshaw was an American psychologist whose work became famous for a short period of time during World War II when he taught soldiers to identify enemy aircraft in a split second, using tachistoscopic training. He generally worked with fast-reading and enhancing the latent ability of the mind...
to explain the nature of thought and how people could be trained to think more rapidly and accurately; critics have said that both systems are misrepresented and never claimed the kinds of results shown in the story. The material on human intelligence and self-guided evolution
Participant evolution
Participant evolution is a process of deliberately redesigning the human body and brain using technological means, rather than through the natural processes of mutation and natural selection, with the goal of removing "biological limitations." The idea of participant evolution was first put...
is intermixed with a more standard "secret agent
Secret Agent
Secret Agent is a British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on two stories in Ashenden: Or the British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham. The film starred John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Madeleine Carroll, and Robert Young...
" adventure story.
Characters
One of the story's key characters, Hartley M. "Kettle Belly" Baldwin, appears as a much older man in the later novel FridayFriday (novel)
Friday is a 1982 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein. It is the story of a female "artificial person," the titular character, genetically engineered to be stronger, faster, smarter, and generally better than normal humans...
, there known mostly as "Boss." (Boss briefly mentions Gulfs protagonists Joe and Gail as examples of "honorable hatchet men.") While the earlier version of the character had strongly argued that smarter people are, and ought to be, separate from the human race in general, Boss appears to categorically deny this premise, perhaps reflecting a drastic change of beliefs on Heinlein's part.
The dialogue between the male and female leads, Joe and Gail, is reminiscent of the exchanges between the characters in Heinlein's last five novels from 1980-1987. Gail is strongly evocative of the powerful, free-spirited female characters from these novels. Joe is quite similar to the more taciturn male heroes such as Zebadiah Carter and Richard Ames from, respectively, The Number of the Beast
The Number of the Beast (novel)
The Number of the Beast is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein published in 1980. The first edition featured a cover and interior illustrations by Richard M. Powers...
and The Cat Who Walks Through Walls
The Cat Who Walks Through Walls
The Cat Who Walks Through Walls: A Comedy of Manners is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein published in 1985. Like many of his later novels, it features Lazarus Long and Jubal Harshaw as supporting characters.-Plot summary:...
.
Speedtalk
The supermen communicate in an arcane language, a form of English called SpeedtalkSpeedtalk
Speedtalk is a fictional constructed language and key plot device in Robert A. Heinlein's novella Gulf . Speedtalk was a logic-based language with complex syntax, minimal vocabulary, and a rich phoneme inventory ; it would make both communication and thought more efficient and precise...
, which is both unintelligible and unlearnable by outsiders. Speedtalk is founded upon two principles: a reduced lexicon
Lexicon
In linguistics, the lexicon of a language is its vocabulary, including its words and expressions. A lexicon is also a synonym of the word thesaurus. More formally, it is a language's inventory of lexemes. Coined in English 1603, the word "lexicon" derives from the Greek "λεξικόν" , neut...
, and an enlarged phonology
Phonology
Phonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use...
.
Any English sentence can be composed from a small vocabulary, such as the word set of Basic English
Basic English
Basic English, also known as Simple English, is an English-based controlled language created by linguist and philosopher Charles Kay Ogden as an international auxiliary language, and as an aid for teaching English as a Second Language...
. Also, although the human vocal tract
Vocal tract
The vocal tract is the cavity in human beings and in animals where sound that is produced at the sound source is filtered....
can produce hundreds of different sounds, no existing human language normally makes use of more than a few dozen of them. In Speedtalk, each word from the Basic English set is assigned to a different sound. A sentence in Basic English can therefore be pronounced in perhaps one fourth the normal time.
Origins
This story was written for the famous "time travelTime travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
" issue of Astounding Science Fiction
Analog Science Fiction and Fact
Analog Science Fiction and Fact is an American science fiction magazine. As of 2011, it is the longest running continuously published magazine of that genre...
. The issue was prompted by a letter from a reader commenting on the stories in an issue, referring to the stories by author and title, and offering his respective praise and derision for those works. The magazine commonly received these kinds of letters; however, in this case, the reader described an issue whose cover date was more than a year away. Editor John W. Campbell
John W. Campbell
John Wood Campbell, Jr. was an influential figure in American science fiction. As editor of Astounding Science Fiction , from late 1937 until his death, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction.Isaac Asimov called Campbell "the most powerful force in...
printed the letter, then set about making the predictions come true by arranging with the authors mentioned to write and submit stories with the given titles. Gulf, by Heinlein, was one of the stories involved.
Heinlein has written that he had a different idea for the story originally, but decided that it was too large for a novella and could not be written in the time he had available. The idea later became one of the inspirations for his novel Stranger in a Strange Land
Stranger in a Strange Land
Stranger in a Strange Land is a 1961 science fiction novel by American author Robert A. Heinlein. It tells the story of Valentine Michael Smith, a human who comes to Earth in early adulthood after being born on the planet Mars and raised by Martians. The novel explores his interaction with—and...
. For the magazine, he decided that the gulf between man and superman would provide an adequate basis for the title.