science

Git Along!

Git Along! 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 Git Along! rather than just read about it. In short: "Git Along!" is a science fiction short story by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, part of his Viagens Interplanetarias series.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

"Git Along!" is a science fiction short story by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, part of his Viagens Interplanetarias series. It is the second (chronologically) set on the planet Osiris, as well as the second to feature the interstellar con-man Darius Koshay. It was first published in the magazine Astounding in the issue for August, 1950. It first appeared in book form in the anthology The Outer Reaches, edited by August Derleth, published in hardcover by Pellegrini and Cudahy in 1951, and was gathered together with other Viagens stories in the collection The Continent Makers and Other Tales of the Viagens, published in hardcover by Twayne Publishers in 1953, and in paperback by Signet Books in 1971. The story has been translated into Portuguese, Dutch, Italian and German.

Plot summary Con man Darius Koshay, stranded in the Uranus spaceport fleeing an arrest warrant from Earth, falls in with promoter Moritz Gloppenheimer, who hopes to open a dude ranch on the planet Osiris. Plying him with drink until the promoter loses consciousness, Koshay steals his identity, papers and scheme, leaving his victim to be arrested as "Koshay". After the voyage to Osiris he puts Gloppenheimer's plan into action, forming a syndicate with Shishirhe, Yathasia and Fessahen, the three Osirian mayors of Cefef Aqh, for the purpose. Within a Terran year, the ranch is operational and all is going well for Koshay, aside from some unwelcome attention from Afasiè, a female Osirian besotted with both the ranch and its operator. Then he discovers that the vengeful Gloppenheimer has followed him to Osiris and is starting a rival operation, the "Cefef Aqh Hunt Club". Soon one of the ranch's round-ups gets mixed up with one of Gloppenheimer's hunts, and the Terran enemies come to blows, with Koshay's gun accidentally discharging. Two of the Cefef Aqh mayors, disaffected from Koshay and present with the hunting party, promptly try and convict him on the spot for the attempted murder of Gloppenheimer; Koshay's patron Shishirhe protests but is outvoted. Afasiè, whose uncle is a Provincial Inspector, summons aid in time to save Koshay from being hanged. The case is transferred to the Provincial Court of Appeals, where the whole truth comes out. The two Terrans are both ordered deported, and as the native spacecraft that will transport them has but one compartment for non-Osirians, they will have to share a cell all the way back to the Solar System! The action of "Git Along!" takes place in the years 2135-2148 AD. One of Koshay's earlier operations is the subject of the story "The Animal-Cracker Plot" set on the planet Vishnu.

Setting The planet Osiris is an arid world orbiting Procyon in the same star system as Thoth, a wet planet whose natives are amoral and anarchic. Osiris's dinosauroid inhabitants are characterized as both sentimental and rapaciously capitalistic; they are also possessed of mind-controlling powers, generally referred to as "telepathic pseudohypnosis," against which other intelligent species must take special precautions.

Notes

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Git Along!

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Git Along! 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 Git Along! 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 Git Along! 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 Git Along!

In research: Git Along! 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 Git Along! 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: Git Along! is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1950 English-language short stories, 1950 short stories, Fiction set around Procyon, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Git Along! 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.

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How to study Git Along! in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Git Along! 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 Git Along! out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Git Along! in simple terms?

"Git Along!" is a science fiction short story by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, part of his Viagens Interplanetarias series.

Why does Git Along! 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 Git Along!?

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 Git Along!.