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Diablerie, v. 1, issue 3, March 1944

Page 6

6

            THE CIRCLE OF ZERO
                FRANK HOLBY

   The late Stanley G Weinbaum was undoubtedly one of the most popular science fiction authors of the last decade His first story, A Martian Odyssey, which appeared in the old Wonder Stories, was immediately aclaimed as a masterpiece. Only two stories were ever chosen unanimously as "best in the issue" in Wonder Stories; one of them was A Martian Odyssey.
   Soon other masterpieces flowed forth from the facile pen of weinbaum. Parasite Planet and Flight on Titan were headliners in Astounding. World of If and The Ideal were highly praised when they appeared in Wonder Stories. 
   Weinbaum's career culminated with Redemption Cairn, The Black Flame, & the unforgettable Circle of Zero. 
   It is easy to analyse the reasons for the success of Weinbaum's works. He wrote with beautiful simplicity. His stories lacked the stilted phraseology so common in the "good old days".
   Perhaps his strongest forte, along with his adept introduction of human interest, was in the creation of alien entities that possessed human qualities Who can fail to remember the Loonies of The Mad Moon; the Jack Ketch trees of Parasite Planet; Tweel of the Odyssey; or the bladder birds of Redemption Cairn?
   The New Adam, his magnificent book, contains much of the inner thoughts and beliefs of Weinbaum. It is interesting to note that many critics, such as Donald Wollheim, have condemned the book on the basis that a true superman, such as was Edmond Hall, would never deliberately hold himself to an implacable course of self-destruction.
   However, these critics appear to overlook the fact that Stanley Weinbaum believed in the theory of the Circle of Zero. Thus, in turn, his character of Edmond Hall believed that in all the endlessness of time, another Earth would be formed, another Edmond Hall, and another Vanny Marten.
   The Circle of Zero holds true in many of his stories. His character of old Professor de Neant says that ". . .in the eternity of time the Law of Chance functions perfectly. In eternity, every possible combination of things and events must occur. There is an eternity in the past. Since in eternity everything possible must occur at one time or another, it follows that everything must have already happened, and must happen again.
   In The New Adam, Edmond Hall says ". . .in eternity the circle of the spiral will spin back to this arc." The symbol of infinity plays the major role in his short story, The Brink of Infinity.
   In passing, a further word should be spoken on The Worlds of If. This is perhaps the finest story ever written on the segments of time. It is interesting to see that Jack Williamson, in The Legion of Time, expounded a rather different theory by maintaining certain material objects as anchors in time. 
   Stanley G Weinbaum, in The Ideal, explains with typical simplicity the mysteries of the "point of view". He gives the logical outcome of an assump-

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6 THE CIRCLE OF ZERO FRANK HOLBY The late Stanley G Weinbaum was undoubtedly one of the most popular science fiction authors of the last decade His first story, A Martian Odyssey, which appeared in the old Wonder Stories, was immediately aclaimed as a masterpiece. Only two stories were ever chosen unanimously as "best in the issue" in Wonder Stories; one of them was A Martian Odyssey. Soon other masterpieces flowed forth from the facile pen of weinbaum. Parasite Planet and Flight on Titan were headliners in Astounding. World of If and The Ideal were highly praised when they appeared in Wonder Stories. Weinbaum's career culminated with Redemption Cairn, The Black Flame, & the unforgettable Circle of Zero. It is easy to analyse the reasons for the success of Weinbaum's works. He wrote with beautiful simplicity. His stories lacked the stilted phraseology so common in the "good old days". Perhaps his strongest forte, along with his adept introduction of human interest, was in the creation of alien entities that possessed human qualities Who can fail to remember the Loonies of The Mad Moon; the Jack Ketch trees of Parasite Planet; Tweel of the Odyssey; or the bladder birds of Redemption Cairn? The New Adam, his magnificent book, contains much of the inner thoughts and beliefs of Weinbaum. It is interesting to note that many critics, such as Donald Wollheim, have condemned the book on the basis that a true superman, such as was Edmond Hall, would never deliberately hold himself to an implacable course of self-destruction. However, these critics appear to overlook the fact that Stanley Weinbaum believed in the theory of the Circle of Zero. Thus, in turn, his character of Edmond Hall believed that in all the endlessness of time, another Earth would be formed, another Edmond Hall, and another Vanny Marten. The Circle of Zero holds true in many of his stories. His character of old Professor de Neant says that ". . .in the eternity of time the Law of Chance functions perfectly. In eternity, every possible combination of things and events must occur. There is an eternity in the past. Since in eternity everything possible must occur at one time or another, it follows that everything must have already happened, and must happen again. In The New Adam, Edmond Hall says ". . .in eternity the circle of the spiral will spin back to this arc." The symbol of infinity plays the major role in his short story, The Brink of Infinity. In passing, a further word should be spoken on The Worlds of If. This is perhaps the finest story ever written on the segments of time. It is interesting to see that Jack Williamson, in The Legion of Time, expounded a rather different theory by maintaining certain material objects as anchors in time. Stanley G Weinbaum, in The Ideal, explains with typical simplicity the mysteries of the "point of view". He gives the logical outcome of an assump-