Destiny's Forge ; dolphins

Anyone read it yet ; comments? I've a small sheet of notes on my
bookmark now that I've finished reading it.

One thing that struck me as I was reading (which won't spoil things for
others who haven't read it yet) is that TTBOMK all the canon and the
non-canon works of Known Space refer to "the dolphins" without
specifying which of the dozens of species of dolphins on Earth are
being referred to. It makes a big difference whether you're talking
about a bottlenose dolphin or an Orca when you're trying to fit one
into your pilot's tank.
Thinking about the variety of dolphin species in the wild, and their
interactions (ranging from interbreeding to inter-species massacres),
puts a slightly different light onto their strategic thinking.

--
Aidan Karley,
Written at Mon, 10 Sep 2007 13:39 +0100, but posted later.
"Please turn your monitors off when you leave the building. Not only
does it save power, but the flickering of the monitors annoys the
pterosaur."

In alt.books.larry-niven message <VA.000014a1.0abb2505.TakeThisOut@email.provider.i
nvalid>, Mon, 10 Sep 2007 15:38:43, Aidan Karley <name1_name2.TakeThisOut@email.prov
ider.invalid> posted:

>One thing that struck me as I was reading (which won't spoil things for
>others who haven't read it yet) is that TTBOMK all the canon and the
>non-canon works of Known Space refer to "the dolphins" without
>specifying which of the dozens of species of dolphins on Earth are
>being referred to.

Check <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin#Origin_of_the_name> - I
suspect that the current "Used casually as" reflects Niven's own
thinking and that which he would expect from the bulk of readers.
Possibly extended to other species of similar habits, but not far enough
to include anything commonly called anything with a common name
including "whale".

I imagine that Known Space dolphins of several species would acknowledge
each other as cognate beings, even if they did not inter-breed.

So think of Delphinus and maybe Tursiops, mainly, unless further
evidence appears.

--
(c) John Stockton, Surrey, UK. ?@merlyn.demon.co.uk Turnpike v6.05 MIME.
Web <URL:http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/> - FAQqish topics, acronyms & links;
Astro stuff via astron-1.htm, gravity0.htm ; quotings.htm, pascal.htm, etc.
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