science

Vril

Vril 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 Vril rather than just read about it. In short: Vril: The Power of the Coming Race, originally published as The Coming Race, is a science and subterranean fiction novel by the British politician and writer Edward Bulwer-Lytton, published anonymously in 1871. Some readers have believed the account of a superior subterranean master race and the energy-form called "Vril" to be, at least partially, true.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Vril: The Power of the Coming Race, originally published as The Coming Race, is a science and subterranean fiction novel by the British politician and writer Edward Bulwer-Lytton, published anonymously in 1871. Some readers have believed the account of a superior subterranean master race and the energy-form called "Vril" to be, at least partially, true. Some theosophists, notably Helena Blavatsky, William Scott-Elliot, and Rudolf Steiner, accepted the book as based on occult truth. The 1960 book The Morning of the Magicians by Jacques Bergier and Louis Pauwels suggested that a secret Vril Society existed in Weimar Berlin. The name "Vril" was apparently derived from the word virile.

History The original British edition, titled as The Coming Race, was published anonymously in May 1871 by Blackwood and Sons of Edinburgh and London. Blackwood published four more impressions in 1871. Anonymous American and Canadian editions were published in August 1871 as The Coming Race or The New Utopia by Francis B. Felt & Co. in New York City and by Copp, Clark & Co. in Toronto. Erewhon, which was published anonymously in March 1872, was initially assumed to be a sequel to The Coming Race, which by then Bulwer-Lytton was known to have written. When it was revealed that Samuel Butler was the author of Erewhon in the 25 May 1872 issue of The Athenaeum, sales dropped by 90 per cent.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Vril

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Vril 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 Vril 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 Vril 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 Vril

In research: Vril 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 Vril 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: Vril is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1870s English-language novels, 1871 British novels, 1871 fantasy novels, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Vril 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 Vril in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Vril in simple terms?

Why does Vril 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 Vril?

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 Vril.