"Тед Чан. Seventy-Two Letters (72 буквы, Рассказ) (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

"You mean structure would arise out of a homogenous medium?
Impossible."
"Nonetheless, it was my goal for several years to confirm this
hypothesis. My first experiments consisted of applying a name to
unfertilized frog eggs."
"How did you embed the name into a frogТs egg?"
"The name is not actually embedded, but rather impressed by means of a
specially manufactured needle." Ashbourne opened a cabinet that sat on the
work-table between two of the microscope stations. Inside was a wooden
rack filled with small instruments arranged in pairs.
Each was tipped with a long glass needle; in some pairs they were
nearly as thick as those used for knitting, in others as slender as a
hypodermic. He withdrew one from the largest pair and handed it to
Stratton to examine. The glass needle was not clear, but instead seemed to
contain some sort of dappled core.
Ashbourne explained. "While that may appear to be some sort of medical
implement, it is in fact a vehicle for a name, just as the more
conventional slip of parchment is. Alas, it requires far more effort to
make than taking pen to parchment. To create such a needle, one must first
arrange fine strands of black glass within a bundle of clear glass strands
so that the name is legible when they are viewed end-on. The strands are
then fused into a solid rod, and the rod is drawn out into an ever thinner
strand. A skilled glass-maker can retain every detail of the name no
matter how thin the strand becomes. Eventually one obtains a needle
containing the name in its cross section."
"How did you generate the name that you used?"
"We can discuss that at length later. For the purposes of our current
discussion, the only relevant information is that I incorporated the
sexual epithet. Are you familiar with it?"
"I know of it." It was one of the few epithets that was dimorphic,
having male and female variants.
"I needed two versions of the name, obviously, to induce the generation
of both males and females." He indicated the paired arrangement of needles
in the cabinet.
Stratton saw that the needle could be clamped into the brass framework
with its tip approaching the slide beneath the microscope; the knurled
wheels presumably were used to bring the needle into contact with an ovum.
He returned the instrument. "You said the name is not embedded, but
impressed. Do you mean to tell me that touching the frogТs egg with this
needle is all thatТs needed? Removing the name doesnТt end its influence?"
"Precisely. The name activates a process in the egg that cannot be
reversed. Prolonged contact of the name had no different effect."
"And the egg hatched a tadpole?"
"Not with the names initially tried; the only result was that
symmetrical involutions appeared in the surface of the egg. But by
incorporating different epithets, I was able to induce the egg to adopt
different forms, some of which had every appearance of embryonic frogs.
Eventually I found a name that caused the egg not only to assume the form
of a tadpole, but also to mature and hatch.
The tadpole thus hatched grew into a frog indistinguishable from any