Pages 489-508
- Editors: Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel. And please pay attention to formatting and grammar. Preview your changes before saving them. Thanks!
489 · Back to Steeply and Marathe
Contents
Page 489
plexus
an intricate network
tête
French: head
Page 490
I/O
Input/Output
C'est ça
French: that's that
Page 491
ALGOL
a short term for Algorithmic language
491 · Flashback to Himself's Childhood
Page 491
Endnote 208
Institut für Neutronenphysik und Reaktortechnik, Kernforschungszentrum
German: Institute for Neutron Physics and Reactor Engineering, Nuclear Research Center (a real organization)
Karlsruhe
a city in Germany about 90 miles south of Frankfurt (Main)
U.R.G.
probably United Republic of Germany
Springer-Verlag
one of the largest publishers in Germany
Wien
the German name for Vienna, capital of Austria
Page 491 (cont'd)
Bazin
André Bazin (1918-1958) was a French film theorist and director.
Page 492
Eureka
Ancient Greek for "I've found it," made famous by Archimedes
metastisate
He means "metastatize."
gibber
to chatter unintelligibly
Page 493
Synchronicity
the state of happening simultaneously
Concord
agreement
Page 494
declivity
downward slope or hill
Page 495
hypotenuse
the longest arm of a right triangle
right dihedral triangle
A right triangle is one whose largest angle is 90º. Dihedral means "having two sides."
Page 497
ebullient
zestfully enthusiastic
caster
wheel
Page 499
rodential
like a rodent
stalactite
the kind of V-shaped rock formations in caves that come down from the top
Page 502
Powell's Peeping Tom
Michael Latham Powell (1905-1990) was a British filmmaker, and Peeping Tom was one of his films.
hex
i.e., hexagonal, having six sides
L'Hôpital
Guillaume François Antoine, Marquis de l'Hôpital (1661-1704), was a French mathematician.
Bernoulli
Jacob Bernoulli (1654-1705) was a Swiss mathematician.
Brachistochrone
a reference to a brachistochrone curve
Page 503
503 · NA Meeting
Page 503
anechoic vestry
Anechoic means "characterized by a low level of reverberation"; a vestry is where the priests' vestments (clothing for mass) are kept between ceremonies.
lassitude
weariness of body
catalepsy
suspension of sensation, which bodily rigidity
circadian arrhythmia
sleep disturbance
Page 504
anhedonia
inability to feel pleasure
peristyle
a colonnade surrounding an open space, or the space so encircled
astrolabes
a type of navigational device used before the invention of the sextant
prickets
sharp metal points on which to stick candles
Knights of Columbus
a Catholic fraternal order
Penn Station
the chief national train station in New York, at 34th Street and Eighth Avenue
Page 505
styptic
contracting tissue
dis
act of disrespect
Page 506
anorak
a hooded pullover jacket
bonhommic
a neologism, meaning "denoting good-heartedness"
Page 507
Keds
a brand of sneaker
507 · More Steeply and Marathe
Page 507
C'est la guerre
French: That's war
Perseus
the constellation of the flying horse
jongleur
a wandering minstrel
pantalone
a stock mime character, often the butt of jokes
Castor and Pollux
stars in the constellation Gemini, named for twin sons of Zeus and Leda in Greek mythology
