A Heinlein Concordance

A Heinlein Concordance

created by M. E. Cowan

Robert A Heinlein

From the stories: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W XYZ
From the real world: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w xyz

A Heinlein Concordance presented by the Heinlein Society

Dade County, Missouri

County in southwestern Missouri. It was organized January 29, 1841, from Barry and Polk counties, and named for pioneer Francis L. Dade. The county seat is Greenfield.

(Time Enough for Love)

Daedalus

In Greek myth, the Greek architect and sculptor who built the Labyrinth for King Minos of Crete. When he fell out of favor with the king and was imprisoned, he crafted wings out of birds' feathers and wax with which he fled his prison. His son Icarus flew out with him, but flew too close to the sun and crashed to earth when the wax melted and his wings fell apart. His name is Greek for "skillfully wrought".

(Farmer in the Sky)

Vasco da Gama, Conde da Vidiguiera

(1460–1524) Portuguese navigator whose voyages to India opened the sea route from western Europe to Asia around the southern tip of Africa, thus helping to make Portugal a world power.

(Time for the Stars)

Damascus

The capital of Syria, possibly the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. In the New Testament (Acts of the Apostles), Saul was struck blind while traveling to Damascus to harass the Christian community there; as a result of the experience, he accepted that Jesus was the son of God, and became an active and influential proselytizer for Christianity.

("If This Goes On—")

Josephus Daniels

(1862–1948) U.S. newspaper publisher who was also secretary of the U.S. Navy during World War I, and ambassador to Mexico from 1933 to 1944.

(To Sail Beyond the Sunset)

Rue Dante

[Dante Street] Short street south of the Seine in Paris, near the Quai De Montebello across from l'Île de la Cité.

(Glory Road)

Darkover

The planet Darkover is the setting for a science-fiction series by Marion Zimmer Bradley. The planet was colonized by humans who interbred with the natives and developed a complex quasi-feudal culture over time. Members of the ruling class frequently manifest psychic abilities, chiefly telepathy and telekinesis. Most of the novels describe the cultural and political clashes that resulted from Earth "rediscovering" the colony planet; some tell stories from the planet's "lost years".

(The Number of the Beast)

Charles Robert Darwin

(1809–1882) English naturalist who formulated a theory of the evolution of species, based on his observations during his voyage on the HMS Beagle (beginning in 1831) to survey the west coast of South America and some Pacific islands. He propounded the theory in his book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859) and The Descent of Man (1871).

(Between Planets)

Darwin, Australia

Capital of the Northern Territory, Australia, situated near the Clarence Strait of the Timor Sea. The harbor was discovered in 1839, and the site was settled in 1869. The settlement was known as Palmerston until it was renamed after the harbor in 1911.

(The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress)

Daughters of the American Revolution

Social organization of which all the members are women descended from people who "aided in achieving American independence" during the War for Independence (1775–1783). Eligible ancestors included signers of the Declaration of Independence, members of the armed services fighting for independence, pro-independence members of colonial government bodies, and anyone who provided material assistance or publicly expressed support for independence.

(Stranger in a Strange Land)

Dauphin

Title given to the heir to the French throne. The most famous dauphin was Charles VII, who was crowned king with the aid of Joan of Arc.

(Friday)

David

In the Bible (books of Samuel and Kings, also Psalms), second of the Israelite kings (after Saul), reigning c. 1000 to c. 962 BCE, who established a united kingdom over all Israel, with Jerusalem as its capital. One of the best-known stories of the Bible is how the shepherd boy David used a slingshot to kill the giant Philistine warrior Goliath.

(Between Planets, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress)

Leonardo Da Vinci

(1452–1519) Renaissance Italian painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer. Among his many works, "The Last Supper" and "Mona Lisa" are the most famous. His notebooks full of engineering plans and anatomical drawings are considered among the greatest achievements of European culture.

(The Door Into Summer, Time for the Stars)

"Dead March"

Theme from the oratorio Saul by George Frideric Handel, composed in 1739.

("The Long Watch")

L. Sprague DeCamp

(1907–2000) Science-fiction grand master and Hugo Award winner. Author of many novels and short stories including Lest Darkness Fall and The Incomplete Enchanter; also of a biography of H. P. Lovecraft.

(Friday, Rocket Ship Galileo)

De Figuris Veneris

A commentary on classical Greek and Roman texts about sexual behaviors, published in Latin in 1824 by Friedrich Karl Forberg (1770–1848). The English title (or subtitle) is A Manual of Classic Erotology.

(To Sail Beyond the Sunset)

Deimos

The outer of Mars' two moons, a small, irregular, cratered body. It is named for the son of the Greek god Ares (Mars is his Roman counterpart) by Aphrodite; the name is Greek for "panic" or "rout".

(Citizen of the Galaxy, Podkayne of Mars, The Red Planet)

Dekes

Nickname for members of the college fraternity Delta Kappa Epsilon, which was founded at Yale University in 1844.

(The Day After Tomorrow)

Democratic Party

One of the two major political parties in the United States. The party can be traced to 1792, to a national group of voters that Thomas Jefferson; the party, or faction, used various names until, during the presidency of Andrew Jackson in the 1830s, it adopted its present name.

(I Will Fear No Evil)

Denver, Colorado

Capital of Colorado and seat of Denver County, at the junction of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River just east of the Rocky Mountains. The site was first settled in 1859.

(The Day After Tomorrow, The Door Into Summer)

Des Moines, Iowa

Capital of Iowa and seat of Polk County in the south-central part of the state. Fort Des Moines was established in 1843 at the juncture of the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers; the area was opened to settlers in 1845.

(The Puppet Masters)

Detroit, Michigan

Seat of Wayne County on the Detroit River in southeastern Michigan, on the Canadian border. In 1701, French trader Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac built a fort on the river, naming it Fort-Pontchartrain-du-Détroit in honor of his patron. After capturing the territory from the French, the British shortened the name to Detroit.

(Rocket Ship Galileo)

Devereux

Family name of the English earls of Essex. The first earl, Walter Devereux (1541–1576), led a colonizing expedition to Ulster. The second, Robert Devereux (1567–1601) was a favorite of Queen Elizabeth but his ambitions led ultimately to his execution for treason. The third, also Robert Devereux (1591–1646), led a Parliamentary army against Charles I during the first three years of the Civil War, with a notable lack of success.

(Starship Troopers)

The Devil and Daniel Webster

The name The Devil and Reverend Foster may be inspired by "The Devil and Daniel Webster", a story by U.S. author Stephen Vincent Benét in which the noted orator uses his legal and rhetorical skills to free a man from a contract selling his soul to the devil.

(Stranger in a Strange Land)

Diana

The Roman goddess of the moon, the hunt, and wild animals. She is the counterpart of the Greek goddess Artemis. Though a virgin, she was invoked by women for help in conception and childbirth.

(Beyond This Horizon, Double Star, I Will Fear No Evil, It's Great to Be Back!", Job: A Comedy of Justice, "The Menace from Earth", Methuselah's Children)

Diaspora

A Greek term applied to the dispersal of Jews outside of Israel and Judea after the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BCE; and again in the Roman Empire, in particular after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE.

(Time Enough for Love)

Gordon R. Dickson

(1923–2001) Author of numerous science-fiction novels and stories, including the Dorsai series about a planet that "exports" elite mercenary warriors. He won three Hugo Awards and one Nebula, and was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2000.

Soldier, Ask Not: Novel (1967) by science-fiction author Gordon R. Dickson (1923–2001), the third book in the Childe Cycle series. The short story on which it was based won the 1965 Hugo Award for Best Short Fiction.

(The Number of the Beast)

Diners Club

The company that introduced, in 1950, the first credit card that would be accepted at a variety of businesses. It was purchased by Citicorp in 1981.

(Friday)

Dionysius Exiguus

Sixth-century monk or abbot who is credited with calculating (albeit not quite accurately) the year when Jesus was born. The modern calendar years are based on his work. He also developed a calendar used for determining the dates for Easter.

(Job: A Comedy of Justice)

Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac

(1902–1984) English physicist noted for his work in quantum mechanics and for his theory of the spinning electron. In 1933 he shared the Nobel Prize for Physics with Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger.

(Friday)

District of Columbia

Federal territory established by the United States Congress in 1790 to provide a national capital that was not located in any one state. It is located on the Potomac River, between Maryland and Virginia.

"Doctor Livingstone, I presume."

The words that explorer Henry Stanley (1841–1904) spoke to David Livingstone (1813–1873) at the end of his quest to find the missing missionary/explorer.

(Farnham's Freehold)

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson

English logician, mathematician, photographer, and novelist, especially remembered for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass (1871). These works, which used Dodgson's real-life young friend Alice Liddell as their heroine, and his many poems were written under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll.

(The Number of the Beast)

Edward L. Doheny

Head of Pan American Petroleum Company, one of the people involved in the Teapot Dome scandal during Warren Harding's presidential term. Pan American was granted exclusive rights to Elk Hills and Buena Vista Hills oil reserves in California by secretary of the interior Albert Fall. Fall received large cash gifts and no-interest "loans". Although Fall was convicted of receiving bribes, Doheny and another oil executive were acquitted of paying the bribes.

(Stranger in a Strange Land)

Arthur Conan Doyle

(1859–1930) Scottish-born doctor best known as the author of the Sherlock Holmes detective stories. He also wrote adventure stories, notably a series featuring the 19th-century scientist Professor George Edward Challenger; several military histories; and an exposé of the Belgian atrocities in the Congo. He was knighted for his work with a field hospital in South Africa and other services during the Boer War.

Sherlock Holmes: Character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the prototype for the modern detective story. Doyle described Holmes as solving crimes through his phenomenal attention to detail and ability to make logical deductions from evidence (or lack of evidence). His complex personality, as much as the imaginative plots, give the Sherlock Holmes stories enduring popularity around the world. Some of the stories also featured Holmes' brother Mycroft, whom Holmes considered far more intelligent than himself, but who preferred a contemplative life over Sherlock's more active life.
Baker Street Irregulars: Holmes frequently employs "street Arabs" (homeless boys) as informers, messengers, etc. He calls these protégés the Baker Street Irregulars after the street where his rooms are located.
Professor Moriarty: Holmes' arch-enemy was the fiendish and brilliant Professor James Moriarty, leader of a gang of criminals, whom Holmes called "the Napoleon of Crime".

(The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, The Number of the Beast, To Sail Beyond the Sunset)

Count Dracula

The vampire protagonist of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. Described in the novel as a Transylvanian nobleman, he was modeled after the 15th-century Walachian prince Vlad Tepes (The Impaler), who maintained peace within his realm by extremely brutal methods.

(To Sail Beyond the Sunset)

"Drunken Sailor"

Sea chanty of innumerable bawdy verses that answer the question, "What do you do with a drunken sailor/Early in the morning?"

(The Number of the Beast)

Duncan Hines

(1880–1959) Restaurant reviewer whose book Adventures in Good Eating became the premier restaurant guide for American travelers. In 1949, he formed a partnership with publisher and advertising executive Roy Park to create a line of food products. Duncan Hines is now a brand name for baking mixes, owned by Aurora Foods.

("The Menace from Earth")

Dunes

Resort hotel built in the 1950s on the Las Vegas Strip. It was the venue of the first Las Vegas revue featuring topless showgirls. The Dunes was torn down in 1993.

(Friday)

John William Dunne

(1875–1949) Aeronautical engineer who became interested in the nature of dreams, in particular the relationship of dreams to extrasensory phenomena such as foreseeing the future. His books include An Experiment with Time [1934, Faber & Faber, Library of Congress call number BF468.D8] and Serial Universe [1934, Faber & Faber, Library of Congress call number BD638.D8 1938].

Éleuthère Irénée du Pont

(1771–1834) French immigrant to the United States who founded a company in Delaware to manufacture black powder and other explosives. These remained the company's main products until the 20th century, when it began making industrial chemicals, synthetic fibers, industrial polymers, petroleum-based fuels and lubricants, pharmaceuticals, and agricultural chemicals.

(Citizen of the Galaxy)

Düsseldorf

Capital (as of 1946) of North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany, on the right bank of the Rhine northwest of Cologne. It is the administrative and cultural center of the industrial Rhine-Ruhr area. First mentioned in 1159, Düsseldorf was chartered in 1288 by the count of Berg.

(Citizen of the Galaxy)

Join The Heinlein Society and Pay Forward the legacy of Robert A. Heinlein and Virginia Heinlein.

The Heinlein Society was founded by Virginia Heinlein on behalf of her husband, science fiction author Robert Anson Heinlein, to "pay forward" the legacy of Robert A. Heinlein to future generations of "Heinlein's Children."