"Robert A. Heinlein - The Man who sold the Moon (collected sto" - читать интересную книгу автора (Heinlein Robert A)

work; itтАЩs too messy; and I canтАЩt get an intense light. Now I came to see you
to see if we might combine forces, pool our information, and work out
something practical.тАЭ
Three weeks later at four in the morning Doctor M. L.
MartinтАФMary Lou to her friendsтАФwas frying an egg over a bunsen burner.
She was dressed in a long rubber shop apron over shorts and a. sweater.
Her long corncolored hair hung in loose ripples. The expanse of shapely leg
made her look like something out of a cheesecake magazine.
She turned to where Douglas lay sprawled, a wretched exhausted heap, in
a big arm chair. тАЬListen, Ape, the percolator seems to have burnt out Shall I
make the coffee in the fractional distillator?тАЭ
тАЬI thought you had snake venom in it.тАЭ
тАЬSo I have. IтАЩll rinse it out.тАЭ
тАЬGood God, woman! DonтАЩt you care what chances you take with yourself?тАФ
or with me?тАЭ -
тАЬPoohтАФsnake venom wouldnтАЩt hurt you even if you did drink itтАФunless that
rotgut you drink has given your stomach ulcers. SoupтАЩs on!тАЭ
She chucked aside the apron, sat down and crossed her legs. He
automatically took in the display.
тАЬMary Lou, you lewd wench, whjr donтАЩt you wear some clothes around the
shop? You arouse my romantic nature.тАЭ
тАЬNuts. You havenтАЩt any. LetтАЩs get down to cases. Where do we stand?тАЭ
He ran a hand through his hair and chewed his lip. тАЬUp against a stone wall,
I think. Nothing weтАЩve tried so far seems to offer any promise.тАЭ
тАЬThe problem seems to be essentially one of confining radiant energy to the
visible band of frequency.тАЭ
тАЬYou make it sound so simple, bright eyes.тАЭ
тАЬStow the sarcasm. That is, nevertheless, where the loss comes in with
ordinary electric light. The filament is white hot, maybe two percent of the
power is turned into light, the rest goes into infra-red and ultra-violetтАЭ

тАЬSo beautiful. So true.тАЭ
тАЬPay attention, you big ape I know youтАЩre tired, but listen to mama. There
should be some way of sharply tuning the wave length. How about the way
they doit in radio?тАЭ
He perked up a little. тАЬWouldnтАЩt apply to the case.
Even if you could manage to work out an Inductancecapacitance circuit with
a natural resonant frequency within the visual band, It would require too
much gear for each lighting unit, and if it got out of tune, it ~wouldnтАЩt give
any light at all.тАЭ
4
тАШIs that the only way frequency is controlled?тАЭ
тАЬYesтАФwell, practically. Some transmitting stations, especially amateurs,
use a specially cut quartz crystal that has a natural frequency of its own to
control wave length.тАЭ
тАЬThen why canтАЩt we cut a crystal that would have a natural frequency in the
octave of visible light?тАЭ
He sat up very straight. тАЬGreat Scott, kid!тАФI think youтАЩve hit it.тАЭ
He got up; and strode up and down, talking as he went.
тАЬThey use ordinary quartz crystal for the usual frequencies, and tourmaline