[Supers] A More Scientific Golden Age

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by johndallman

I'm not clear who MacAdder is? I don't recognise the name from the comedy series. This means I have no idea what effect his replacing Baldwin as PM will have. His judgement is very suspect if he knows Edward VIII at all well, because that king had the emotional maturity of a spoilt teenager, caring only for his own desires and pleasures.

He's descended from a character in Blackadder the Third, who was described as 'the most dangerous man ever to wear a skirt in Europe.' It's mostly a reference that you shouldn't read too much into (I thought it was funny at the time and am now wondering if I should have bothered), as he does think his ancestor was a nutter, though he certainly is far braver than his cousin. A big part of why he liked Edward VIII so much was his opinion of what a king should be/was good for, which is why he so much wanted to set the precedent of the King marrying a commoner and remaining King.

Originally Posted by johndallman

Putting Blackadder in charge of the British Interplanetary Society is unlikely to work well. They were a very driven, enthusiastic bunch of eccentrics (I have met a couple of members from that period, now long dead) and his tentativeness and cowardice will annoy them a lot.

Very important thing to remember about Blackadder's cowardice: it largely applied to his own person, and very much did not apply to others, so as long as no-one wants him to go up there, he'll get along with them fine (though he'll snark at them, and Churchill, a lot, especially when someone is getting too 'enthusiastic'; given how witty Churchill was, that's a big part of why putting them together would be amusing, though sadly I lack the skill to write their conversations). Largely, he's a restraining voice when people get too crazy, as Chamberlain was concerned that Churchill would get sucked in too easily (Winnie didn't have the best reputation at that point in his life).

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

I have seen their plans for a moon rocket (thousands or tens of thousands of solid fuel rockets) and "enthusiastic" must be (I suppose) British understatement.

Originally Posted by johndallman

Translation: a bunch of total nutters, but in a mostly-good way.

Exactly the sort who would take up with mad scientists, which is why they work so well for this. Also, to be fair to the BIS (and Clarke himself), the black powder rockets were what was readily available at the time. Having access to gadgeteers gave them far more options.


Will be adding more links to the article, today. EDIT: I think I've got all the needed links in.