Brain Wave
Posted in Kindle Edition on Apr 15th, 2009
Brain Wave
- Poul Andersons Most Famous Single Novel
Why Buy A Brain Wave?
A fascinating what if novel, Brainwave is an exploration into the ways human society is organized and the assumptions that are made about how life is valued. It is also a novel about equality and what happens when the hierarchical structures by which we arrange our daily lives disappear.
Customer Reviews & Opinions
The Problem With Intelligence
Brain Wave (1954) is a standalone SF novel. It takes place in the era shortly after World War II.In this novel, Archie Brooks is a retarded man who works on the Rossman farm. One day, he is out pulling stumps in the northwest forty and thinks idly about various things. He begins to notice that he is thinking differently. Some of his new thoughts frighten him.
Peter Corinth is a senior scientist at the Rossman Institute. He notices that his thinking is unusually clear this day, but is more concerned with the new approach that he has conceived in his sleep. Maybe the old subconscious has come through once again.
On his way to work, Peter notices that others seem to be thinking more clearly. His two assistants have come up with the same basic idea for the new project. Even the elevator operator has new ideas.
Shiela Corinth is Peter’s wife. She too is having new thoughts. Rather than her usual detective story, she starts to read Conrad’s Lord Jim and loses track of the time.
Nat Lewis has noticed a small but significant shift in the speed of neuron transmission and recovery among his specimens. When he brings up the differences during lunch, Peter mentions his own observations. Then Peter has an inspiration and the two of them start calling specialists in certain fields. They discover that some basic physical constants have changed throughout the Solar System and conclude that Terra has just exited from a field that, among other things, retards mental functions.
Anything with a brain has just become smarter and the change is increasing exponentially. Animals are escaping from traps and horses are refusing to plow the fields. Some of the dangerous animals are even more so and the pigs are revolting.
In this story, mankind builds new devices to reach for the stars and to take over the more menial jobs. Less intelligent persons become more capable of performing ordinary functions, releasing more intelligent people to work on more important projects. Still, higher intelligence doesn’t change basic personality patterns.
The criminal class has become more capable of committing crimes, but their new competency is offset by the greater capabilities of the police forces. Dictators find new ways to dominate their peons, but those peons discover new reasons and ways to revolt against their masters. Humans are changing, but the transition period is going to be very interesting.
This story addresses some of the new capabilities of Homo Sapiens Sapiens, but also follows the expanding consciousness of those with lesser intelligence as they reach normal levels. Archie Brooks is one example of such mental expansion. And then there are the animals.
This tale is one of the earliest of the author’s SF novels. He had been writing SF (and fantasy) stories for over a decade, but paper shortages and other impediments severely limited publication of novel length works prior to the early fifties. This was one of the first of the new works.
The biggest problem was the shortage of publishers for SF novels, but several new SF/Fantasy publishing houses were started in the early fifties. Most of these new publishers only issued hardback books. Older publishing houses also started to reprint SF/Fantasy magazine serials, but distribution problems plagued paperbacks until the mid 1950s.
Highly recommended for Anderson fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of expanding consciousness, social problems, and romantic entanglements.
-Arthur W. Jordin
