Arthur Clarke has written another excellent science fiction novel in 2010, the second part of the four-volume Odyssey series. Each book offers another view of the monolith, which is a surrogate for an alien civilization. The thrilling adventures of 2001 are carried on in this sequel. This novel describes an intelligent species emerging on Europa and how their evolution and chances for survival seem to be advanced by an unknown alien intelligence contained in the monolith.

2010: Odyssey Two describes the attempt to rescue the spacecraft Discovery. In the novel 2001, Discovery is abandoned when David Bowman enters the monolith at its destination, the planet Saturn. At the end of the novel 2001, Discovery is left in orbit around the Saturn moon, Iapetus.

As a note, in 2001, the black monolith on the Moon sends a signal in the direction of Saturn. In the following series and in the movies, Saturn is replaced by Jupiter. This change was made because the movie director, Stanley Kubrick, felt it was much simpler to use special effects for Jupiter than for Saturn with its many rings. Once Kubrick made this decision for the movie 2001, the book sequels and the movies changed the location from Saturn to Jupiter. Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter, becomes a main location.

The action in 2010 begins nine years after the disastrous Discovery mission to Jupiter in 2001. A joint U.S.-Soviet crew on the Russian spaceship Leonov is sent to rendezvous with the Discovery spaceship drifting in the vicinity of Europa. Dr. Heywood Floyd, who was sent to the Moon to investigate the monolith in 2001, is part of the Leonov crew, providing continuity in characters between the two stories.

The mission is designed to recover HAL 9000, the human-like computer, in order to determine what happened to the spaceship and the two astronauts on board at the time the Discovery became disabled. A Chinese spaceship, Tsien, gets a head start to Jupiter ahead of Leonov, whose crew felt it would be upstaged by the Tsien. The Tsien finds a monolith in the space close to Europa. The Tsien lands on Europa in order to resupply its fuel tanks with water. While on Europa, the Tsien is attacked and destroyed.

The Leonov does find the Discovery and sends its computer expert aboard in order to get HAL 9000 back to its original state. As the crew of the Leonov prepares to return to Earth with Discovery, a mysterious message appears on their screens. The message tells them that must leave within a couple of weeks, but does not give a reason nor does the message give any indication of what will happen if they do not leave. David Bowman, who was lost in the monolith in 2001, appears as sort of a ghost to Dr. Floyd and repeats the message.

By using the fuel from Discovery, the Leonov is able to leave Europa within the time limit and begins its journey home. As it leaves the vicinity of Jupiter, Leonov is struck by a shock wave. When the Leonov crew recovers from the shock wave, they find that Jupiter has been reformatted into a shining star which Clarke calls Lucifer. Jupiter had been ignited by a proliferating mass of monoliths. When the Leonov returns to Earth, there are two suns in the sky. The monolith in orbit over Europa disappears, but reappears on the surface of Europa.

2010 is an exciting space adventure following the spacecraft Leonov to Europa, and is an excellent addition to the Odyssey series. Clarke is an award winning science fiction writer and this novel is up to his standard.

“[N]obody who has read a business magazine in the last few years can be unaware that these days there really are investors who not only move money in anticipation of a currency crisis, but actually do their best to trigger that crisis for fun and profit. These new actors on the scene do not yet have a standard name; my proposed term is ‘Soroi’.” Paul Krugman 1999

You can’t make this stuff up. You just can’t.

Billionaire speculator and vulture capitalist George Soros (family changed their name from Schwartz in 1936) has penned an Op Ed praising the outcome of the recent IMF serving color revolution in the Ukraine. For a man who famously hates anti-Semitism, it seems rather odd that he would be aligning himself with the rise of the neo-Nazi nationalist parties in the Ukraine. But then again, Soros (Schwartz) has always been more about the money than he was about his religious identity. That’s probably because money is his religion.

Not only is Mr. Soros (chosen name means “designated successor” or “next in line” in Hungarian) busily rewriting the history of this bloody conflict in his new Op Ed, he’s actually serving as an apologist for the neo-Nazi’s brutal violence which ultimately brought down the elected government of the country and now is positioning itself to wipe out what they consider to be enemies of the true Ukrainian state; Jews and other leftists.

“This is Oleh Tyahnybok, he has claimed a “Moscow-Jewish mafia” rule Ukraine and that “Germans, Kikes and other scum” want to “take away our Ukrainian state.”

“This is their old logo, a Wolfsangel rune (on yellow armband), a common symbol for European neo-Nazi organizations. It was also the symbol of the Patriots of Ukraine, a paramilitary organisation Svoboda went hand in hand with until 2004.”

“a group of citizens armed with not much more than sticks and shields made of cardboard boxes” George Soros

During the early stages of the violence, at least 6 police officers were killed by Soros’ heroic violent thugs. Can you imagine what the body count would have been in New York if 6 cops had been killed by Occupy Wall Street protesters? If they had been hurling firebombs at police lines?

Al Jazeera has an interesting article about the rise of the ultra-nationalists on the march in Western Ukraine the other day. This is an 85 year old party of Nazi sympathizers who fought FOR Hitler back in the days when George Soros’ family was changing their name from Schwartz.

Some Jews, understandably fearing these developments, are advising their congregations to leave Kiev and the country altogether if possible.

Do you see the Confederate Flag hanging in this Ukrainian government building after the neo-Nazi’s took over? I do. What do you think that is all about?

Very little is being mentioned in the press or the White House about the Nazi nature of the fascist turn of events in the Ukraine right now. You have to look hard to find any remotely mainstream mentions of it, but they do exist.

Meanwhile, George Soros is helping the left feel better about focusing on, shall we say, more tangible aspects of this crisis:

… True to form, the EU under German leadership offered far too little and demanded far too much from Ukraine. Now, after the Ukrainian people’s commitment to closer ties with Europe fueled a successful popular insurrection, the EU, along with the International Monetary Fund, is putting together a multibillion-dollar rescue package to save the country from financial collapse…

… I established the Renaissance Foundation in Ukraine in 1990 – before the country achieved independence. The foundation did not participate in the recent uprising, but it did serve as a defender of those targeted by official repression. The foundation is now ready to support Ukrainians’ strongly felt desire to establish resilient democratic institutions (above all, an independent and professional judiciary). But Ukraine will need outside assistance that only the EU can provide: management expertise and access to markets…

… Ukraine would thus open its domestic market to goods manufactured or assembled by European companies’ wholly- or partly-owned subsidiaries, while the EU would increase market access for Ukrainian companies and help them integrate into global markets.

I hope and trust that Europe under German leadership will rise to the occasion. I have been arguing for several years that Germany should accept the responsibilities and liabilities of its dominant position in Europe.” George Soros

Is it ironic that Mr. Soros, a self-proclaimed life-long enemy of all things anti-Semitic, would back this neo-Nazi uprising in the Ukraine while calling for the German conquest of Europe or is he carefully positioning himself to “fit in” with the new fascist brown-shirt management of the country? Is he that stupid or that smart?

Either way, he’s clearly a Mammon worshiping opportunist looking to fill his pockets on the back of yet another tragic crisis and it doesn’t matter to him that Jews and leftists in general in Kiev are packing their bags and heading for the nearest border. When there’s blood in the water, the Soroi swarm. That’s just their nature.

UPDATE: True to form, first thing they do, the neoliberals are ready to push punitive IMF austerity adjustments on the people of the Ukraine, taking full advantage of the manufactured crisis.

After his nomination, Yatseniuk told parliament that Ukraine faced threats to its territorial integrity and promised to pursue European integration. He said: “Our country is on the brink of economic and political collapse …There is no other way out for us than to take extremely unpopular decisions” Guardian

Povarskaya Street (Russian: Поварская улица), known from 1924–1991 as Vorovsky Street (улица Воровского), is a radial street in the center of Moscow, Russia, connecting Arbat Square on Boulevard Ring with Kudrinskaya Square on the Garden Ring. It is known informally as Moscow’s Embassy Row, and is home to the finest mansions built in the 1890s and 1900s. Povarskaya Street also houses the Supreme Court of Russia and the Gnessin State Musical College. Most of Povarskaya Street lies in the Arbat District; its northern side near Kudrinskaya Square is administered by the Presnensky District.

Fritz Haber (December 9, 1868 – January 29, 1934) was a German chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for developing a method of synthesizing ammonia using atmospheric nitrogen. This process in turn could be used to manufacture fertilizers, explosives, and various other nitrogenous chemicals. During World War I, this method kept the German army well supplied with ammunition. In addition, Haber headed the German effort to produce chlorine and other poisonous gases. After the war, he worked toward reintegrating the research of German scientists into the world community.

Despite Haber’s high standing in German science, his life was marked by profound tragedies. His first wife, unhappy with her marriage and with his work on chemical weapons, committed suicide in 1915. His second marriage, which lasted ten years, ended in divorce in 1927. After Adolf Hitler seized power in Germany, the Nazis forced him to leave the country in 1933 because of his Jewish background, and he died in the process of emigration. Many of his relatives and other Jews were killed by the Nazis in concentration camps, gassed by Zyklon B, invented by scientists at the institute he had led. Later, his son Hermann committed suicide.

Biography

Haber was born in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland) to Siegfried and Paula Haber. His mother died in childbirth. His father was a prominent chemicals merchant in the town. He attended St. Elizabeth’s School in Breslau in his early years, during which time he developed an interest in chemistry. From 1886 until 1891, he studied at the University of Heidelberg under Robert Bunsen, at the University of Berlin in the group of A. W. Hofmann, and at the Technical College of Charlottenburg under Carl Liebermann. Before starting his own academic career, he worked at his father’s chemical business and in the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich with Georg Lunge.

Teaching and research

For a period, Haber was uncertain about the direction of his career, but worked for a short time with Ludwig Knorr at the University of Jena, with whom he published some early research. In 1894, he accepted an assistantship under Hans Bunte at the Karlsruhe. In 1896, he was promoted to assistant professor, after the publication of his thesis on the oxidation of hydrocarbons. In 1898 he was granted an associate professorship, and in the same year published a text on electrochemistry. He married Clara Immerwahr in 1901, herself a chemist who had aspirations of accomplishment in the field. In 1906, Haber was made full professor of chemistry and electrochemistry, and director of an institute devoted to the study of these subjects. He remained there until 1911 when he assumed the directorship of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical and Electrochemistry in Berlin, where he remained for 22 years.

Haber devoted much of his time to research in electrochemistry. He invented a glass electrode and studied energy loss in steam engines and electric motors. He also explained the structure of the flame of a Bunsen burner, demonstrating the different reactions that occur in the flame’s core and in its outer sheath.

Synthesis of ammonia

The work for which he is best known, the production of ammonia gas from atmospheric nitrogen, did not begin until 1905. In that year, he published a book on the thermodynamics of gases that contained information on the production of ammonia at temperatures exceeding one thousand degrees centigrade, using iron as a catalyst. He improved this process, in collaboration with Robert Le Rossignol, by having the reaction take place at pressures of 150 to 200 atmospheres, and at a more practical temperature of five hundred degrees Celsius, using the element osmium as a catalyst. In 1909 Haber and Rossignol demonstrated this process to BASF, the chemical manufacturer. The company was persuaded of its feasibility, and assigned two scientists, Carl Bosch and Alwin Mittasch, to make improvements. Osmium, a rare and costly metal, was replaced by iron alloyed with a variety of compounds. By 1913 industrial facilities were producing several tons of ammonia per day using Haber’s methods.

World War I

The Haber process was perfected just before Germany went to war with neighboring European countries and the United States. Ammonia could be used as a starting material for the production of high-yield explosives, and Germany’s war effort was considerably enhanced by its ability to produce armaments from atmospheric nitrogen, particularly when supplies of mineral nitrates that it had depended on for the same purpose were cut off due to the blockade of German shipping by the Allied forces.

Haber at this time became engaged in the production of chemical weapons and supervised the use of chlorine gas against Germany’s adversaries, even though most nations, including Germany itself, had signed a treaty banning the arming of projectiles with poison gas. The Germans circumvented this restriction by using gas canisters on the ground, and relying on the wind to spread the gas. The use of these weapons had only mixed success, and Germany’s advantage quickly disappeared as all sides began to produce chemical weapons and gas masks for the protection of troops.

In 1915, Haber’s wife Clara, who had expressed dissatisfaction with her marriage and her career and disappointment with her husband’s work on chemical weapons, committed suicide. This did not dampen Haber’s enthusiasm for the war effort. In his studies of the effects of poison gas, Haber noted that exposure to a low concentration of a poisonous gas for a long time often had the same effect (death) as exposure to a high concentration for a short time. He formulated a simple mathematical relationship between the gas concentration and the necessary exposure time. This relationship became known as Haber’s rule.

Haber defended gas warfare against accusations that it was inhumane, saying that death was death, by whatever means it was inflicted.

In 1917 Haber married Charlotte Nathan and the couple had two children before the marriage ended in divorce in 1927.

Later Career

Immediately after the war, Haber received the 1918 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the synthesis of ammonia. The Haber-Bosch process was a milestone in industrial chemistry because it provided a way to produce nitrogenous products—such as fertilizers, explosives, and chemical feedstocks—without relying on natural deposits, especially sodium nitrate (caliche), of which Chile was a major producer.

Haber made efforts to reintegrate the work of German scientists into the world community in the aftermath of World War I. He was able to obtain funding from the Rockefeller Foundation for some of these scientists. For six years beginning in 1920, he devoted himself to extracting gold from sea water to help Germany pay back its war debts. He found, however, that the percentage of gold was too small to make the process economically viable. During the same decade, scientists working at his institute developed the cyanide gas formulation Zyklon B, which was used as an insecticide, especially as a fumigant in grain stores, and also later as a tool of mass execution in the German death camps of World War II.

Some believe that Haber continued research into chemical armaments after World War I, using another scientist as a front.

When Adolph Hitler tightened his grip on Germany and began his crusade against the world’s Jews, Haber began to feel increasing pressure to step down from his position as director of the institute. He was prohibited from hiring Jewish staff, a restriction that finally sealed his break with the German government. During this time, his life was tumultuous and filled with uncertainty. He remarked in his last year in Germany:

I fight with ebbing strength against my four enemies: insomnia, the economic claims of my divorced wife, my lack of confidence in the future, and awareness of the grave mistakes I have committed…(Lehrer, 2000).

Haber left Germany in 1933, having secured a position in Cambridge, England, but upon his arrival found that British scientists still harbored hostility toward him for his work during World War I. He then received an invitation to join an institute in Palestine, but poor health precluded his acceptance of the position. He died of heart failure, aged 65, in a hotel in Basel, on his way to a convalescent retreat in Switzerland.

Haber’s immediate family also left Germany. His second wife Charlotte, with their two children, settled in England. Haber’s son Hermann, from his first marriage, immigrated to the United States during World War II. He committed suicide in 1946. Members of Haber’s extended family are said to have died in German concentration camps.

Portrayal in drama

A fictional portrait of Haber’s life, and in particular his longtime relationship with Albert Einstein, appears in Vern Thiessen’s 2003 play, Einstein’s Gift. Thiessen portrays Haber as a tragic figure who strives unsuccessfully throughout his life to evade both his Jewish background and the moral implications of his scientific contributions.

Legacy

Haber’s tremendous contribution to the welfare of humanity in terms of the production of fertilizer is balanced on the negative side by his support of the German war effort in World War I and the many lives that were lost as a result. His change of heart came as Hitler began a crackdown on Jewish scientists, which offended even Haber’s thick-skinned sensibilities. He was in no danger himself, as his record of support for the German war machine established credentials that even Hitler could not deny. His failing health, and the hostility his armament work engendered in the scientific community at large, prevented his full rehabilitation. But unlike some of his colleagues, such as Max Plank and Werner Heisenberg, he withdrew his support from Nazi-controlled Germany of the 1930s. In his personal life, he left a trail of misery in the form of a wife and a son who committed suicide, a divorce and the deaths of relatives in concentration camps through the technological innovations that he pioneered.