Re: VL - Vulcan in Vulcan
Rob Zook 
Mon, 20 Oct 1997 19:42:04 -0500

At 07:14 PM 10/20/97 +0100, Adam wrote:
>At 5:30 PM -0500 10/20/97, Rob Zook wrote:
>>Well, how about this: as someone else has pointed out,
>>Vulcan/Hepheastus has nothing to do with heat or deserts.
>>The only thing about Vulcan which seems related to heat
>>was he was the smith to the Gods.
>
>True, however a spaceship who's climate control seems
>pleasant to a Vuclan would seem like a furnace to a
>human. The lights would be so strong that any Human
>would *need* sunglasses, and the heat would also be
>un-bearable.
>
>These two things together could remind a human of the
>forge used by blacksmiths ... and thereby remind the
>Human of the Roman dieity, Vulcan.

Well, point taken, but you have to admit that it's 
kind of a stretch from hot arid bright room to a ancient
Roman Diety.


>There is only one flaw in that possibility ... and that
>is that the only way scientists would be likely to give
>two planets the same name is if there is a very strong
>reason why the second planet is far more deserving of
>the name than the first one. 

Well, I was not thinking of the supposed planetiod. I
forget someone named their theorized planet Vulcan -
a little premature I thought.


>Therefore, your hypothesis
>is only likely if Sarek in-fact came from the planet that
>is between Mercury and the Sun. (Yes, there *is* a planet
>in this solar system that is called "Vulcan", although
>it may have exploded by now and it's existence isn't
>verified.)

I thought someone proved it was a mistaken calculation
or something a while back?


>Of course, there is one more possibility. Perhapse,
>since nobody was able to confirm the existence of the
>Vulcan I just described, scientists may have dismissed
>it as a hoax ... thereby leaving the name "Vulcan" to
>be claimed by a later planet, and that planet may have
>been inhabited by people with green blood and pointed
>ears.

Or, since the ST universe is not 100% identical to 
ours and starts to diverge at about 1966 or so, no
scientist ever made such a theory in the first place.


>But then there is the issue that Vulcans landed on Earth
>and shook hands with Cockran far before any Human ever
>detected the Vulcan homeworld (canonical as of FIRST
>CONTACT). 

That they could have found a planet orbiting 40 Eridani 
and named it Vuclan before we knew about Vulcans does
not contradict anything in FIRST CONTACT. Just because they
might have known the planet existed does not imply they
knew anything else about it, like that it had a senient
race living on it.


>before a week would elapse. Knowing what we saw about
>Cockran's personality at the time, he would be very prone
>to make a cynical comment referring to the forge used by
>the Roman deiety upon being exposed to such heat ... something
>along the lines of ...
>
>    "Can't someone kick on the air conditioner? This
>    place is getting hotter than Vulcan's forge!"
>
>NOTE: I am *not* quoting Cockran ... I'm just making a
>guess at something that he *may* have said.

Oh, it's possible I guess.


Rob Z.