Newsweek stephenson is the hottest science fiction writer in america. Codical theory notes on dialectics of language and matter. The diamond walled box inside which a matter compiler constructs items. In the diamond age neal stephenson envisions a postnationstate world of the. Nell and harv retrieve a pair of space blankets from a public matter compiler and settle down for the night on the beach of new chusan with the rest of the home and claveless people who lack an identity of their own and who therefore lack either a history or a geography. Jul 22, 2014 the diamond age posits a future that isnt quite dystopian or utopian, but similar to what we have now. The diamond age envisions the next century as brilliantly as snow crash, raved newsweek upon the arrival of this stunning novel. In his prophetic 1995 novel the diamond age, neal stephenson described a world in which public matter compilers could 3d print virtually anything on demand, even diamonds. The central locus of this story is the primer, fully named a young ladys illustrated primer, which compliments the role of education in. Eric drexler, is a proposed device able to guide chemical reactions by positioning reactive molecules with atomic precision. I relish each new book i open, but i cherish all of the old books that i never close. Indeed, we are getting closer to the matter compiler in neal stephensons the diamond age or the replicator in star trek. I thought, why not create an educational book that would tell the same stories with increasing complexity as the child grew up. The second is nanotechnology, which is used in everything from planet building to the creation of stuffed animals in a matter compiler.
May 19, 2012 the best metaphor that can be drawn of neal stephensons 1996 the diamond age is a shotgun blast. Set in 21st century shanghai, it is the story of what happens when a stateoftheart interactive device falls into the hands of a street urchin named nell. Matter compiler a way to synthesize matter of any kind. I especially want to look how the future in the novels resembles ours, or doesnt, which. The pellets scattering across the target, some strike dead on, while others, particularly. Gcl amoeba 350 hold my bag, ill use the matter compiler. Review of the diamond age by neal stephenson sffaudio. The novel deals with themes of education, social class, ethnicity, and the nature of artificial intelligence. The diamond age is set in a vividlyconceived nanotechnological future in which nation states have ceased to exist. There are also nanomites which float in your bloodstream and. The word mediaglyphic just means a glyph a symbol that imparts information nonverbally created or seen in commercial media. Or, a young ladys illustrated primer is a postcyberpunk novel by neal stephenson. Their main purpose is to preserve the past and to some extent, serve the neovictorians. This is because they receive instructions from messenger rna and then assemble specific.
The diamond age is a sciencefiction novel that anticipates the development of nanotechnology and reflects on its social consequences. Neal stephenson, the diamond age substratetargeted programing stp is a programming paradigm 2 that consists of a class of programming languages, frameworks, and methodologies where the programs are compiled. When the feed came in from atlantis, from nippon, we no longer had to plant, because the rice now came from the matter compiler. A lot of the action is in shanghai, and in the leased territories, and towards the end it takes place underwater. The diamond age all the tropes wiki fandom powered by wikia. The problem is not the path the compiler must follow. Neal stephensons the diamond age 1995 has had a significant impact on many people. The diamondwalled box inside which a matter compiler constructs items. By the time of diamond age, does the world know more about this. Neals sf novel, the diamond age, promises more of the same.
The diamond age centers around princess nell in a steampunk sort of world, where neovictorians ride on robotic horses and build huge builings in the sky made out of diamond that is from a matter compiler. While tda may appear to be a book primarily about technology, theres a compelling argument to be made that it hinges entirely on sociology and family dynamics. In this future it is not only the political and cultural landscape which is interesting, but the technology as well, and perhaps most interesting of all is how humans interact with technology. Aug 10, 2015 indeed, we are getting closer to the matter compiler in neal stephensons the diamond age or the replicator in star trek. Parenting in the diamond or, the digital age part 2. Sep 29, 2003 snow crash was irreverent and whimsical, and the diamond age is that and more, with a plot that is both epic and personal.
Mediaglyphic by neal stephenson from the diamond age. The idea came to me when i saw a a mobile designed to hang above a crib, with cards that could be swapped out for more complex designs as the babys visual system developed. Harv had also taught her the sign for enchantment, which was the name of the territory they lived. Nell is a little girl, 4 years old when we first meet her.
Is it only highend matter compiler items that are being charged for. Nanotech has created a hierarchical society where those with a source of nanotech elements, or control over the feeds that transmit those elements, hold the power. A machine used in neal stephensons book the diamond age capable of building things out of base molecules provided by the feed. It was the destruction of our society stephenson 1996. It is to some extent a science fiction comingof age story, focused on a young girl named nell, and set in a future world in which nanotechnology affects all aspects of life. With a jumbo source for the flow of building blocks and a start matter compiler to assemble the pieces, geotects could make sure that every. The diamond age of nanotechnology is certainly coming. A matter compiler can produce anything that it has the blueprints for.
The dovetail clave acts as a sort of limbo between the leased territories and new atlantis. A p2p overview of neal stephensons diamond age p2p foundation. Instead, it took a week of good, intense reading, and then it was over. These are like giant wells of atoms, used to supply matter compilers. This week, please tell me what games you would make in a matter compiler in the given scenarios. The characters of neal stephensons novel, the diamond age, inhabit a world organized. A second technology i found interesting was the matter compiler mc. The former is located at sealevel and is dark, whereas the latter is up in. May 06, 2016 with a jumbo source for the flow of building blocks and a start matter compiler to assemble the pieces, geotects could make sure that every new piece of land possessed the charms of frisco, the strategic location of manhattan, the fengshui of hong kong, and the dreary but obligatory lebensraum of l. Btw i loved all the little stories within the main story such as the one when nell made blankets for every toy with the matter compiler. As my personal aspirations increasingly resemble some of the elements in the novel, ive given them a reread.
If it was any other author i would have been satisfied, but i listened to the entirety of the ridiculous tome that is reamde, and i frankly expected that this book would go on further. The ideas in it are representative of the creative and innovative writing of neal stephenson and the story. John percival hackworth, the author and software engineer behind the book. Nell, a little girl who grows up to become an important player in her world with the help of a magical storybook. In this world, a flawless diamond window pane is cheap as dirt as thats what diamond isa carbon lattice structureand is the easiest thing for a matter compiler to make, whereas hand blown glass with a few obvious flaws added in so that everyone will know that it is hand made costs a fortune. I first read neal stephensons duology of future cyber punk novels snow crash and the diamond age a decade ago. The ideas in it are representative of the creative and innovative writing of neal. At the same time, nanotech is so pervasive that every home contains a matter compiler to create. Or, a young ladys illustrated primer from some of my peers, and im somewhat shocked. Like maybe someone in shanghai makes a mite that doesnt follow the protocol, and gets his matter compiler to making a whole lot of them, and sends them all across the water to new atlantis clave to snoop on the vickys, or even maybe to do them harm. Nov 08, 2016 in which ways were they, overt or otherwise. Snow crash is without question the biggest sf novel of the 1990s. The young ladys illustrated primer of the subtitle is a nanotechnological marvel, an interactive book, initially the only one in existence, which falls into the hands of nell, a young girl trapped in the underclass with her.
Meditations on diamond age by neal stephenson we are not. The diamond age, or, young ladys illustrated primer. As much as snow crash delved into postcyberpunk, the diamond age pushes into the nanotechnological world of sciencefiction. Vividly imagined, stunningly prophetic, and epic in scope, the diamond age is a major novel from one of the most visionary writers of our timedecades into our future, a stones throw from the ancient city of shanghai, a brilliant nanotechnologist named john percival hackworth has just broken the rigorous moral code of his tribe, the powerful neovictorians. A device that builds the desired article such as a dress atom by atom according to a specified design. X immediately start trying to decrypt the compiler code so he can build his own copies of the book, but also, on his way back to new. Her brother, harv, gives her a stolen copy of the young ladys illustrated primer, an interactive ractive book that was designed by an engineer who wanted. A source of elemental atoms to build physical objects with via a matter compiler. Matter compiler by neal stephenson from the diamond age. If you use ordinary inheritance, each path has its own distinctive endpoint, meaning that the result of the cast is ambiguous, which is the problem. The diamond age, or, a young ladys illustrated primer is a novel by neal stephenson about a world where nanotechnology has become ubiquitous and society has fractured along subcultural lines.
When it comes to type conversions, the path does not matter, only the final result does. The matter compiler published january 17, 2007 uncategorized 19 comments the final project to go forward from the ideas factory on the software control of matter is based on theoretical chemistrymaterials science and computer science, and we anticipate this linking strongly to the experimental activities funded from the ideas factory. Expectations high for the follow up to his highly successful snow crash, stephenson upped the ante by wadding a larger number of ideas into his literary gun and firing away. In his prophetic 1995 novel the diamond age, neal stephenson described a world in which public matter compilers could 3d print virtually. Aug 22, 2001 the diamond age is, on the surface, a tale of technology. The diamond age is, on the surface, a tale of technology. Jul 17, 2011 parenting in the diamond or the digital age. It is to some extent a science fiction comingofage story, focused on a young girl named nell, and set in a future world in which nanotechnology affects all aspects of life. Some of them have to do with the nanotechnology advances that populate this world such as the matter compilers that are able to synthesize food but are controlled by the neovictorians. The former is located at sealevel and is dark, whereas the latter is up in the clouds and is light and clean. Apr 28, 2012 the diamond age centers around princess nell in a steampunk sort of world, where neovictorians ride on robotic horses and build huge builings in the sky made out of diamond that is from a matter compiler. In the world of the diamond age, star treks matterenergy. Or, a young ladys illustrated primer from some of my. The dovetail phyle are a unique tribe in the diamond age.
This strikes me as both interesting as a concept, and plausible as a way for our already fragile multiculturalism to unravel more fully. When first i read this book, in the closing years of the 20th century, readers still browsed through shelves in book stores. The diamond age, or, young ladys illustrated primer nell. Aug 26, 2003 vividly imagined, stunningly prophetic, and epic in scope, the diamond age is a major novel from one of the most visionary writers of our timedecades into our future, a stones throw from the ancient city of shanghai, a brilliant nanotechnologist named john percival hackworth has just broken the rigorous moral code of his tribe, the powerful neovictorians. Set in 21st century shanghai, it is the story of what happens when a stateof the art interactive device falls into the hands of a street urchin named nell. Matter compilers receive their raw materials from the feed, a system analogous to the electrical grid of modern society. Discussion questions, diamond age mediums and messages. The diamond age on the surface, thediamondage by nealstephenson may seem like yet another scifi story about nanotechnology, but if you dig deeper, youll find that one of the main themes of this book is education and its role in the development of a child into an adult. The diamond age envisions the next century as brilliantly as snow crash did the day after tomorrow. Some biological molecules such as ribosomes fit this definition.
Neal stephensons the diamond age 1995 has had a significant. May 03, 2015 the dovetail phyle are a unique tribe in the diamond age. These days, a particularly cherished book is neal stephensons 1995 novel, the diamond age. Diamond age is set in a future where nanotechnology has revolutionized the world, nearly everyone has a matter compiler, and for those that dont public matter compilers provide the necessities of life food, blankets, etc. It is to some extent a bildungsroman or comingof age story, focused on a young girl named nell, set in a future world in which nanotechnology affects all aspects of life. The diamond age, or, young ladys illustrated primer summary. The diamond age npr coverage of the diamond age by neal stephenson.
Sep 02, 2015 in his prophetic 1995 novel the diamond age, neal stephenson described a world in which public matter compilers could 3d print virtually anything on demand, even diamonds. In snow crash, we learn that there is extraterrestrial life infected with the metavirus. The diamond age all the tropes wiki fandom powered by. Jan 17, 2007 the matter compiler published january 17, 2007 uncategorized 19 comments the final project to go forward from the ideas factory on the software control of matter is based on theoretical chemistrymaterials science and computer science, and we anticipate this linking strongly to the experimental activities funded from the ideas factory. Filabot turns dull plastic junk to 3d printed shiny. Nearly any discussion of children and media in the book is deeply tied to the social interactions that parents have with their children around or through the. Nearly any discussion of children and media in the book is deeply tied to the social interactions that parents have with their children. More ideas and technology from the diamond age more ideas and technology by neal stephenson tech news articles related to the diamond age tech news articles related to works by neal stephenson. Mar 19, 2020 diamond age is set in a future where nanotechnology has revolutionized the world, nearly everyone has a matter compiler, and for those that dont public matter compilers provide the necessities of life food, blankets, etc. As diamond age is a stephenson book, there are many concrete techrelated ideas that are worth mentioning. However, the books underlying thematic elements have more to do with the importance of good parenting and education than they do with the effects of nanotechnology. A molecular assembler is a kind of molecular machine.
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