On Fri, 1 Oct 2004, Seth Terashima wrote: #Even if technology would have little practical purpose in a magical world, #Dragaraens (especially the Hawk and Athyra) obviously value knowledge. Yet #one of the books (I forget which) implies Dragaerans haven't figured out the #world is round. How could this be? Contrary to popular misconception, #[Earth's] humans have had this figured out for quite some time - the #Egyptians not only realized the earth was a sphere, but calculated its #diameter. _Sethra Lavode_, iirc. Morrolan is astonished at the time difference (afternoon out East, morning in Adrilankha), but someone (Teldra?) explains the concept of time difference. But I think you're right, that even the explainer doesn't know why it's so. # #I think the answer to this is the presence of the Overcast. The motivation #for developing mathematics is linked with astronomy; for example, solar #calenders or calculating lattitude and longitute for navigation based on the #relative positions of stars and the horizon. Perhaps being deprived of the #stars, Dragaens never developed advanced mathematics (and therefore never #developed science or technology). (If this is correct, is this the purpose #of the Overcast?!) # #However, Vlad says that the Athyra (?) had a unit for magical energy (~ the #joule). Or the thaum? (Pratchett allusion) -- Mark A. Mandel http://cracksandshards.com a Steven Brust Dragaera fan website