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April 24, 2004

Making a diamond paper.

Alright, since I was absent for the discussion of the research paper in our lit class, I've had to try a "solo" attempt to generate some sort of an idea for my paper.

I'm considering working with what questions I have about The Diamond Age. I'd like to give a shout-out to Stephen Puff for bringing such a great topic to my attention, since it may become the focus of my paper. (Yes, I realize that I only have a short time to decide this... ;^)

I'm going to place a comment I wrote in response to Stephen's blog here, which is what I'd like to build from for my paper.

Well, I was wondering about the title of the book, too. The most logical thing I came up with on my own was that diamond replaced glass in the novel, and, as glass is a common substance in our world, diamond is common in the world Stephenson creates. With diamond "glass" there is no threat of shattering or splintering, cracking or melting. Diamond, as a product of carbon, has the highest "hardness" on the scientific scale, as a 10, with talc and chalk being the softest elements as 2 and 1.

Diamond, therefore, in The Diamond Age is unbreakable, as it is in our lives. Creating window panes from diamond would be rather tedious work, however, because of the high temperature and compression needed to form the diamond in the first place.

Diamonds are formed in nature; although there is some experimentation of creating "man-made" diamonds, the real things are more expensive and higher valued in our world. Could it be that in Stephenson's world that diamond was as common as glass because it was "man-made"? Perhaps by an alchemist [defined as one who practices alchemy, which is defined as "An imaginary art which aimed to transmute the baser metals into gold, to find the panacea, or universal remedy for diseases, etc. It led the way to modern chemistry" (dictionary.com).) Modifying the definition of alchemy to include diamonds would support such conclusions.

You want a metphor... the "diamond age" Stephenson creates could be perfect, given the right circumstances. Part of the book Carl Hollywood wakes up covered in shards of glass--he is surprised by this. They are all surprised at the lack of perfection in their world. As a "diamond age" would imply perfection, there is obvious lack in this assumption, or at least in Stephenson's portrayal of his "diamond age."

After writing this comment, I read Stephen's extended entry, which is as follows:

Nanotechnology and the arrival of the Diamond Age-Diamonds will grow to become the most used construction materials because of their excelent qualities in multiple areas (strength, hardness, electrical conductivity, heat conductivity, etc...) Using a kind of diamond fibers, materials can be created which are almost unbreakable and have a strength/weight factor fifty times greater than the strongest conventional materials. Imagine decreasing the dry weight of planes and spacevehicles some fifty times. This will re-open the possibility for cheap and simple one-person airplane or even one-person spacevehicles. There have been estimates of a car weighing only 10 kilograms and a spacevehicle with a dry weight of 50 kilograms. Of course a car of such small weight will have to carry balast to avoid being blown away by a mere gust of wind. Certain periods in the history of mankind are often called after the most freqently used construction material. (like the stone age, the bronze age).