The Brothers Vonnegut

Science Fiction and the House of Magic

Ginger Strand / Beaverton 921 Vonnegut Family

Mildly interesting. Bernard Vonnegut (PhD MIT) worked on cloud seeding (silver iodide) with Irving Langmuir at General Electric in Schenectady. Kurt was army infantry and prisoner of war at Dresden, then studied anthropology at U. Chicago, thesis rejected and degree withheld, but claimed a degree and worked in GE PR department. Ice-9 was extrapolation of Langmuir explanation for ice crystals. GE culture was negative inspiration for themes of novels.

• p253 Bernie "justly revered experimentalist", artist. Cherished Einstein quotes:
  • "Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however as it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world"
  • "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science."