The Vonnegut File
Greg Utrecht
by Greg Utrecht
The character names in Kurt Vonnegut novels often seem to have been
based on a real scientist. At the university libraries that I go to,
some of the dusty old physics and math journals have bindings that
crack like brand new when I open them. Inside I find names like Trout
and Kilgore, Harrison and Bergeron, Kron and Campbell, Rosewater and of
course Kurt Vonnegut's important brother Dr. Bernard Vonnegut.
Here are some references-
Bergeron, T, "On the physics of clouds and precipitation", Mem. Union
geod. geophys. int., Lisbon, 1933
Harrison, Arthur E, "Graphical Methods for Analysis of Velocity
Modulation Bunching", Proceedings of the IRE, January 1945. The
Harrison Effect
Kilgore, G.R, "Magnetron Oscillators for the Generation of Frequencies
Between 300 and 600 Megacycles", Proceedings IRE Vol 24, P 1140, 1936.
(Magnetrons were invented in 1921 by Hull, Physical Review, 18, p.31)
Kron, Gabriel, _Equivalent Circuits of Electric Machinery_, well known
researcher at General Electric, editor of IEEE Transactions on
Circuits, and author of numerous other technical articles on the
circuitry of mesh networks.
Ransom, C.J., plasma physicist at General Dynamics, author of, _The Age
of Velikovsky_, Dell Publishing Co. New York, 1976, and publisher of
the journal Kronos
Rosewater, Victor "History of Cooperative Newsgathering in the United
States", Appleton, New York, 1930, a monopoly on truth
Trout, Arthur E. "Theoretical Thrust Augmentation by Evaporation of
Water During Compression as Determined by the Use of a Mollier Diagram"
NACA Technical Note 2104, 1950, numerous other NACA documents on jets.
Vonnegut, B. "The Nucleation of Ice Formation by Silver Iodide", J
Appl. Phys. 18, 593--595 1947 and "Nucleation of Supercooled Water
Clouds by Silver Iodide Smokes" Chem Rev 44, No 2, 277-289 (1949)
It was not long before I saw a Vonnegut character's name as a signpost
guiding me to a valuable piece of work. Based on this perception that
the Vonnegut character name is significant I offer some other possible
derivations-
von Kleist - Kleister is paste or glue. I always thought this
character represented the author. But also, the device that Kilgore
invented and Harrison explained is called a klystron.
Malachi Constant - It is interesting that the only true constant is the
speed of light. All other constants vary according to how close to
light speed you are going. The speed of light is 300 million meters
per second while Constant is said to be worth 10 times that in dollars.
Ransom K Fern - Fern is far. In German they call the TV the Fernseher,
and Fern is said to be as well read as Aristotle, but not able to make
any sense out of it. Vonnegut recently argued that TV is a "forgetting
device" because the rate of information coming in is lower than the
rate at which people are forgetful. Of course it's not memory that we
want, but recall.
Chronos, Chrono-synclastic-infundibulum - I think these are based on
the themes of Velikovsky and Ransom. But the not-well-known
infundibular shaped engines designed by Viktor Schauberger were called
Trout Engines.
Kroner - Gabriel Kron.
Felix Hoenekker - Communist leader of East Germany Erich Hoeneker -
builder of the Berlin Wall, who spent the Nazi years in solitary
confinement. Or possibly based on the forgotten mathematician Leopold
Kronecker whose work led to the tools used in quantum physics. The
importance of Kronecker in the history of mankind is incalculable.
Howard W Campbell Jr - based on pioneering science fiction writer and
editor John W Campbell, whose writings inspired so many 1930's era
scientists all around the world.
Winston Niles Rumfoord - possibly based on Benjamin Thompson Rumford
who argued the heretical notion that heat could be produced by friction
alone and not through some caloric value of the material being worked.
According to Eric Weisstein, "Rumford was overbearingly arrogant and
had no friends, as well as having a life filled with repeated cycles of
rapid rises to prominence followed by equally rapid falls to penury.
His abrasive personality and style are perhaps why his many innovations
were not widely chronicled by historians." He invented central heat.
Unk - Vonnegut's uncle Alex, well read and wise. Anyone who is
comfortable with hyperbolic cosines can tell you that if you fall off
an infinitely high cliff you will be going close to the speed of light
in about two and a half years. Your perceived time will basically stop
as you become infinitely massive, infinitely shortened, and reflect
light in infinitely small or large waves depending on whether you are
coming or going. You will become a harmonium. If you forgot to add
brakes to your ship you will be stuck. Although the naive solution
would be to "turn the ship around Unk", the ship is infinitely heavy,
and cannot be turned at all. In 1963 scientists computed that a
nuclear powered rocket ship of this type would weigh as much as the
Queen Mary, go about 100 lightyears in ten years time (Warp 2, ten
times the speed of light), and look just like the ship in "2001, A
Space Odyssey."
Paul Proteus and the Ghost Shirt Society - Vonnegut recently revealed
that his original thesis at Chicago was a comparison of the sociology
of the American Indian Ghost Dance Religion with the German
Expressionism art movement. Both of those cultures had had their
direction taken from them. The Ghost Shirt Society represented an idea
that Vonnegut struggled with until he invented Bokononism.
After awhile I began to suppose that when Vonnegut worked for General
Electric he was exposed to numerous German trained scientists. For
example, Irving Langmuir, the director of the laboratory finished his
education at Gottingen in Germany. Many other important German trained
scientists came to America including Einstein, von Karman, von Neumann,
Wigner, Wiener und so weiter. Vonnegut probably worked with people
like them and it's possible that the concepts of Bokononism might
actually be from the mysterious religion of German scientists-
karass(the chosen) - from the German word Karosserie - body
wampeter(sacred object) - Wahn beteuer - word of honor based on
illusion
foma(lies or maya) - possibly "vom" - from her
granfalloon(false karass) - from grosse Fehlen - Grand Fehlen - absent
or missing, the great mistake, or the great accident
vin-dit(a personal shove) - wendig. A Wende is a turning point, wendig
is steerable, or nimble
saroon(an inner acquiescence) - from Saure - a sourness - the verb
sauren would be to become sour
wrang-wrang(a person who is an example of what not to do) - from
wringen, to wring, as in wringmaschinen. A wrang-wrang is someone who
constantly wrings their hands in regret.
boku maru is of course French and Japanese - boucoup ship, big ship
To Vonnegut the ways of these people must have seemed like magic, and
Bokononism was too.
But Vonnegut may not be the only American to suffer from exposure to
Bokononism. Other common American words may have been adopted from
German science-
nurd (or gnurd as they spelled it at MIT) - knurren or geknurren means
to grumble, but I think nurd may come from the German adverb nur, to be
nothing, and that this usage led to the common Cold War expression "he
has been neutralized"
geeky - from the German word "Geachte" to be unconventional or to not
follow the rules, literally "an outlaw"
kludge - a clever "aha" type solution to a problem, from the
German word "klug" to be shrewd or clever
dweeb - from the German word durch-weben, a concatenation, meaning
brownnoser
twerp - from the German word turpfoster, meaning doorpost. Deaf as a
doorpost.
chad - from the German word schade, meaning trash
glitch - from the German word gleichung, meaning a solution, a
sameness, a niceness
bug - from the German word Buch, meaning book. When something
unexpected happens, write it down in the Buch. Tell that to the Apollo
13 astronauts, who did not keep a book.
dork - from the German word toericht - girlish, silly
Whether we all are living in a world of technology that we don't
understand is a topic for Alvin Toffler. But the message I got was
clear. Vonnegut knows more about science than he is letting on.