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AtlasShruggedThings

AtlasShruggedThings

This is a list of general items in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.

Anti-dog-eat-dog Rule

The Anti-dog-eat-dog Rule is passed by the National Alliance of Railroads in section 145, allegedly to prevent "destructive competition" between railroads. The rule gives the Alliance the authority to forbid competition between railroads in certain parts of the country. It was crafted by Orren Boyle as a favor for James Taggart, with the purpose of driving the Phoenix-Durango out of Colorado.

Bracelet

The very first thing made from Rearden Metal is a bracelet. The bracelet is used to illustrate Rand's Theory of Sex. The bracelet symbolizes the value created by Hank Rearden's long struggle to invent Rearden Metal. When he gives it to Lillian Rearden as a present in section 121; she says, "It's fully as valuable as a piece of railroad rails." However, Lillian fully grasps the significance of the gift; her snide remark is her way of denigrating her husband's ethos. In section 161, Lillian wears this bracelet at a party thrown on her anniversary. She makes fun of it all night long, and when Dagny Taggart hears Lillian say she would gladly trade it for a common diamond bracelet, Dagny takes her up on it. Lillian later asks for it back upon realizing her power over her husband was slowly diminishing. Dagny denies the offer. The bracelet appears in sections 121 and 161.

Cub Club

A night club in New York. When Francisco d'Anconia returns to New York in section 141, he explains he came because of a hat-check girl at the Cub Club and the liverwurst at Moe's Delicatessen on Third Avenue.

Equalization of Opportunity Bill

A bill designed by the Looters that proposes to limit the number of businesses any one person can own to one. It is aimed primarily at Hank Rearden, who uses Rearden Ore to guarantee Rearden Steel with a supply of iron ore. By passing this Bill, the Looters can seize Rearden's other businesses for themselves, and then deny him the iron he needs to run his steel mills. The Looters claim the Bill is meant to give a chance to the little guy. The Equalization of Opportunity Bill is appears in section 161.

Galt's Gulch

A secluded refuge in a valley of Colorado where the men of ability have retreated after relinquishing participation in American society. Nicknamed "Galt's Gulch" by its inhabitants, it is in fact the property of "Midas" Mulligan, one of the early strikers to follow John Galt's call. This call was to the great men of mind and action to abandon the increasingly slave-state inclinations of a decaying United States - to go on strike - thereby withdrawing the only thing supporting the parasites and looters. Sarcastically nicknamed Midas in the press because everything he seemed to touch turned to gold, Mulligan adopted the nickname during his explosive investment career before dropping out of sight. He had purchased this land among his far-ranging speculative endeavors, and subsequently retreated to it upon his disappearance. Other strikers soon followed him there, including John Galt, renting or buying land for summer retreats as a respite from continuing their search for fellow strikers among the increasingly collapsing American society. Eventually, a society develops in Galt's Gulch as more people live there year-round as the outside world becomes virtually unsafe to visit. We are introduced to Galt's Gulch in the final section of the Novel, in the first chapter, entitled Atlantis. The people live with each other in completely free society and embody everything which is the thesis of the Novel, the appropriate values for a society of Mankind: philosophical, moral, economic, legal, aesthetic, and sexual, among others too numerous to mention. We find industrious, ambitious, happy people continuing their chosen fields of endeavor without the yokes of any taxation or regulation. Conversely, there is a reverence for private property; everything transacted is paid for with the re-invented currency of solid gold coin struck from the reserves of Midas Mulligan's bank which now resides in the valley. The townspeople receive services from the various heroes we have met throughout the Novel, who all now reside and produce in the valley. They purchase power inexpensively from Galt and his invention of the static electricity motor, maintain their anonymity from the outside world via Galt's invention of the air-wave reflection device (giving the view from above the camouflage of reflected images of other mountainsides nearby), and some attend Galt's lectures on Physics, where he explains his discoveries on new fundamental laws and applied mathematics. The people purchase medical treatment from the care of Dr. Hendricks, who uses his invention of a portable X-ray machine to initially diagnose Dagny Taggart upon her crash landing into the valley, attend concerts of new musical compositions of Richard Halley who has continued to compose in the Valley, acquire raw materials from the efforts of Francisco D'Anconia's excavations around the valley, attend philosophy lectures from the now-retired pirate Ragnar Danneskjöld, receive loans from Midas Mulligan, etc. Rand's description of Galt's Gulch was inspired by a visit she and her husband Frank O'Connor took to Ouray, Colorado while researching Colorado for the novel.

Halley's Fifth Concerto

Richard Halley disappeared after he had written only four concertos. In section 112, Dagny Taggart, an enthusiastic fan of Halley's music, hears an unfamiliar theme being whistled by a brakeman on the Taggart Comet. She asks him what it is; he responds Halley's Fifth Concerto. When Dagny says Halley only wrote four concertos, the brakeman says he made a mistake and denies knowing what the song was. Later, Dagny calls Mr. Ayers to find out if Halley wrote a fifth concerto. Ayers says Halley did not. Halley's Fifth Concerto is mentioned in sections 112, 114 and 152.

Halley's Fourth Concerto

The last thing Richard Halley wrote before he disappeared. It is a song of rebellion and defiance that seemed to say agony and suffering were not necessary. Dagny Taggart listened to this song in section 141. It is mentioned in section 152.

Heaven's In Your Backyard

A film. Mort Liddy wrote the score, using a bastardized version of Halley's Fourth Concerto. It is mentioned in section 161.

John Galt Legends

Since everyone across the country is asking, "Who is John Galt?", it is not surprising that some people have come up with answers. A number of John Galt Legends are told, each of which, ironically, turns out to be true, at least symbolically. Legend 1 (section 161): A spinster at Lillian Rearden's party tells Dagny the story. John Galt was a man of inestimable wealth who found the sunken island of Atlantis while fighting the worst storm ever wreaked upon the world. The site was so beautiful that, having seen it, he could never go back to the world, so he sank his ship and took his fortune down with him. The actual John Galt was a man who created something of inestimable value, a new motor, and who discovered the secret to what was wrong with the world while fighting the most evil social philosophy ever put into practice. The world he envisioned was so beautiful that he refused to live in the world that was, and disappeared, taking the secret of motor with him. Atlantis, the Isles of the Blessed, is a place where no one could enter except those who had the spirit of a hero. Described in these terms, it is the same as Galt's Gulch.

Moe's Delicatessen

A delicatessen in New York. When Francisco d'Anconia returns to New York in section 141, he explains he came because of a hat-check girl at the Cub Club and the liverwurst at Moe's Delicatessen on Third Avenue.

National Alliance of Railroads

An industry group formed to promote the welfare of the industry as a whole, requiring members to sacrifice their individual interests for the common good. Orren Boyle has friends on the National Alliance of Railroads, and he gets them to support the Anti-dog-eat-dog Rule, which uses a string of pretenses to drive the Phoenix-Durango out of Colorado. The National Alliance of Railroads is mentioned in sections 131, 145 and 146.

National Council of Metal Industries

An industry group that uses political pull to get its way. James Taggart has friends on the National Council of Metal Industries, and he gets them to support legislation that will hurt Rearden Steel and help Associated Steel. The National Council of Metal Industries is mentioned in section 131.

Patrick Henry University

The most prestigious university in the world. It was attended by John Galt, Francisco d'Anconia, and Ragnar Danneskjold, where they met and became friends. Hugh Akston and Robert Stadler taught there. It is located in Cleveland.

Rio Norte Line

A branch of Taggart Transcontinental that runs from Cheyenne, Wyoming to El Paso, Texas. It is mentioned in sections 111, 114, 131 (alluded to), 132, 133, 141, 146, 147 and 148.

Rockdale Station

A station on the Taggart Transcontinental line, located five miles from the Taggart estate and overlooking the Hudson River. It was the site of Dagny Taggart's first job with the railroad, night operator, at age 16. It appears in section 152.

San Sebastian

A community built to house the workers of the San Sebastian Mines and their families. As it turns out, the houses, roads, and everything of practical value is built so poorly that the community can be expected to fall apart within a year or two. Only the church was built to last. It is mentioned in section 152.

San Sebastian Line

A branch of Taggart Transcontinental that serves the San Sebastian Mines in Mexico. The mines were developed by Francisco d'Anconia and attracted significant investments from James Taggart and Orren Boyle, who assumed Francisco could be counted on to deliver a winner. The San Sebastian Line is nationalized by the Mexican government soon after completion. When it is nationalized in section 142, it is referred to as the San Sebastian Railroad. It is mentioned in sections 114, 131, 132, 133, 142, 143 and 152.

San Sebastian Mines

San Sebastian Mines is a copper mining project in Mexico founded by Francisco d'Anconia and named after his ancestor Sebastian d'Anconia. Francisco's reputation as a businessman is so great that investors flock to him, begging to invest money in the enterprise. Investors include James Taggart and Orren Boyle. Taggart goes so far as to build a new branch of Taggart Transcontinental, the San Sebastian Line, to serve the mines, sinking $30 million into the project. When the development of the mines appears complete, the Mexican government nationalizes them as well as the San Sebastian Line, only to discover there is no copper and there never was. When Taggart tells Francisco he considers the Mines a rotten swindle (section 161), Francisco explains that Taggart should be pleased with the way he ran the mines. He says he put into practice those moral precepts that were accepted around the world. The world says it is evil to pursue a profit — he got no profit from the worthless mines. The world says the purpose of an enterprise is not to produce, but to give a livelihood to its employees — it produced nothing, but created jobs that would never have existed if one was only concerned with developing a real mine. The world says the owner is an exploiter and the workers do all the real work — he left the enterprise entirely in the hands of the workers and did not burden anyone with his presence. The world says need is more important than ability — he hired a mining specialist who needed a job very badly, but had no ability. In short, the San Sebastian Mines were an illustration of what happens when this moral code is put into practice, and a warning of what will soon happen to the world as a whole. The San Sebastian Mines appear in sections 111, 131, 132, 142, 151, 152 and 161.

Taggart Building

A skyscraper in New York, the headquarters of Taggart Transcontinental, and the location of the Taggart Terminal.

Taggart Comet

The Taggart Comet is Taggart Transcontinental's flagship train. It runs from New York to San Francisco, and has never been late. The Taggart Comet appears in sections 112, 113 and 152.

The Future

See Bertram Scudder.

The Heart Is A Milkman

The Heart is a Milkman is a novel being written by Balph Eubank. It is about the central fact of human existence, frustration. Eubank says he will dedicate it to Lillian Rearden. It is mentioned in section 161.

The Octopus

See Bertram Scudder.

The Vulture Is Molting

A best-selling novel that captures the spirit of the times, The Vulture Is Molting is "A penetrating study of a businessman's greed. A fearless revelation of man's depravity." The book is mentioned in section 141 as one of the artifacts of popular culture that depresses Dagny Taggart with its baseness.

Wayne-Falkland Hotel

A luxurious hotel in New York, it is considered the best hotel left in the world. It is where Francisco d'Anconia stays when he is in town. It was also the scene of Dagny Taggart's debut ball when she was seventeen. The Wayne-Falkland Hotel is mentioned in sections 141, 151 and 152.

Wyatt Oil Fields

The Wyatt Oil Fields are in Colorado. They are a bunch of old, abandoned oil wells that were revived by a new technique invented by Ellis Wyatt. This has almost single-handedly revitalized the economy of Colorado. The Wyatt Oil Fields appear in sections 111 and 161. Category:Atlas Shrugged Category:Lists of fictional things

Ayn Rand

, best known for her philosophy of Objectivism]] Ayn Rand (February 2 1905–March 6 1982; first name pronounced (IPA) (rhymes with 'mine')), born Alissa Zinovievna Rosenbaum, was best known for her philosophy of Objectivism and her novels "We the Living", Anthem, The Fountainhead, and Atlas Shrugged. Her philosophy and her fiction both emphasize, above all, her concepts of individualism, rational egoism ("rational self-interest"), and capitalism. Believing government has a legitimate but relatively minimal role in a free society, she was not an anarchist, but a minarchist (though she did not use the term). Her novels were based upon the projection of the Randian hero, a man whose ability and independence causes conflict with the masses, but who perseveres nevertheless to achieve his values. Rand viewed this hero as the ideal and made it the express goal of her literature to showcase such heroes. She believed: #That man must choose his values and actions by reason; #That the individual has a right to exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing self to others nor others to self; and #That no one has the right to seek values from others by physical force, or impose ideas on others by physical force.

Biography

Early life

Rand was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and was the eldest of three daughters of a Jewish family. Her parents were agnostic and largely non-observant. From an early age, she displayed a strong interest in literature and films. She started writing screenplays and novels from the age of seven. Her mother undertook to teach her French and subscribed to a magazine featuring stories for boys, where Rand found her first childhood hero: Cyrus Paltons, an Indian army officer in a Rudyard Kipling-style story called "The Mysterious Valley". Throughout her youth, she read the novels of Sir Walter Scott, Alexandre Dumas and other Romantic writers, and expressed a passionate enthusiasm toward the Romantic movement as a whole. She discovered Victor Hugo at the age of thirteen, and fell deeply in love with his novels. Later, she would cite him as her favorite novelist and the greatest novelist of world literature. She studied philosophy and history at the University of Petrograd. Her major literary discoveries in university were the works of Edmond Rostand, Friedrich Schiller and Fyodor Dostoevsky. She admired Rostand for his richly romantic imagination and Schiller for his grand, heroic scale. She admired Dostoevsky for his sense of drama and his intense moral judgments, but was deeply against his philosophy and his sense of life. She continued to write short stories and screenplays and wrote sporadically in her diary, which contained intensely anti-Soviet ideas. She also encountered the philosophical ideas of Nietzsche, and loved his exaltation of the heroic and independent individual in Thus Spoke Zarathustra; nevertheless she was strongly critical of his philosophy, going so far as to attack it in the introductions of her novels. Her greatest influence by far is Aristotle, especially his work Organon (Logic). She considered him the greatest philosopher ever. She then entered the State Institute for Cinema Arts in 1924 to study screenwriting; in late 1925, however, she was granted a visa to visit American relatives. She arrived in the United States in February 1926, at the age of twenty-one. After a brief stay with her relatives in Chicago, she resolved never to return to the Soviet Union, and set out for Hollywood to become a screenwriter. She then changed her name to "Ayn Rand". There is a story told that she named herself after the Remington Rand typewriter, but recent evidence has proved that this is not the case. She stated that her first name, 'Ayn', was an adaptation of the name of a Finnish writer. This may have been the Finnish-Estonian author Aino Kallas. Others have suggested that her name is derived from the South African rand, but the rand was not used until 1961. Michael Berliner and Richard Ralston, working for the Ayn Rand Institute and with access to Miss Rand’s records, have hypothesized an explanation derived from the appearance of Russian script of "Rozenbaum" (depicted [http://arname.davidhayes.net/ here] with an animation). A further refinement of this interpretation is to make "Rand" from the letters Rznb (Рзнб), again using script letters rather than type. The superiority of this method allows the name to be transformed entirely from Rozenbaum (Розенбаум) without changing the order of the letters, by: splitting: "Розенб аум" reversing: "аум Розенб" dropping two vowels: "аум Рзнб" At that point, the script version is very reminiscent of the name Ayn Rand. Image:ayn_rand_name.gif

Major works

Initially, Rand struggled in Hollywood and took odd jobs to pay her basic living expenses. While working as an extra on Cecil B. DeMille's King of Kings, she intentionally bumped into an aspiring young actor, Frank O'Connor, who caught her eye. The two were married in 1929. In 1931, Rand became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Her first literary success came with the sale of her screenplay Red Pawn in 1932 to Universal Studios. Rand then wrote the play The Night of January 16th in 1934, which was highly successful, and published two novels, We the Living (1936), and Anthem (1938). The two novels failed to gain any significant financial/critical success. She was up against The Red Decade in America, and Anthem did not even find a publisher in the United States; it was first published in England. Besides that, Rand had still not perfected her literary style and the novels cannot be considered fully representative. Without Rand's knowledge or permission, We The Living was made into a pair of films, Noi vivi and Addio, Kira in 1942 by Scalara Films, Rome. The films were nearly censored by the Italian government under Benito Mussolini, but they were allowed to be featured because the novel they were based upon was ostensibly anti-Soviet. The films were successful and the public easily realised that it was as much against Fascism as it was against Communism, and the government banned it quickly thereafter. These films were re-edited into a new version which was approved by Rand and re-released as We the Living in 1986. Rand's first major professional success came with her best-selling novel The Fountainhead (1943). She took seven years to write it. The novel was rejected by twelve publishers, who thought it was too intellectual and opposed to the mainstream of American thought, and that there would be no public for it. It was finally accepted by the Bobbs-Merrill Company publishing house, thanks mainly to a member of the editorial board, Archibald Ogden, who praised the book in the highest terms and finally prevailed. Despite these initial struggles The Fountainhead was a worldwide success, bringing Rand fame and financial security. The theme of The Fountainhead is "individualism and collectivism in man's soul". It features the lives of five main characters. The hero, Howard Roark, is Rand's ideal, a noble soul par excellence, an architect who is firmly and serenely devoted to his own ideals and believes that no man should copy the style of another in any field, and especially in architecture. All the other characters in the novel demand the renunciation of his values with varying degrees of intensity, but Roark maintains his integrity. A most interesting feature of Roark is that he does this unlike traditional heroes who launch into long and passionate monologues about their integrity and the unfairness of the world; Roark, by contrast, does it with a disdainful, almost contemptous taciturnity and laconicism. Rand's magnum opus, Atlas Shrugged, was published in 1957, becoming an international bestseller. Atlas Shrugged is often seen as Rand's most complete statement of the Objectivist philosophy in any of her works of fiction. In its appendix, she offered this summary: :"My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute." The theme of Atlas Shrugged is "The role of man's mind in society". Rand upheld the industrialist as one of the most admirable members of any society and fiercely opposed the popular resentment accorded to industrialists. This led her to envision a novel wherein the industrialists of America go on strike and retreat to a mountainous hideaway. The American economy and its society in general slowly start to collapse. The government responds by increasing the already stifling controls on industrial concerns. The novel, despite having a political theme at its centre, deals with issues as complex and divergent as sex, music, medicine, and human ability. Along with Nathaniel Branden, his wife Barbara, and others including Alan Greenspan and Leonard Peikoff, (jokingly designated "The Collective"), Rand launched the Objectivist movement to promote her philosophy.

The Objectivist movement

Main article: The Objectivist movement In 1950 Rand moved to New York City, where in 1951 she met the young psychology student Nathaniel Branden [http://www.nathanielbranden.com], who had read her book, The Fountainhead, at the age of 14. Branden, then 19, enjoyed discussing Rand's emerging Objectivist philosophy with her. Together, Branden and some of his other friends formed a group that they dubbed the Ayn Rand Collective, which included some participation by future Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan. After several years, Rand and Branden's friendly relationship blossomed into a romantic affair, despite the fact that both were married at the time. This affair was accepted by their spouses but led to the separation and then divorce of Nathaniel Branden from his wife. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Rand developed and promoted her Objectivist philosophy through both her fiction [http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=objectivism_fiction] and non-fiction [http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=objectivism_nonfiction] works, and by giving talks at several east-coast universities, largely through the Nathaniel Branden Institute ("the NBI") which Branden had established to promote her philosophy. After a convoluted series of separations, Rand abruptly ended her relationship with both Nathaniel Branden and his wife, Barbara Branden, in 1968 when she learned of Nathaniel Branden's affair with Patrecia Scott (this later affair did not overlap chronologically with the earlier Branden/Rand affair). Rand refused to have any further dealings with the NBI. She then published a letter in "The Objectivist" announcing her repudiation of Branden for various reasons, including dishonesty, but did not mention their affair or her role in the schism. The two never reconciled, and Branden remained a persona non grata in the Objectivist movement. 1968 honoring Rand.]] Barbara Branden presented an account of the breakup of the affair in her book, The Passion of Ayn Rand. She describes the encounter between Nathaniel and Rand, saying that Rand slapped him numerous times, and denounced him in these words: "If you have an ounce of morality left in you, an ounce of psychological health — you'll be impotent for the next twenty years! And if you achieve any potency, you'll know it's a sign of still worse moral degradation!" Conflicts continued in the wake of the break with Branden and the subsequent collapse of the NBI. Many of her closest "Collective" friends began to part ways, and during the late 70's, her activities within the formal Objectivist movement began to decline, a situation which increased after the death of her husband in 1979. One of her final projects was work on a television adaptation of Atlas Shrugged. Rand died of heart failure on March 6, 1982 in New York City, years after having successfully battled cancer, and was interred in the Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York. Valhalla, New York

Philosophical influences

Rand rejected virtually all other philosophical schools. She acknowledged a shared intellectual lineage with Aristotle and John Locke, and more generally with the philosophy of the Age of Enlightenment and Age of Reason. She occasionally remarked with approval on specific philosophical positions of, e.g., Baruch Spinoza and Thomas Aquinas. She seems also to have respected the American rationalist Brand Blanshard. However, she regarded most philosophers as at best incompetent and at worst downright evil. She singled out Immanuel Kant as the most influential of the latter sort. Nonetheless, there are connections between Rand's views and those of other philosophers. She acknowledged that she had been influenced at an early age by the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche. Though she later repudiated his thought, and reprinted her first novel, We The Living, with some wording changes in 1959, her own thought grew out of critical interaction with it. Generally, her political thought is in the tradition of classical liberalism. She expressed qualified enthusiasm for the economic thought of Ludwig von Mises and Henry Hazlitt. Though not mentioned as an influence by her specifically, parallels between her works and Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay Self-Reliance do exist. Later Objectivists, such as Richard Salsman, have claimed that Rand's economic theories are implicitly more supportive of the doctrines of Jean-Baptiste Say, though Rand herself was likely not acquainted with his work.

Politics and House Committee on Un-American Activities testimony

Rand's political views were radically pro-capitalist, anti-statist, and anti-communist. Her writings praised above all the human individual and the creative genius of which one is capable. She exalted what she saw as the heroic American values of egoism and individualism. Rand also had a strong dislike for mysticism, religion, and compulsory charity (forced extraction), all of which she believed helped foster a crippling culture of resentment towards individual human happiness and success. Rand detested many prominent liberal and conservative politicians of her time, even including prominent anti-communist crusaders like Presidents Harry S. Truman and Ronald Reagan and Senators Hubert H. Humphrey and Joseph McCarthy. In 1947, during the Red Scare, Rand testified as a "friendly witness" before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. [http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/texts/huac.html]. Rand's testimony involved analysis of the 1943 film Song of Russia. While many believe that Ayn Rand disclosed the names of members of the Communist Party in the U.S., thus exposing them to blacklisting, her testimony consisted entirely of comments regarding the disparity between her experiences in the Soviet Union and the fanciful portrayal of it in the film. Rand argued that the movie grossly misrepresented the socioeconomic conditions in the Soviet Union. She told the committee that the film presented life in the USSR as being much better than it actually was. Apparently this 1943 film was intentional wartime propaganda by U.S. patriots, trying to put their Soviet allies in World War II under the best possible light. After the HUAC hearings, when Ayn Rand was asked about her feelings on the effectiveness of their investigations, she described the process as "futile."

Legacy

Rand's funeral was attended by some of her prominent followers, including Alan Greenspan. A six-foot floral arrangement in the shape of a dollar sign was placed on her casket. [http://www.eckerd.edu/aspec/writers/atlas_shrugged.htm] In 1985, Leonard Peikoff, a surviving member of "The Collective" and Ayn Rand's designated heir, established "The Ayn Rand Institute: The Center for the Advancement of Objectivism". The Institute has since registered the name Ayn Rand as a trademark, despite Rand's desire that her name never be used to promote the philosophy she developed. Rand expressed her wish to keep her name and the philosophy of Objectivism separate to ensure the survival of her ideas. Another schism in the movement occurred in 1989, when Objectivist David Kelley wrote an article called "A Question of Sanction," [http://www.wetheliving.com/boston/sanction.html] in which he defended his choice to speak to non-Objectivist libertarian groups. Kelley wrote that Objectivism was not a "closed system" and should engage with other philosophies. Peikoff, in an article for The Intellectual Activist called "Fact and Value" [http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=objectivism_f-v], argued that Objectivism is, indeed, a closed system, and that truth and moral goodness are intrinsically related. Peikoff expelled Kelley from his movement, whereupon Kelley founded The Institute for Objectivist Studies (now known as "The Objectivist Center"). Rand and Objectivism are less well known outside North America, though there are pockets of interest in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, and her novels are reported to be very popular in India ([http://www.theatlasphere.com/metablog/000058.php]). Her work has had little effect on academic philosophy, for her followers are mostly (with some notable exceptions) drawn from the non-academic world.

Controversy

Rand's views are controversial. Religious and socially conservative thinkers have criticized her atheism. Many adherents and practicioners of continental philosophy would criticize her celebration of rationality and self-interest. Her extremely pro-capitalism political views have not been positively received within the American academy. Within the dominant philosophical movement in the English-speaking world, analytic philosophy, Rand's work has been mostly ignored. No leading research university in this tradition considers Rand or Objectivism to be an important philosophical specialty or research area, as is documented by Brian Leiter's report at [http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/]. Some academics, however, are trying to bring Rand's work into the mainstream. For instance, there is an Ayn Rand Society [http://www.aynrandsociety.org/], founded in 1987, affiliated with the American Philosophical Association. A notable exception to the general lack of attention paid to Rand in the analytic community is the essay "On the Randian Argument" by Harvard University philosopher Robert Nozick, which appears in his collection Socratic Puzzles. Nozick's own libertarian political conclusions are similar to Rand's, but his essay is critical of her foundational argument in ethics, which claims that one's own life is, for each individual, the only ultimate value because it makes all other values possible. Nozick says that to make this argument sound, Rand still needs to explain why someone could not rationally prefer the state of eventually dying and having no values. Thus, he argues, her attempt to deduce the morality of selfishness is essentially an instance of assuming the conclusion or begging the question and that her solution to David Hume's famous is-ought problem is unsatisfactory. Nevertheless, Nozick did respect Rand as an author and noted that he found her books enjoyable and thought-provoking. Rand has sometimes been viewed with suspicion for her practice of presenting her philosophy in fiction and non-fiction books aimed at a general audience rather than publishing in peer-reviewed journals. Rand's defenders note that she is part of a long tradition of authors who wrote philosophically rich fiction — including Dante, John Milton, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Albert Camus, and that other philosophers such as Jean-Paul Sartre presented their philosophies in both fictional and non-fictional forms. Other critics argue that Rand’s idealistic philosophy and her Romantic literary style are not applicable to the inhabited world. In particular, these critics claim that Rand's novels are made up of unrealistic and one-dimensional characters. They criticize the portrayal of the Objectivist heroes as incredibly intelligent, unencumbered by doubt, wealthy, and free of flaws, in contrast to the frequent portrayal of the antagonists as weak, pathetic, full of uncertainty, and lacking in imagination and talent. Defenders of Rand point out counterexamples to these criticisms: neither Eddie Willers nor Cherryl Taggart (both positive characters) is especially gifted or intelligent, but both are characters of dignity and respect; Leo Kovalensky suffers enormously due to his inability to cope with the brutality and banality of communism; Andrei Taganov dies after realizing his philosophical errors; Dominique Francon is initially bitterly unhappy because she believes evil is powerful; and Dagny Taggart thinks that she is capable of saving the world alone. Two of her main protagonists, Howard Roark and John Galt, did not begin life as rich. Though Rand believed that, under capitalism, valuable contributions will routinely be rewarded by wealth, she certainly did not think that wealth made a person virtuous. In fact, she presents various vicious apparatchiks and plutocrats who use statism to enrich themselves. Moreover, Hank Rearden is exploited because of his social naïveté. As for the purportedly weak and pathetic villains, Rand's defenders point out that Ellsworth Toohey is represented as being a great strategist and communicator from an early age, and Dr. Robert Stadler is a brilliant scientist. Rand herself replied to these literary criticisms (and in advance of much of them) with her essay "The Goal of My Writing" (1963). There, and in other essays collected in her book The Romantic Manifesto: A Philosophy of Literature (2nd rev. ed. 1975), Rand makes it clear that her goal is to project her vision of an ideal man: not man as he is, but man as he might and ought to be.

Bibliography

Fiction

- Night of January 16th (1934)
- We The Living (1936)
- Anthem (1938)
- The Fountainhead (1943)
- Atlas Shrugged (1957)

Posthumous fiction

- Three Plays (2005)

Nonfiction

- For the New Intellectual (1961)
- The Virtue of Selfishness (with Nathaniel Branden) (1964)
- Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (with Nathaniel Branden, Alan Greenspan, and Robert Hessen) (1966)
- Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology (1967)
- The Romantic Manifesto (1969)
- The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution (1971)
- Philosophy: Who Needs It (1982)

Posthumous nonfiction

- The Early Ayn Rand (edited and with commentary by Leonard Peikoff) (1984)
- The Voice of Reason: Essays in Objectivist Thought (edited by Leonard Peikoff; additional essays by Leonard Peikoff and Peter Schwartz) (1989)
- Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology second edition (edited by Harry Binswanger; additional material by Leonard Peikoff) (1990)
- Letters of Ayn Rand (edited by Michael S. Berliner) (1995)
- Journals of Ayn Rand (edited by David Harriman) (1997)
- Ayn Rand's Marginalia : Her Critical Comments on the Writings of over Twenty Authors (edited by Robert Mayhew) (1998)
- The Ayn Rand Column: Written for the Los Angeles Times (edited by Peter Schwartz) (1998)
- Russian Writings on Hollywood (edited by Michael S. Berliner) (1999)
- Return of the Primitive: The Anti-Industrial Revolution (expanded edition of The New Left; edited and with additional essays by Peter Schwartz) (1999)
- The Art of Fiction (edited by Tore Boeckmann) (2000)
- The Art of Nonfiction (edited by Robert Mayhew) (2001)
- The Objectivism Research CD-ROM (collection of most of Rand's works in CD-ROM format) (2001)
- Ayn Rand Answers (2005)

References

In addition to Rand's own works (listed above), the following references discuss Rand's life and/or literary work. References that discuss her philosophy can be found in the bibliography of work on Objectivism.
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External links

General information
- [http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/bio/biofaq.html Ayn Rand FAQ]
- [http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/bio/biofaq-notes.html Ayn Rand FAQ-notes]
- [http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_ayn_rand_faq_index2 Frequently Asked Questions on Ayn Rand]
- [http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/r/rand.htm "Ayn Rand" entry from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
- [http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/bio/biofaq.html#Q0/ Rand's biography]
- [http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/ Objectivism Reference Center] Organizations promoting Ayn Rand's philosophy
- [http://www.aynrand.org/ The Ayn Rand Institute]
- [http://www.ariwatch.com/ ARI Watch]
- [http://www.objectivistcenter.org/ The Objectivist Center]
- [http://www.capitalismcenter.org/ The Center for the Advancement of Capitalism] Articles
- [http://chronicle.com/colloquy/99/rand/background.htm Ayn Rand Has Finally Caught the Attention of Scholars] by Jeff Sharlet
- [http://www.mclemee.com/id39.html The Heirs of Ayn Rand by Scott McLemee] An article published in Lingua Franca which covers the arc of her publishing career, while alive and posthomous, as well as the continuing scholarship.
- [http://www.lrb.co.uk/v27/n23/turn03_.html As Astonishing as Elvis by Jenny Turner] Essay review of Ayn Rand by Jeff Britting Articles critical of Ayn Rand
- [http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard23.html The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult by Murray Rothbard] Written in 1972, this was the first piece of Rand revisionism from the libertarian standpoint.
- [http://www.2think.org/02_2_she.shtml The Unlikeliest Cult in History by Michael Shermer]
- [http://world.std.com/~mhuben/critobj.html "Extensive list of critical essays that Objectivists must answer"]
- [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliography_of_work_on_Objectivism] "The works of numerous philosophers that are critical of Rand's Objectivism are included at this internal link #11" Rand's associates
- [http://www.leonardpeikoff.com/ Leonard Peikoff's website]
- [http://www.barbarabranden.com/ Barbara Branden's website]
- [http://www.nathanielbranden.com/ Nathaniel Branden's website] Online groups and blogs
- [http://www.TIADaily.com/ TIA Daily] — Daily news and commentary from the Objectivist perspective by e-mail
- [http://www.DrHurd.com/ Dr. Michael J. Hurd, psychologist] — The Daily Dose of Reason: psychology, life coaching and comments on cultural/political topics from an Objectivist perspective — also, The Living Resources Newsletter and Dr. Hurd's publications
- [http://www.theatlasphere.com/ Ayn Rand Admirers] — The Atlasphere: Member directory, dating service, columns, and news for admirers of Rand's novels
- [http://www.objectivismonline.net/ ObjectivismOnline.Net] — Contains [http://forum.objectivismonline.net/ forums], blogs, essays, chat room, and a [http://wiki.objectivismonline.net wiki on Objectivism]
- [http://www.solopassion.com Sense of Life Objectivists] — Online columns and discussion, by and for Objectivists - hosted by Lindsay Perigo
- [http://forums.4aynrandfans.com The Forum for Ayn Rand Fans]
- [http://www.objectivistblogs.com Objectivist Blogs] — A list of Rand-influenced bloggers
- [http://www.hblist.com Harry Binswanger List] — E-mail-based discussion group
- [http://randex.org/ Randex] — Index of online media references to Ayn Rand and Objectivism
- [http://www.objectivism.net Objectivism.net] — Ayn Rand on CD-ROM, and good links
- [http://wiki.objectivismonline.net/ The Objectivism Wiki]
- [http://www.aynrandstudies.com The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies] — Contains abstracts of articles, author bios, links to several articles, and submission guidelines.
- [http://www.starshipaurora.com/aynrand100.html Ayn Rand 100 Tribute] — includes reference to a tribute album, "Concerto of Deliverance", inspired by Rand's words describing such music. Rand's writing and speeches
- [http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/texts/anthem/complete.html Anthem] — The complete text of the novel, which has fallen into the public domain
- [http://www.ayn-rand.com/ayn-rand-atlas-shrugged.asp Atlas Shrugged ] — Book outline
- [http://www.ayn-rand.com/ayn-rand-fountainhead.asp The Fountainhead] — Book outline
- [http://www.ayn-rand.com/ayn-rand-we-the-living.asp We The Living] — Book outline
- [http://www.tracyfineart.com/usmc/philosophy_who_needs_it.htm "Philosophy: Who Needs It?"] — Address To The Graduating Class Of The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York - March 6, 1974
- [http://www.noblesoul.com/orc/texts/huac.html Rand's HUAC testimony] — Transcript
- [http://www.libertyhaven.org/bookstore/B00004LC7UAMUS169912.shtml We the Living] — Video outline
- [http://www.americanwriters.org/writers/rand.asp Rand featured on C-Span's "American Writers"] — RealVideo discussions on Rand's writing
- Ayn Rand Art
[http://www.yoyita.com/portrait.htm A portrait of Ayn Rand] Rand, Ayn Rand, Ayn Rand, Ayn Rand, Ayn Rand, Ayn Rand, Ayn Rand, Ayn Rand, Ayn Rand, Ayn ja:アイン・ランド

Atlas Shrugged

Atlas Shrugged is a novel by Ayn Rand, first published in 1957 in the USA. It is a highly philosophical and allegorical story that deals with themes of Rand's own Objectivist philosophy, though she was not yet known as a philosopher when it was written. However, whether or not she had philosophical intentions, and to what extent or sense the novel is an allegory is controversial. The theme of the novel is 'the importance of man's reasoning mind.' It is also one of the longest books ever published, at roughly over 1000 pages.

Philosophy and writing

The theme of Atlas Shrugged is that independent, rational thought is the motor that powers the world. In the book, "men of the mind" go on strike, allowing the collapse of what only they hold together — a peaceful cohesiveness. Rand claims that humans may create wherever forceful human interference is absent. Given no alternative, they remove themselves from the "looters." The book is rooted in Objectivism, the philosophical system founded by Rand. Rand suggests that society stagnates when independence and individual achievement are discouraged or demonized, and that, inversely, a society will become more prosperous as it allows, encourages, and rewards independence and individual achievement. Rand believed that independence flourishes to the extent that people are free, and that achievement is rewarded best when private property is respected strictly. She advocated laissez-faire capitalism as the political system that is most consistent with these beliefs. These considerations make Atlas Shrugged a highly political book, especially in its portrayal of fascism, socialism and communism, or indeed any form of state intervention in societal affairs, as fatally flawed. However, Rand claimed that it is not a fundamentally political book, but that the politics portrayed in the novel are a result of her attempt to display her image of the ideal man and the position of the human mind in society. Rand argues that independence and individual achievement drive the world, and should be embraced. Her worldview requires a "rational" moral code. She disputes the notion that self-sacrifice is a virtue, and is similarly dismissive of human faith in a god or higher being. The book positions itself against Christianity specifically, often directly within the characters' dialogue.

Setting

Exactly when Atlas Shrugged is meant to take place is kept deliberately vague. In section 152, the population of New York City is given as 7 million. The historical New York City reached 7 million people in the 1930s, which might place the novel sometime after that. There are many early 20th century technologies available, but the political situation is clearly different from actual history. One interpretation is that the novel takes place a hundred (or perhaps hundreds) of years in the future, implying that since the world lapsed into its socialistic morass, a global-wide stagnation has occurred in technological growth, population growth, and indeed growth of any kind; the wars, economic depressions, and other events of the 20th century would be a distant memory to all but scholars and academicians. This would be in line with Rand's ideas and commentary on other novels depicting utopian and dystopian societies. The concept of societal stagnation in the wake of collectivist systems is central to the plot of another of Rand's works, Anthem. All countries outside the US have become, or become during the novel, "People's States". There are many examples of early 20th century technology in Atlas Shrugged, but no post-war advances such as nuclear weapons, helicopters, or computers. Jet planes are mentioned briefly as being a relatively new technology. Television is a novelty that has yet to assume any cultural significance, while radio broadcasts are prominent. Though Rand does not use in the book many of the technological innovations available while she was writing, she introduces some advanced, fictional inventions (e.g., sound-based weapon of mass destruction, torture device, power plant). Most of the action in Atlas Shrugged occurs in the United States. However, there are important events around the world, such as in the People's States of Mexico, Chile, and Argentina, and piracy at sea.

Plot

A section by section analysis of Atlas Shrugged is available on Wikibooks. The basic plot follows the character of Dagny Taggart, a no-nonsense railroad executive, who struggles with the frustrations of the fundamental ideological, political and economic changes happening in the world around her. Other major characters include Hank Rearden, a highly successful steel tycoon, and Francisco d'Anconia, a prodigy who is also heir to a fortune based on the copper industry.
- Characters
- Minor Characters
- Companies
- Concepts
- Places
- Technology
- Things
- Topics of note

Film adaptation

Rights to the novel Atlas Shrugged were puchased by the Baldwin Entertainment Group in 2003 with the intent of producing a feature-length film. Company leader Howard Baldwin was quoted in September 2004 as saying "...everything is on track and [the movie] hasn’t been held up one bit.... I assure you that this will be a big movie and IT WILL GET MADE." Two works of Rand's—The Fountainhead and We the Living —have been adapted into movies so far.

External links

- http://www.aynrand.org
- http://www.atlassociety.org/news_atlas-movie-updated050304.asp

References and further reading

Publications

- Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand; Signet; (September 1996) ISBN 0451191145
- Atlas Shrugged (Cliffs Notes), Andrew Bernstein; Cliffs Notes; (June 5, 2000) ISBN 0764585568
- The World of Atlas Shrugged, Robert Bidinotto/The Objectivist Center; HighBridge Company; (April 19, 2001) ISBN 156511471X
- Atlas Shrugged: Manifesto of the Mind (Twayne's Masterwork Studies, No. 174) Mimi Reisel Gladstein; Twayne Pub; (June 2000) ISBN 0805716386
- The Moral Revolution in Atlas Shrugged, Nathaniel Branden; The Objectivist Center; (July 1999) ISBN 1577240332
- Odysseus, Jesus, and Dagny, Susan McCloskey; The Objectivist Center; (August 1, 1998) ISBN 1577240251

Foreign translations

- German: Wer ist John Galt? (Hamburg, Germany: GEWIS Verlag), ISBN 3-932-56403-0.
- Italian: La rivolta di Atlante, 2 vol. (Milano, Garzanti, 1958), Out of print. Translator: Laura Grimaldi
- Japanese: 肩をすくめるアトラス 　(ビジネス社), ISBN 4-8284-1149-6. Translator: 脇坂あゆみ.
- Norwegian: De som beveger verden. (Kagge Forlag, 2000), ISBN 8-248-90083-5 (hardcover), ISBN 8-248-90169-6 (paperback). Translator: John Erik Bøe Lindgren.
- Polish: Atlas Zbuntowany (Zysk i S-ka, 2004), ISBN 83-7150-969-3 (Twarda). Translator: Iwona Michałowska.
- Spanish: La Rebelion de Atlas. (Editorial Grito Sagrado), ISBN 9-872-09510-8 (hardcover), ISBN 9-872-09511-6 (paperback).
- Swedish: Och världen skälvde. ([http://www.timbro.se/rand/ Timbro Förlag], 2005), ISBN 9-175-66556-5. Translator: Maud Freccero.
- Turkish: Atlas Vazgeçti. (Plato Yayınları, 2003), ISBN 9-759-67726-1. Translator: Belkıs Çorapçı.

Reviews

- [http://www.cix.co.uk/~morven/atlas.html Review] from a self-proclaimed non-Libertarian
- [http://www.strangewords.com/archive/ayn.html Review] from the Weird Bookshelf ("fine science fiction books").
- Slade, Robert M. [http://victoria.tc.ca/int-grps/books/techrev/bkatshrg.rvw Review] from the Internet Review Project (1998).
- [http://www.pierssen.com/cfile/objectivist.htm A review] which, while attempting to address the environmentalist issues, claims that Atlas Shrugged is a sequel to The Lord of the Rings.
- [http://atlasshruggednovel.blogspot.com A Review] and in-depth Chapter-by-Chapter, Motif-by-Motif, etc. analysis.

Satires and parodies

- [http://kamita.com/misc/illuminatus/illuminatus.html "Telemachus Sneezed"] within Robert Anton Wilson's Illuminatus! Trilogy (Search for "Taffy Rhinestone" in the former link to read the spoof.)
- [http://www.spudworks.com/article/66/2/ The Abridged Atlas Shrugged]
- [http://www.modernhumorist.com/mh/0101/rand/ Atlas Shr], a look at parallel universes wherein all of Ayn Rand's books are four hundred pages shorter
- [http://www.mskousen.com/Books/Articles/shrugged.html Oscar Shrugged], a depiction of the first film festival held in Galt's Gulch
- [http://www.angryflower.com/atlass.gif Atlas Shrugged 2: One Hour Later], starring Bob the Angry Flower

Other works cited

- Asimov, Isaac. The Naked Sun, (Doubleday, 1957), ISBN 9-997-40641-9.
- Borges, Jorge L. "Two Books", in Selected Non-Fictions (Penguin, 1999), ISBN 0-670-84947-2, pp. 207-10; also the Prologue to Carlyle's On Heroes, pp. 413-18.
- Borges, Jorge L. "From Allegories to Novels", in Selected Non-Fictions (Penguin, 1999), ISBN 0-670-84947-2, pp. 337-40. See also [http://www.theonionavclub.com/review.php?review_id=2733].
- Burke, James. Connections (Little, Brown; 1978), ISBN 0-316-11681-5.
- Chambers, Whittaker. "Big Sister Is Watching You", National Review (28 December 1957), pp. 594-96.
- "I Second That Emotion", Futurama episode 2ACV01, written by Patrick M. Verrone, directed by Mark Ervin, first aired 21 November 1999.
- Gibbon, Edward. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 1 (1776). Ed. by David Womersley, (Allen Lane, 1994), ISBN 0-713-99124-0.
- Gleick, James. Genius (Pantheon, 1992), ISBN 0-679-40836-3.
- Nabokov, Vladimir V. "On a Book Entitled Lolita", Anchor Review (Summer 1956). Reprinted in, e.g., Alfred Appel's The Annotated Lolita, (Vintage, 1991), ISBN 0-679-72729-9.
- Pynchon, Thomas R. The Crying of Lot 49, (J. B. Lippincott, 1965).
- Raymond, Eric S. "[http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/sf-history.html A Political History of SF]" (November 2002).
- Russell, Bertrand. "[http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/russell0.htm Why I Am Not a Christian]".
- Sagan, Carl. The Demon-Haunted World (Ballantine, 1996), ISBN 0-345-40946-9. See also [http://www.theonionavclub.com/review.php?review_id=3036].
- Shermer, Michael. "[http://www.skeptic.com/archives13.html The Unlikeliest Cult in History]", Skeptic 2 No. 2 (1993): pp. 74-81. Also printed in Why People Believe Weird Things (W. H. Freeman, 1997), ISBN 0-716-73090-1. Category:1957 books Category:Atlas Shrugged

Structure of Atlas Shrugged

Wikibooks:Structure of Atlas Shrugged

Structure of Atlas Shrugged

Wikibooks:Structure of Atlas Shrugged

Structure of Atlas Shrugged

Wikibooks:Structure of Atlas Shrugged

Structure of Atlas Shrugged

Wikibooks:Structure of Atlas Shrugged

X-ray

] ] An X-ray or Röntgen ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength in the range of 10 nanometers to 100 picometers (corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 PHz to 3 EHz). X-rays are primarily used for diagnostic medical imaging and crystallography. X-rays are a form of ionizing radiation and as such can be dangerous.

Physics

X-rays with a wavelength approximately longer than 0.1 nm are called soft X-rays. At wavelengths shorter than this, they are called hard X-rays. Hard X-rays overlap the range of "long"-wavelength (lower energy) gamma rays, however the distinction between the two terms depends on the source of the radiation, not its wavelength: X-ray photons are generated by energetic electron processes, gamma rays by transitions within atomic nuclei. The basic production of X-rays is by accelerating electrons in order to collide with a metal target (tungsten usually). Here the electrons suddenly decelerate upon colliding with the metal target and if enough energy is contained within the electron it is able to knock out an electron from the inner shell of the metal atom and as a result electrons from higher energy levels then fill up the vacancy and X-ray photons are emitted. This causes the spectral line part of the wavelength distribution. There is also a continuum bremsstrahlung component given off by the electrons as they are scattered by the strong electric field near the high Z (proton number) nuclei. Nowadays, for many applications, X-ray production is achieved by synchrotrons (see synchrotron light).

Detectors

Photographic plates

The detection of X-rays is based on various methods. The most commonly known method are a photographic plate and a fluorescent screen. The X-ray photographic plate is frequently used in hospitals to produce images of the internal organs and bones of a patient. The part of the patient to be X-rayed is placed between the X-ray source and the photographic plate to produce what is a shadow of all the internal structure of that particular part of the body being X-rayed. The X-rays are blocked by dense tissues such as bone and pass through soft tissues. Where the X-rays strike the photographic plate it turns black when it is developed. So where the X-rays go through "soft" parts of the body like organs and skin the plate turns black. Contrast compounds containing barium or iodine can be injected in the artery of a particular organ. The contrast compounds strongly block the X-rays and hence the circulation of the organ can be more readily seen. Another method of detecting X-rays is a fluorescent plate. In modern hospitals a special plastic sheet is used in place of the photographic plate. The plastic sheet is read by a scanning laser beam. The resultant image is then stored in a computer. The plastic sheet can be used over and over again.

Geiger counters

Initially, most common detection methods were based on the ionisation of gases, as in the Geiger-Müller counter: a sealed cylinder with a polymer window contains a gas, and a wire, and a high voltage is applied between the cylinder (cathode) and the wire (anode). When an X-ray photon enters the cylinder, it ionizes the gas which becomes conducting, creating a current flow (a kind of flash); this peak of current is detected and is called a "count". When the high voltage between anode and cathode is decreased, the detector is no longer saturated, and the height of the current peak is proportional to the energy of the photon; it is thus called a "proportional counter". Most of time, the cylinder is not sealed but is constantly fed with "fresh gas", is thus called a "flow counter". This proportionality property allows filtering the "interesting" peaks from the noise and other photons, but the resolution in energy is not enough to determine the energy spectrum; such a feature requires a diffracting crystal to first separate the different photons, the method is called wavelength dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (WDX or WDS).

Scintillators

Some materials such as NaI can "convert" an X photon to a visible photon; an electronic detector can be built by adding a photomultiplier. These detectors are called "scintillators", filmscreens or "scintillation counters". The main advantage of using these is that an adequate image can be obtained while subjecting the patient to a much lower dose of X-rays.

Direct semiconductor detectors

Since the 1970s, new semiconductor detectors have been developed (silicon or germanium doped with lithium, Si(Li) or Ge(Li)). X-ray photons are converted to electron-hole pairs in the semiconductor and are collected to detect the X-rays. When the temperature is low enough (the detector is cooled by Peltier effect or best by liquid nitrogen), it is possible to directly determine the X-ray energy spectrum; this method is called energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX or EDS); it is often used in small X-ray fluorescence spectrometers. These detectors are sometimes called "solid detectors". Cadmium telluride (CdTe) and its alloy with zinc, cadmium zinc telluride detectors have have an increased sensitivity, which allows lower doses of X-rays to be used. Silicon drift detectors (SDDs), produced by conventional semiconductor fabrication, now provide a cost-effective and high resolving radiation measurement. They replace conventional X-ray detectors, such as Si(Li)s, as they do not need to be cooled with liquid nitrogen.

Scintillator + Semiconductor detectors

With the advent of large semiconductor array detectors it has become possible to design detector systems using a scintillator screen to convert from X-rays to visible light which is then converted to electrical signals in an array detector.

Visibility to the Human Eye

It is commonly thought that X-rays are invisible to the human eye, and for almost all everyday uses of X-rays this may seem true; however, very strictly speaking, it is actually false. In special circumstances, X-rays are in fact visible to the "naked eye". An effect first discovered by Brandes in experimentation a short time after Röntgen's landmark 1895 paper; he reported, after dark adaptation and placing his eye close to an X-ray tube, seeing a faint "blue-gray" glow which seemed to originate within the eye itself.[http://www.orau.org/ptp/articlesstories/invisiblelight.htm] Upon hearing this, Röntgen reviewed his record books and found he in fact, also saw the effect. When placing an X-ray tube on the opposite side of a wooden door Röntgen saw the same blue glow seeming to emanate from the eye itself, but thought his observations were spurious due to the fact that he only saw the effect when he used one type of tube. Later he realized that the tube which created the effect was the only one which produced X-rays powerful enough to make the glow plainly visible and the experiment was thereafter repeated readily. The fact that X-rays are actually faintly visible to the dark-adapted naked eye has largely been forgotten today is probably due to the lack of desire to repeat what we would now see as a recklessly dangerous and harmful experiment with ionizing radiation. It is not known what the exact mechanism in the eye is which produces the visibility and it could be due to either conventional detection (excitation of rhodopsin molecules in the retina), direct excitation of retinal nerve cells, or secondary detection via, for instance, X-ray induction of phosphorescence in the eyeball and then conventional retinal detection of the secondarily produced visible light.

Medical uses

phosphorescence phosphorescence Since Röntgen's discovery that X-rays can identify bony structures, X-rays have been developed for their use in medical imaging. Radiology is a specialized field of medicine that employs radiography and other techniques for diagnostic imaging. Indeed, this is probably the most common use of X-ray technology. The use of X-rays are especially useful in the detection of pathology of the skeletal system, but are also useful for detecting some disease processes in soft tissue. Some notable examples are the very common chest X-ray, which can be used to identify lung diseases such as pneumonia, lung cancer or pulmonary edema, and the abdominal X-ray, which can detect ileus (blockage of the intestine), free air (from visceral perforations) and free fluid (in ascites). In some cases, the use of X-rays is debatable, such as gallstones (which are rarely radiopaque) or kidney stones (which are often visible, but not always). Also, Traditional plain X-rays pose very little use in the imaging of soft tissues such as the brain or muscle. Imaging alternatives for soft tissues are computed axial tomography (CAT or CT scanning), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or ultrasound. X-rays are also used in "real-time" procedures such as angiography or contrast studies of the hollow organs (e.g. barium enema of the small or large intestine) using fluoroscopy. Angioplasty, medical interventions of the arterial system, rely heavily on X-ray-sensitive contrast to identify potentially treatable lesions. Radiotherapy, a curative medical intervention, now used almost exclusively for cancer, employs higher energies of radiation.

History

Among the important early researchers in X-rays were Professor Ivan Pului, Sir William Crookes, Johann Wilhelm Hittorf, Eugen Goldstein, Heinrich Hertz, Philipp Lenard, Hermann von Helmholtz, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Charles Glover Barkla, Max von Laue, and Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen. Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen Physicist Johann Hittorf (1824 - 1914) observed tubes with energy rays extending from a negative electrode. These rays produced a fluorescence when they hit the glass walls of the tubes. In 1876 the effect was named "cathode rays" by Eugen Goldstein. Later, English physicist William Crookes investigated the effects of energy discharges on rare gases, and constructed what is called the Crookes tube. It is a glass vacuum cylinder, containing electrodes for discharges of a high voltage electric current. He found, when he placed unexposed photographic plates near the tube, that some of them were flawed by shadows, though he did not investigate this effect.

Tesla

In April 1887, Nikola Tesla began to investigate X-rays using high voltages and vacuum tubes of his own design, as well as Crookes tubes. From his technical publications, it is indicated that he invented and developed a special single-electrode X-ray tube, which differed from other X-ray tubes in having no target electrode. He stated these facts in his 1897 X-ray lecture before the New York Academy of Sciences. The principle behind Tesla's device is nowadays called the Bremsstrahlung process, in which a high-energy secondary X-ray emission is produced when charged particles (such as electrons) pass through matter. By 1892, Tesla performed several such experiments, but he did not categorize the emissions as what were later called X-rays, instead generalizing the phenomenon as radiant energy. He did not publicly declare his findings nor did he make them widely known. His subsequent X-ray experimentation by vacuum high field emissions led him to alert the scientific community to the biological hazards associated with X-ray exposure.

Hertz

In 1892, Heinrich Hertz began experimenting and demonstrated that cathode rays could penetrate very thin metal foil (such as aluminium). Philipp Lenard, a student of Heinrich Hertz, further researched this effect. He developed a version of the cathode tube and studied the penetration by X-rays of various materials. Philipp Lenard, though, did not realize that he was producing X-rays. Hermann von Helmholtz formulated mathematical equations for X-rays. He postulated a dispersion theory before Röntgen made his discovery and announcement. It was formed on the basis of the electromagnetic theory of light (Wiedmann's Annalen, Vol. XLVIII). However, he did not work with actual X-rays.

Röntgen

Hermann von Helmholtz] On November 8 1895, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, a German scientist, began observing and further documenting X-rays while experimenting with vacuum tubes. Röntgen, on December 28, 1895, wrote a preliminary report "On a new kind of ray: A preliminary communication". He submitted it to the Würzburg's Physical-Medical Society journal. This was the first formal and public recognition of the categorization of X-rays. Röntgen referred to the radiation as "X", to indicate that it was an unknown type of radiation. The name stuck, although (over Röntgen's great objections), many of his colleagues suggested calling them Röntgen rays. They are still referred to as such in many languages, where available see the list of titles for versions of this article in other languages. Röntgen received the first Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery. Röntgen was working on a primitive cathode ray generator that was projected through a glass vacuum tube. All of a sudden he noticed a faint green light against the wall. The odd thing he had noticed, was that the light from the cathode ray generator was traveling through a bunch of the materials in its way (paper,wood, and books). He then started to put various objects in front of the generator,and as he was doing this, he noticed that the outline of the bones from his hand were displayed on the wall. He then studied this phenomenon in seclusion.

Edison

In 1895, Thomas Edison investigated materials' ability to fluoresce when exposed to X-rays, and found that calcium tungstate was the most effective substance. Around March 1896, the fluoroscope he developed became the standard for medical X-ray examinations. Nevertheless, Edison dropped X-ray research around 1903 after the death of Clarence Madison Dally, one of his glassblowers. Dally had a habit of testing X-ray tubes on his hands, and acquired a cancer in them so tenacious that both arms were amputated in a futile attempt to save his life[http://www.ratical.org/radiation/KillingOurOwn/KOO6.html].

The 20th century and beyond

In 1906, physicist Charles Barkla discovered that X-rays could be scattered by gases, and that each element had a characteristic X-ray. He won the 1917 Nobel Prize in Physics for this discovery. The use of X-rays for medical purposes (to develop into the field of radiation therapy) was pioneered by Major John Hall-Edwards in Birmingham, England. In 1908, he had to have his left arm amputated owing to the spread of X-ray dermatitis[http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/xray]. In the 1950s X-rays were first harnessed to produce an X-ray microscope. X-ray microscope of, and occultation of the X-ray background by, the Moon.]] In the 1980s an X-ray laser device was proposed as part of the Reagan administration's Strategic Defense Initiative, but the first and only test of the device (a sort of laser "blaster", or death ray, powered by a thermonuclear explosion) gave inconclusive results. For technical and political reasons, the overall project (including the X-ray laser) was de-funded (though was later revived by the second Bush administration as National Missile Defense using different technologies). In the 1990s the Chandra X-Ray Observatory was launched, allowing the exploration of the very violent processes in the universe which produce X-Rays. Unlike visible light, which is a relatively stable view of the universe, the X-ray universe is unstable, it features stars being torn apart by black holes, galactic collisions, and novas, neutron stars that build up layers of plasma that then explode into space.

References

- [http://imagers.gsfc.nasa.gov/ems/xrays.html Nasa] Goddard Space Flight centre introduction to x-rays.
- Way Out There in the Blue: Reagan, Star Wars and the End of the Cold War, Frances Fitzgerald, Simon & Schuster (2001). ISBN 0743200233

Ouray, Colorado

Ouray is a city located in Ouray County, Colorado. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 813. It is the county seat of Ouray County.

Geography

Ouray County Ouray is located at 38°1'24" North, 107°40'20" West (38.023217, -107.672178). Ouray is located in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado. It is about 40 miles south of Montrose. It is only 10-miles northeast of Telluride, but due to the severity of the landscape, the drive is about 50-miles. Ouray is connected to Silverton and then Durango to the south by Red Mountain Pass which crests at just over 11,000 feet. The scenic drive along the Uncompahgre River and over the pass is nicknamed the Million Dollar Highway, although the exact origin of the name is disputed. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.2 km² (0.8 mi²). 2.2 km² (0.8 mi²) of it is land and none of it is covered by water.

History

Originally established by miners chasing silver and gold in the surrounding mountains, the town at one time, boasted more horses and mules than people. Prospectors arrived in the area in 1875 searching for silver and gold. At the height of the mining, Ouray had more than active 30 mines. The town was incorporated in 2 October 1876, Ouray was named after Chief Ouray of the Utes, a Native American tribe. By 1877 Ouray had grown to over 1,000 in population and was named county seat of the newly formed Ouray County on 8 March 1877. The Denver & Rio Grande Railway arrived in Ouray on 21 December 1887, it would stay until the automobile and trucks caused a decline in traffic, the last regularly scheduled passenger train was 14 September 1930. The line between Ouray and Ridgway was abandoned on 21 March 1953. The entire town is registered as a National Historic District with most of the building dating back to the late 1800's. The Beaumont Hotel, Ouray City Hall, Ouray County Courthouse, St. Elmo Hotel, St. Joseph's Miners' Hospital (currently housing the Ouray County Historical Society and Museum), Western Hotel, and Wright's Opera House are all on the National Register of Historic Places. In the fall of 1968 the film True Grit was filmed in Ouray County, including some scenes in the town of Ouray, most notably the Ouray County Court House.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there are 813 people, 374 households, and 225 families residing in the city. The population density is 373.7/km² (965.3/mi²). There are 583 housing units at an average density of 268.0/km² (692.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 97.54% White, 0.37% African American, 0.12% Native American, 0.62% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 0.49% from other races, and 0.74% from two or more races. 6.40% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 374 households out of which 25.1% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.7% are married couples living together, 5.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and 39.6% are non-families. 34.2% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.15 and the average family size is 2.76. In the city the population is spread out with 21.2% under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 29.5% from 25 to 44, 29.5% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 42 years. For every 100 females there are 103.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 104.8 males. The median income for a household in the city is $36,094, and the median income for a family is $45,313. Males have a median income of $35,217 versus $27,083 for females. The per capita income for the city is $23,127. 8.1% of the population and 9.3% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 7.1% of those under the age of 18 and 6.4% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Industry

The entire present-day economy of Ouray is based on tourism. Ouray bills itself as the "Switzerland of America" because of its setting at the narrow head of a valley, enclosed on two sides by steep mountains. A visitor can float on the Ouray Hot Springs swimming pool (open all year) and gaze at the slopes above, drive or tour over a 4wd road to Telluride or to Yankee Boy Basin with its wildflower display, visit Box Canyon Falls (similar to a European klamm, unusual in America), or just drive the highway up the gorge toward Durango. The main street is lined with trendy shops. Probably because of repeat visitors and no local ski area, it has remarkably little kitsch compared to many tourist towns. Personal opinion from 2001: The glass blower and one ice cream parlor are exceptional. Like most towns in the Colorado mountains, Ouray was originally a mining town. Fortunately the evidence does not dominate the town. The largest and most famous mine is the Camp Bird Mine, the second largest gold mine in Colorado and still in operation. It can be seen on the steep 2wd road leading to the 4wd roads to Yankee Boy Basin and Imogene Pass. In the summer, much of the tourism is focused on hiking and four wheel drive (4WD) expeditions into the San Juan Mountains. 4WD vehicles, often called 'jeeps' regardless of make, can be rented from a number of outfitters downtown. Popular destinations include Yankee Boy Basin, Engineer Mountain, and Black Bear Road. The latter, connecting Ouray to nearby Telluride, is all but impassable. Recording artist C.W. McCall helped make the road famous in the area. His song 'Black Bear Road' borrowed the phrase 'You don't have to be crazy to drive this road, but it helps' from a sign once posted on nearby Engineer Mountain Road. Ouray has recently become renowned among climbers and mountaineers as host to the world's first artificial ice climbing park. Expanding on a few popular natural falls, the park consists of dozens of frozen waterfalls from 80 to 200 feet high farmed along more than a mile of Box Canyon. The water is supplied by a sprinkler system developed and maintained by a volunteer organization and supported by donations from local businesses, gear manufacturers and climbers. The Ouray Ice Park is free and attracts climbers from around the world. The annual Ice Festival is a weekend-long extravaganza of contests, exhibitions and instruction with many of the world's top ice climbers. Ice climbing has been a boon to the local economy as well, with hotels and restaurants that previously closed through the winter months now staying open to accommodate climbers.

External links

- [http://www.ci.ouray.co.us/ Official City of Ouray website]
- [http://www.narrowgauge.org/ncmap/excursion7_ouray_history.html History of Ouray @ the City site] (nice photos!) Category:Towns in Colorado Category:Ouray County, Colorado Category:Cities in Colorado

Structure of Atlas Shrugged

Wikibooks:Structure of Atlas Shrugged

Minor characters in Atlas Shrugged

Minor characters in Ayn Rand's novel, Atlas Shrugged.

Very minor characters

- An Airport Attendant at the airport near the Wyatt oil fields tells Dagny Taggart (in section 171) that Hank Rearden had left for New York, revealing his lies. Rearden had told Dagny he was flying to Minnesota.
- The Bartender works in the most expensive barroom in New York, frequented by James Taggart and the Looters (in section 131).
- The Board of Directors of Taggart Transcontinental are a group of men mostly loyal to James Taggart. Over the years of Taggart's presidency, many Board members have resigned in protest, leaving only those who think like Taggart. The Board represents the other people whose approval is necessary for people who are incapable of making decisions on their own, most notably Taggart, who treats approval of the Board as a scientific test of truth. In section 132 we learn the Board approved the development of the San Sebastian Line and that numerous Board members quit in protest (mentioned in sections 114, 132, 143 and 145).
- The Bum opens the book with the question, "Who is John Galt?". He chats for a moment with Eddie Willers helping establish (for the reader) Eddie's sense of unease (in section 111)
- An unnamed Businessman interrupts a conversation between Dagny Taggart and Hank Rearden at the party in section 161. He is taken aback by the contrast between Dagny's appearance that night and the way she normally appears in her business suits. When Dagny notes his reaction she realizes she had hoped Rearden would react that way, that this was her unadmitted purpose in coming to the party.
- The Chief Engineer phones Eddie Willers to tell him that his boss, Dick McNamara has closed his business and quit without explanation (in section 141).
- Chief Engineer 2 maintains Taggart Transcontinental at a time when all the competent men have disappeared. Since he can only imitate, and not innovate, he is unenthusiastic about having to work with Rearden Metal. Dagny Taggart tells him to design a new bridge to be built with Rearden Metal, but rejects his design because it is a copy of a steel bridge that does not take into account the properties of the new alloy. He is offended by this because his bridge was a good copy of the bridges he was taught to imitate (appears in section 171).
- Clarence Eddington is an economic consultant whom James Taggart blames for the decision to build the San Sebastian Line (mentioned in section 143).
- The Conductor works on the Taggart Comet. In section 112 he explains to Dagny Taggart that he is waiting for a broken light to change. He represents the type of incompetent, initiativeless worker who is concerned only with following the rules so no one can blame him for anything.
- Dave Mitchum is a state-hired superintendent of the Colorado Division of Taggart Transcontinental. He is partially responsible for Kip Chalmers' death.
- Dagny's father (who is unnamed) was the president of Taggart Transcontinental prior to James Taggart. In section 132 we learn he was "astonished and proud" of his daughter, but sad for her as well, and apparently not overly supportive of her desire to work for the railroad, though he did nothing to stop her.
- Dagny's mother is mentioned in section 152. She worried about her daughter's apparent lack of interest in boys, and never understood Dagny's desire to work for the railroad. Because of her lack of understanding, she was never able to give Dagny guidance or support, though she was kind and caring within her limits.
- Dr. Floyd Ferris One of the Looter crowd who takes credit, along with Wesley Mouch, for Project X though he is considered too stupid to have contributed anything to the project.
- The Engineer appears briefly in section 112. When Dagny Taggart wakes up to find the Taggart Comet stalled on a siding, he explains to her why they stopped. He represents the type of incompetent, initiativeless worker who is concerned only with following the rules so no one can blame him for anything.
- The Fireman appears briefly in section 112. While Dagny Taggart is trying to find out why the Taggart Comet has stalled, Fireman shows his amusement at how things like this happen.
- Francisco's father was the head of d'Anconia Copper before his son. He raised Francisco to be a worthy heir to the mining empire and was very proud to see that he would be. He died when Francisco was 23 (appears in section 152).
- Gilbert Vail was allegedly cuckolded by Francisco d'Anconia. His wife asserts, and Francisco does not deny, that she and Francisco had an affair over New Years at his villa in the Andes. Gilbert is shot by his wife, but survives, and when he sues for divorce she threatens to spill the details of his sordid private life. Just as the scandal is reaching a crescendo in the tabloids, Francisco arrives in town to "witness the farce." (mentioned in section 141).
- James Taggart's Secretary has the unhappy job of explaining to Taggart why Francisco d'Anconia will not see him: "Senor d'Anconia said that you bore him, Mr. Taggart."
- Jock Benson is a friend of Betty Pope, who told her that James Taggart did not really run the railroad; his sister did.
- Jules Mott is Taggart Transcontinental's man in Mexico City. He is the fall guy after the Mexican government nationalizes the San Sebastian Line (appears in section 142 and is mentioned in section 143).
- Kip Chalmers is a Washington man who has decided to run for election as Legislator from California. On the way to his campaign, the Taggart Transcontinental engine that was carrying him encountered a split rail. After