Preston Grissom

Space Trilogy #1

             In Out of the Silent Planet Lewis introduces two different characters that play off of each other well.  Dr. Ransom could be described as one with a proclivity to evil (and he certainly acts this way at times) but loves knowledge.  His desire for scientific knowledge leads him to dark places at times but it is usually a curiosity more than a prideful ambition.  On the other hand, Weston is a dark, evil physicist who wants to do evil experiments.  These two characters help introduce a view of space that is different than what is first conceived in the modern man’s thoughts.  They used to think that space was “the womb of the worlds” as Ransom says.  Now I believe that we do not see space as a living organism but in a static and dark way. 

Einstein believed (and was later proven right) that space was a sort of mesh that was more vibrant and fluid than his contemporaries believed.  I asked Dr. Redick if this was anything like Einstein’s proposal of space and he said yes.  I find it interesting that the heavens were also thought of as merely this space above the earth.  We think of heaven now in a much more mystical way than the thinkers did even sixty years ago for the most part.