science

Galactic Derelict

Galactic Derelict is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Galactic Derelict rather than just read about it. In short: Galactic Derelict is a science fiction novel by American writer Andre Norton, the second in her Time Traders series. It was first published in 1959, and as of 2012, had been reprinted in eight editions.

Key takeaways

Galactic Derelict belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Galactic Derelict to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Galactic Derelict from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Galactic Derelict is a science fiction novel by American writer Andre Norton, the second in her Time Traders series. It was first published in 1959, and as of 2012, had been reprinted in eight editions. It is part of Norton's Forerunner universe. Galactic Derelict continues the series' premise, an encounter between Western heroes and a mysterious alien race that has used time travel to alter Earth. This novel shifts between present day and the time of Folsom Man, some 10,000 years ago. Kirkus Reviews comments for this novel "Andre Norton has no peer in his [sic] chosen field of science fiction for teenagers ... [here] there's a hint of racial antagonism." (The novel has pointed comments about racism against American Indians.) In the 2000 republished version Norton changed the word Reds to Russians. No change was made in the story.

Plot While seeking water for his cattle, Travis Fox enters a little known canyon in the Arizona desert and gets captured by three men, one of whom he recognizes as Dr. Gordon Ashe, an archaeologist. After discovering that Fox studied archaeology and had done some digging in the canyon they now occupy, the men have him cleared through security and offer to make him part of their team. Then Ashe tells him that he will be joining an expedition 10,000 years into the past to look for a spaceship. Disguised as Folsom hunters, Fox, Ashe, and Ross Murdock travel into the past to scout out the area around the wreckage of an alien starship, a sphere perhaps 120 feet in diameter. They find the wreck near a lake and then, across a ridge, they find a smaller spaceship intact, its crew of alien "Baldies" dead. After receiving the scouts' report via transtemporal telegraph, Major Kelgarries and several technicians come into the past and examine the small ship, determining that they can shift it directly into the present. Fox, Ashe, and Murdock serve as roving sentries in the area around the smaller globeship as technicians build a time transfer cage around it. On the day the transfer is to be made, ash from a volcanic explosion and a stampede of mammoths drive the three men into the ship along with Case Renfry, an electronics technician. An earthquake triggers the transfer, bringing the ship into the present. The ship's preset autopilot, jolted into action, takes the ship into space. After carrying the men through hyperspace, the ship lands on a planet where faltering robots refuel the ship. Another leap through hyperspace brings the ship to the second planet of an alien solar system. The ship lands in a desert, sits for a couple of days, and then blasts off on a course that takes it to the system's Earth-like third planet. Upon landing, the ship indicates that the voyage has ended by ejecting a small disc from its autopilot. Renfry attempts to understand the autopilot and to rewind the course "tape" while the three time agents explore the jungle-draped ruins of a once-great city, in which they have landed. After several weeks Renfry believes that he has succeeded and he attempts to launch the ship. The ship runs its course in reverse, pausing on the desert planet and the refueling station, and brings the four men back to Earth, landing on the very spot from which they had blasted off.

Reviews Floyd C. Gale of Galaxy Science Fiction rated the novel five stars out of five for children, stating that it had "All the classic elements that make a good juvenile – or a good adult book, for that matter – are present in full measure in Galactic Derelict". He concluded that it was "a top-notch science-adventure yarn".

Novels in the series The Time Traders (1958) Galactic Derelict (1959) The Defiant Agents (1962) Key out of Time (1963) Firehand (1994) (with Pauline M Griffin) Echoes in Time (1999) (with Sherwood Smith) Atlantis Endgame (2002) (with Sherwood Smith)

References

Sources Tuck, Donald H. (1974). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Chicago: Advent. p. 331. ISBN 0-911682-20-1.. Norton, Andre (1959). Galactic Derelict. Cleveland, World Pub. Co. OL 24746618M.

External links Galactic Derelict title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Galactic Derelict

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Galactic Derelict claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Galactic Derelict before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Galactic Derelict ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Galactic Derelict

In research: Galactic Derelict appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Galactic Derelict in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Galactic Derelict is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1959 American novels, 1959 English-language novels, 1959 science fiction novels, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Galactic Derelict outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Galactic Derelict” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Galactic Derelict in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Galactic Derelict means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Galactic Derelict out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Galactic Derelict in simple terms?

Why does Galactic Derelict matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Galactic Derelict?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Galactic Derelict.