science

The Queendom of Sol

The Queendom of Sol 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 The Queendom of Sol rather than just read about it. In short: The Queendom of Sol is a science fiction book series by American author Wil McCarthy. It includes The Collapsium (2000), The Wellstone (2003), Lost in Transmission (2004), and To Crush the Moon (2005).

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

The Queendom of Sol is a science fiction book series by American author Wil McCarthy. It includes The Collapsium (2000), The Wellstone (2003), Lost in Transmission (2004), and To Crush the Moon (2005). The first two novels of the series were also printed together as The Monarchs of Sol by Science Fiction Book Club (ISBN 0739433881). The Queendom referred to is the present-day Kingdom of Tonga. In the Queendom of Sol, humanity has returned to monarchism as a stabilizing force in the face of accelerating technological change. At the time of the monarchy's establishment, the only remaining royal family on Earth is that of Tonga, whose surviving scion Tamra-Tamatra Lutui is recruited to become the queen of the Solar System.

The Collapsium The Collapsium is a 2000 hard science fiction novel and the first in the series. The first section of the novel is based on McCarthy's short story "Once Upon a Matter Crushed", which was a Sturgeon Award finalist. A reviewer stated McCarthy used postmodern literary technique in consciously creating a protagonist who is a "throwback" to the scientist-heroes of Golden Age SF.

The Wellstone The Wellstone is a 2003 novel, published as the second in the series. In The Wellstone, McCarthy explores the lives of immortal humans known as immorbids in the future. Nanotechnology has created the wellstone, programmable matter that can emulate nearly any other form of matter, and nanotech fax machines that can not only fabricate objects on demand, but store and retrieve human bodies (with minds intact), cure disease or reverse aging, or be used as teleporters. Ultradense exotic matter known as collapsium makes gravity manipulation and faster-than-light communication possible. Humanity has formed a solar system–wide society based on monarchy. Many of the technologies in this novel are also described in McCarthy's 2003 nonfiction book, Hacking Matter.

Lost in Transmission Lost in Transmission, published in 2004, is the third in the series.

To Crush the Moon To Crush the Moon, published in 2005, is the last in the four-part series.

Awards

Covers

References

External links The Queendom of Sol series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Queendom of Sol

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Queendom of Sol 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 The Queendom of Sol 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 The Queendom of Sol 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 The Queendom of Sol

In research: The Queendom of Sol 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 The Queendom of Sol 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: The Queendom of Sol is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Science fiction book series, Science fiction book stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Queendom of Sol 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 The Queendom of Sol in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is The Queendom of Sol in simple terms?

Why does The Queendom of Sol 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 The Queendom of Sol?

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 The Queendom of Sol.