The Balkan Wars

The  Balkans are located adjacent to the Ionian Sea, just to the north of the Mediterranean Sea, East of Italy, and South of Eastern Europe. Due to it's central location between the Middle East, Europe and Africa, it is a point of convergence of many different cultures, religions and languages. This are is currently comprised of many different countries including : Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and contains parts of many other countries such as Croatia, Serbia, Italy, Romania, Slovenia and Turkey.

The Ottoman Empire had controlled virtually all of the Balkan Territories for nearly half a millennium. A war broke out between the Ottoman Empire and the Balkan League, comprised of Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Montenegro, in 1912, which resulted in the Balkan League dispelling the Ottoman Empire from the area and gaining control of the land for themselves.

The war was fought over the oppressive nature of the Ottoman Empire against the governments in the territories that it controlled, but also over the territory itself. Liberating Macedonia from the Ottoman Empire was one of the reasons that the countries had banded together in the first place, but the post war negotiations ended up being a disaster. 

Macedonia, being  a major piece of territory that was controlled byt the Ottoman Empire before the war, was afterwards split up between the other victorious countries as a spoil of war instead of being given the status of a sovereign nation like had originally been intended. The people of Macedonia, though loudly complaining about their unfortunate situation, were ignored  split, decimated, and controlled under the new political situation even more than before under the Ottoman Empire. 

Even though the Ottoman Empire was defeated in 1912, the second war in the Balkans broke out in the next year in 1913. At this time, the Ottoman Empire was defeated again and they signed a treaty in which they lost all of their European Territory. During the war, the Ottoman Empire suffered nearly 30,000 in casualties while the other countries lost nearly 55,000 combined. The Balkan wars are considered to be one of the factors that lead into World War I. The main references to the Balkans start on page 689, when Lew is talking with Professor Renfrew. The professor pulls down a big map of the Balkans and begins philosophizing on the best way to look at the situation in the Balkans. 

There are many brief references to the Balkan Conflicts throughout the entirety of Against the Day, which goes to show that it was a very prominent and important topic during this time period. Everyone was talking about it because the remnants of the Ottoman Empire were being expelled, and new political powers were coming into being. The Balkans Wars directly lead up to World War I because of all the switching of territories that had been going on, as well as the alliances that were being formed. 

Sources:

http://www.historyofmacedonia.org/MacedonianGreekConflict/images/map_partition.jpg

http://www.historyofmacedonia.org/MacedonianGreekConflict/images/map_ottoman.jpg

http://www.historycentral.com/Europe/BalkanWarCont.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Balkan_topo_en.jpg

Early Twentieth Century Spy Novels

Novels depicting espionage and world wide fight via an "undercover agent" is normal in today's sense. It can be in literature, movies, video games, tv shows, music, and so much more. This genre stems from novel literature of the early 1900's. This sub genre known as spy fiction has popularized to common knowledge. Even though it has been regarded as a bit of pop culture excitement from movies and the like, the early novels that began the hype of this genre had real life consequences.

The novel The Riddle of the Sands, was had real life reprecussions due to the story. The plot is about how two friends go on a boating holiday and end up discovering German ships prepped for battle. Great Britain credited the author of this novel to increased naval protection on various sides of the nation. The author, Erskine Childers had direct experience as a sailor in the area and his novel's accuracy of the area proved this to be fact. This was also the first spy novel and set the standard for the way that spy novels were to be written. This includes a great deal of detail and a large amount of real life accuracy. 

The novel Greenmantle by John Buchan plays along the same lines. It sets the global stage for the story of espionage. In this story the main character brings along his friend on an adventure to uncover some rumors of Germans. The rumor is that they are plotting an uprising in the Muslim world. It would put all of the Middle East, India and North Africa into turmoil. The characters uncover the truth, are chased down by the bad guys, and end up winning in the end due to Russian forces. The characters are not the best suited for the job and yet still accept on grounds of "duty". They must then use any means necessary to complete the mission. Breaking into houses, stealing cars and more is all expected. Also, for the most part their own well being is disregarded by themselves because they have been tasked with something that "must be done". These are all common characteristics found in most spy novels. This novel helped set the stage for how this genre is approached.

Against the Day

These novels are only mentioned once. This was on page 632 when Kit is speaking with Lionel Swome from T.W.I.T. and the plan for Kit to move into Inner Asia. The mentioned part is when Swome is mentioning the idea of pulling Kit out of the "mission" at any moment and that if every way of pulling him out was thought up, then a spy novel could be made. 

What can be pulled from this section would've been the themes of the characteristics of a spy novel. The following of the characters as the have secret meetings, the two N's reporting back to headquarters on Lew's progress, and Yashmeen and Kit's undercover alias as newlyweds in order to get out of the city. Cyprian's escape from Vienna follows this same ploy of that of a spy novel. He has a friend who has "connections" sneak him out through a sewer system in a hotel. This is all lead by his liasson who is basically his handler and sets him up to be assigned somewhere. Yashmeen is set up to be a dressmaker nearby which is an undercover bit for the T.W.I.T. And then Kit following through with his mission to Mr. Halfcourt's home. This novel has increasing number of characteristics that would set it up to be a spy novel.

Sources: 

Fowler, Carol. "Erskine Childers' Log Books." Sailing Today 80 (2003): n. pag. : Maritime History In-depth : Sea & Ships : Explore Online : RMG. National Maritime Museum, 2012. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. <http://www.rmg.co.uk/explore/sea-and-ships/in-depth/erskine-childers/>.

Knightley, Phillip. The Second Oldest Profession: Spies and Spying in the Twentieth Century. London: Pimlico, 2003. Print.

Young Turks Revolution

Young Turks Revolution

The Young Turks were a secularist national reform party. They later became officially known as the Committee of Union and Progress. In 1878, Sultan Abdul Hamid II suspended the Turkish Constitution. The Young Turks supported the constitution and wanted a democratic solution to the problems within the Ottoman Empire, which included economic and tax reforms. In addition to the suspended constitution, the Young Turks Revolution took issue with the increased centralized government, the loss of territory, and the assassination or exile that occurred for any that opposed the sultan.

The revolution was sped up by an announcement by Austria of a railroad being built that would bring the western portion of the Balkan peninsula under Austrian influence. This announcement hastened the rebellion because it showed the power that the Sultan had to give up territory and the power that outside influences had.
Beginning on July 6, 1908, the Young Turks led a rebellion against the Sultan. This rebellion was later deemed the Young Turks Revolution. The revolution was strongly influenced by the French Revolution and aimed at restoring the Empire's constitution. It is interesting to note that while the revolution mirrored some of the revolutions and written constitutions in Europe, like the French Revolution, it also aimed at dismissing European influences and interference. Foreigners thought little of the rebellion at first, but had to take notice as the revolution grew rapidly.

Some participants wanted to abolish the position of the sultan while most simply wanted to impose constitutional limitations on the sultan's power. A number of Turks had been exiled from the Ottoman Empire, many finding homes in Paris and Geneva. It was these individuals, as well as Western-Oriented secularists, reform-minded pluralists, Turkish nationalists, and anyone that blamed the Sultan for the state of the Ottoman Empire, that joined the Young Turks Revolution.

The Sultan tried multiple times to end the revolution by sending out military troops; however, soldiers were unpaid and officers could not keep order or hide their dissatisfaction with the Sultan. Because of this, the revolution actually gained popularity among the troops and the Sultan's attempts to end the rebellion failed further. The Sultan then surrendered by granting a constitution and restoring parliament. The rebellion lasted from 1908 until 1909. After the Revolution, the Young Turks, ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1908 until the end of World War I in 1918. As a part of their rule, the Young Turks also established the Second Constitutional Era.

Application to Against The Day:

For this topic, Pynchon discusses the politics surrounding the geography, religion and nationalism of southeastern Europe: this discussion must include Turkey and the Young Turks Revolution. This week's reading of Against the Day has a few references to the Young Turk Revolution.

One of those is when Cyprian and Danilo arrive in Salonica. They "find the city still reverberating like a struck gong" because of the conflict between the sultan and the Young Turks (842). This section of text discusses the activities of the Young Turkey Party and the Committee of Union and Progress, as it became later known. Another is when Ratty is discussing Turkey and Bosnia. I found that a main topic for this section is the geopolitics surrounding Turkey and Austria. Ratty mentions the removal of Bosnia from Turkey to place it under “Austrian 'protection'” (809). The loss of territory was one of the big components that led to the Young Turks Revolution. The nationalist movements were trying to find or create identities from below against authoritarian forces. This is seen prevalently in the history of the Ottoman Empire, and really, in the anarchism found throughout the novel as a whole. Many characters are seen as “below” but are working to find their way above and to create an identity. The “below” idea fits extremely well into the miners in Colorado whom are literally underground without identities.

Within last week's section of the reading, the Young Turk Revolution is prevalent mostly in references to the Russo-Turkish War of 1877. Russians aimed to access the Mediterranean Sea and liberate Orthodox Christians from the Islamic-ruled Ottoman Empire. The Russo-Turkish War was one of the sparks for the revolution. The Russo-Turkish War comes up again in later sections mentioning the aftermath of the Turkish Revolution and the changes it brought to the Ottoman Empire.

In earlier sections, the “odalisque of the snows” (141) is mentioned. An odalisque was a virgin slave within the harem of the Turkish sultan. In this section, the extravagance of the Sultan is shown. Both directly and indirectly, Pynchon uses the historical events surrounding the Young Turks to enrich his text. 

The Russian Revolution 1905

Russian Revolution of 1905

Bloody Sunday

In 1903, Russian workers were used to an 11 hour day throughout the week, with the exception of Saturdays where only 10 were required. When pay was decreased in 1904 to offset a rise in the price of goods produced, the factory workers were led by Father George Gapon and joined together in the Assembly of Russian Workers. In this desperate need for change, 150,000 workers signed a petition for an 8 hour workday, higher pay (including equal pay for women), improved working conditions, medical care, and freedom of speech and press. On January 22, 1905 they marched peacefully to Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to present the petition to Tsar Nicholas II and appeal for change, which was met with immediate and brutal retaliation by the police force and the Cossacks resulting in the massacre of 1,200 and casualties of 3,000 (although the “official” numbers in Russia were drastically skewed to a mere 10% of the reality). These numbers did not consist solely to those marching, but also included the unlucky civilians that were caught in the crossfire when the protesters fled to nearby houses for shelter from the attack. Considering this catastrophe could have easily been avoided and ended peacefully, this tragedy was known henceforth as “Bloody Sunday” and is considered to be what ignited the Russian Revolution of 1905.

Following Protests

Potemkin

Immediately students and middle-class workers protested with strikes and walk outs. Within six months a widespread mutiny rose in the Army and Naval forces after hearing news that a crew and firing squad aboard the Potemkin overthrew their captain for serving rotten meat. Finally, at the close of the year the railroad workers joined the strike, essentially crippling the Russian Railways. The people were banding together, and the Tsar took the advice of his counsel and decided to placate them with the October Manifesto in 1905. This document claimed to promise freedom of speech, trail before imprisonment, and an organization called the Duma to approve of new laws – although he retained the power to declare war, control the church, and dissolve the Duma when he saw fit. When the Duma finally met in 1906, it consisted of a very different structure than originally mentioned in the Manifesto. In fact, when it attempted to make the changes that the people were demanding (such as land reform) he dissolved it, only to reinstate and dissolve yet again a year later in 1907.

Outcome

Overall, the Russian Revolution of 1905 ended in 1907 without successfully removing the Tsar or his tyrannical regime, but it did lay the groundwork for the future revolution of 1917 which finally succeeded.

How it Relates to Against the Day

Nicholas II

Russia’s struggles are paralleled to America’s early in the text, when Webb’s temporary dynamite partner Veikko mentions that “he’d never seen much difference between the Tsar’s regime and American capitalism,” (83). Right away Pynchon distinguishes the workers revolution from an “American” issue to a global problem, and emphasizes that it comes in different forms of exploitation. Later, while the Chums of Chance visit Candlebrow University, the secret Smegmo formula is referred to as “guarded with a ruthlessness that would have embarrassed the Tsar of Russia,” (407). Here, Pynchon is mocking how the Tsar of Russia reputed for over taxing the people and spending immense funds from this fortune for his “protection” from the citizens – likely because they weren't so fond of being over-taxed. Bloody Sunday is most pointedly mentioned beginning a section, “That winter, in St. Petersburg, troops at the Winter Palace fired thousands of unarmed strikers who had marched there in respectfulness and innocence. Hundreds were killed and wounded,” (595).  The War Memorial website supports the reference of the  citizens being  forced  to  flee  following the protests, shown just a just  a  few  pages  later,  “By  1906  there were Russians everywhere, flown and fleeing westward,” (602). The Tsar is even tied to the theme of multiple dimensions, “the Tsar can only be overthrown in three [dimensions],” (616), which I took to be saying that even if the Tsar was overthrown, it wouldn't be in the 4^th dimension because the past can’t be undone. Lastly, the significance of the Russian Revolution during the time on the railroad system is emphasized with Swome saying “There’s never been a revolution on quite that scale, you see, and it’s followed the railroads out into Asia as well…” (630).

Sources

George Gapon The Story of my Life
www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSsunday.htm

www.robertgraham.wordpress.com/Russian-revolution-1905

http://www.war-memorial.net/Russian-Revolution-1905--3.7

Warships of the World Wars

RMS Lusitania

            The RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner, owned and operated by the Cunard Company. Lusitania was first launched in 1906, and sailed between Liverpool and New York from September 7, 1907 through May 7, 1915 when she was sunk off the southern coast of Ireland. Her original purpose was to carry civilians and goods across the Atlantic Ocean but was put on the official list of Armed Merchant Cruisers at the outbreak of World War One.

It was because; the British government had subsidized her construction and operating coast so long as the Lusitania would turn in to a Merchant Cruiser if needed that the RMS Lusitania was put on the list. Even though she was listed as an Armed Merchant Cruiser she was never outfitted for battle. At the time she was one of the largest and most recognized ships in the world, so smaller and more cost efficient were transformed in her stead. The Lusitania remained on the list for the rest of the war, not once used for battle.

In 1915 Germany declared that the seas around the British Isles were a war zone, and used U-boats to sink allied ships without any warning, while avoiding neutral ships such as cruise liners. During that time the German Embassy in Washington issued a warning to cruise liners, hoping to prevent any civilian deaths:

NOTICE!
TRAVELLERS intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her allies and Great Britain and her allies; that the zone of war includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles; that, in accordance with formal notice given by the Imperial German Government, vessels flying the flag of Great Britain, or any of her allies, are liable to destruction in those waters and that travellers sailing in the war zone on the ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their own risk.


IMPERIAL GERMAN EMBASSY
Washington, D.C. 22 April 1915.

            Unfortunately this did not dissuade the captain of the Lusitania, Captain William Thomas Turner, from taking that last trip. For protection the Lusitania had been repainted from its normal paint job of red, gold, and white to grey to help it not stand out, giving the captain and crew a false sense of security. Captain Turner also assured the passengers that the Lusitania going at her top speed of 25.5 knots could out run any U-boat. But that day the ship was not running at 25.5 knots, to cut back on costs Captain Turner had one of the four boiler rooms shut off to conserve coal which left the boat running somewhere around 22 knots at top speed.

            At around 14:10 (2:10 in the afternoon) on May 7, 1915, the Lusitania was hit by a torpedo from German U-20 captained by Kapitänleutnant Walther Schwieger. In his own logs Schwieger captured the event:

“Torpedo hits starboard side right behind the bridge. An unusually heavy

detonation takes place with a very strong explosive cloud. The explosion

of the torpedo must have been followed by a second one [boiler or coal

or powder?]... The ship stops immediately and heels over to starboard

very quickly, immersing simultaneously at the bow... the name Lusitania

becomes visible in golden letters”

The ship quickly begins to sink, leading some to believe that the ship was hit more than once by the U-20. Out of the 1,959 on board only 761 people survive.

 It was this attack that lead to the USA’s involvement in WW1. Though it was believe to be just an attack on innocent civilians, some say that cruise liner was more involved it the war than first believed. The Lusitania may have been carrying ammunition, which caused the second explosion when it was hit by the German torpedo.

RMS Queen Mary

            The RMS Queen Mary is another British cruise liner, owned and operated by the same company Cunard Line, which was called Cunard White Star when the Queen Mary was in service. She sailed from 1963 to 1967 between Southampton, Cherbourg and New York City. Having three class decks, she accommodated any one from the poor to the incredibility rich. During her time as a civilian cruise liner she carried celebrities such as Audrey Hepburn and Bob Hope back and forth across the Atlantic. In fact Bob and his wife Delores were on the ship when the Nazis invaded Poland.

            Shortly after the invasion, The Queen Mary arrived in New York and received orders to sail to Australia to be refitted to hold troops and ammunition. From that point on the Queen Mary dropped her regal name and became the Grey Ghost. She was outfitted with cannon turrets and space for over 5,000 men.

            Though she was not used for much battle, except in the D-day invasions, she did see a lot of bloodshed. For example on October 2, 1942 the Grey Ghost ran completely through the cruiser Curacoa splitting it in half. To repair the Grey Ghost it took 70 tons of cement to patch the bow. For the Curacoa, it was too late for repairs and now lies at the bottom of the ocean, along with members of its crew.

            Along with tearing apart smaller cruise ships, the Grey Ghost also transported Winston Churchill back in forth from England to the USA. On one of the first occasions he also came with a few extra carry ons, namely 5,000 German prisoners of war. Other than Churchill and troops, thousands of troops, the Grey Ghost transported refugee women and children from war-torn Europe into the United States.

Connections to Against The Day

            S.S. Stupendica & S.M.S Emperor Maximilian

            So this of course connects to my favorite part of the novel (meant sarcastically and honestly) where Kit and Dally fall for each other. In the beginning of this section it was all one ship that was separated much like the Queen Mary, in which there were two living decks. The Zombinis and Kit were in the first class accommodations but Kit preferred slumming it with the other students on the lower class decks. The Queen Mary was notorious for small crime on its lower decks, which is why Kit preferred the lower decks on the Stupendica because it reminded him of the lawless Colorado he was from. And finally the main correlation between the novel and these ships was the literal splitting of the ship into the Stupendica and the Emperor Maximilian.

           

Sources

http://www.pbs.org/lostliners/lusitania.html

http://www.dowfamilyhistory.co.uk/body_lusitania.html

http://www.rmslusitania.info/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1098904/Secret-Lusitania-Arms-challenges-Allied-claims-solely-passenger-ship.html

Schmidt, Donald E. (2005-06-29). The Folly Of War: American Foreign Policy, 1898–2004. Algora Publishing. p. 70

http://www.queenmary.com/our-story/Our-Story.php

http://ww2troopships.com/ships/q/queenmary/default.htm

http://www.ssmaritime.com/queenmary.htm

Sofia Kovalevskaia, also spelt Kovalevskya depending on the translation, was born on January 15, 1850 in Moscow Russia as Sofia Krukovsky. She was born into Russian Nobility, although minor, and given that both of her parents were well educated, she was as well. From an early age she showed a strong interest in Mathematics spurred by the fact that her nursery walls were covered in her father’s lecture notes on differential and integral analysis (Calculus). Originally Sofia’s father provided her with advanced math tutors and supported her interest and talent in mathematics, but after Sofia placed math above her other studies his support dwindled and her tutoring sessions stopped. Though this did not stop Sofia’s interest in furthering her education and turned to educating herself. When Sofia was fourteen she taught herself trigonometry in order to understand a book of physics that a friend of the family, Professor Tyrtov, had written and given to the Krukovskys. While Professor Tyrtov urged Sofia’s father to let her continue her mathematical skills, it was some time before she was permitted to take private lessons. After secondary school Sofia wanted to study abroad at the University level but her father would not permit her to go. At the time it was against the law for a young woman to travel alone without the consent of either her father or her husband. In order to continue her education Sofia married Vladimir Kovalevsky in September 1868 at the age of eighteen. The couple traveled shortly after marriage to Heidelburg where Sofia hoped to attend a university. Women were not allowed at that time to attend, but Sofia convinced the University to allow her to attended classes unofficially just as long as she received the Professors approval. While in her three semesters at Heidelburg, Sofia shocked her Professors with her gift for mathematics. She decided in 1871 to move to Berlin in order to study under Weierstrass. This time though, Sofia was unable to convince the University to permit her attendance, despite Weierstrass and other faculty support. This set back did not hinder Sofia’s education, in fact it was a blessing in disguise, because Weirstrass became her private tutor. In the four years that Sofia spent studying under Weierstrass she produced three papers that Weierstrass felt each deserved a doctorate, “The three papers were on Partial differential equations, Abelian integrals and Saturn's Rings.”

 

Partial Differential Equation (PDE) is a differential equation that contains unknown multivariable functions and their partial derivatives. PDEs are used to formulate problems involving functions of several variables, and are either solved by hand, or used to create a relevant computer model.PDEs can be used to describe a wide variety of phenomena such as sound, heat, electrostatics, electrodynamics, fluid flow, or elasticity. These seemingly distinct physical phenomena can be formalized identically in terms of PDEs, which shows that they are governed by the same underlying dynamic. Just as ordinary differential equations often model one-dimensional dynamical systems, partial differential equations often model multidimensional systems. PDEs find their generalization in stochastic partial differential equations.

Abelian Integrals: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abelian_integral

 

Saturn’s Rings: Sofia argued in this paper that the Rings of Saturn were actually egg-shaped and completely symmetrical given a certain point. This was later disproven.

 

 In 1874 Sofia was finally granted a PhD from the University of Gottingen. Despite her acknowledged expertise Sofia was still unable to find work and went into a six year period of time where she stopped all work in mathematics and failed to respond to Weierstrass attempts at contacting her. In 1878 Sofia gave birth to her daughter and in 1880 began studying mathematics again. In 1882 she began work on refraction of light in crystals. Though she gained the majority of her recognition after obtaining a temporary and finally permanent teaching position at Stockholm University in Sweden in 1884. Making her the third woman to become a professor in Europe. In 1888 Sofia was awarded with the Prix Bordin for her contribution to the study of the rigid body.

 

Where Do We See Sofia In Against the Day?

Sofia is explicitly mentioned at the top of page 500 in the book but many of her characteristics can be seen, in my opinion, through the character of Yashmeen. Sofia is mentioned in relation to her relationship with Professor Weierstrass, and is being related to the type of relationship that Yashmeen may be encountering with Professor Renfrew. Professor Renfrew is seen to be pursuing Yashmeen in an unclear manner and the “folklore” of Sofia’s relationship comes up as a warning. Though in my research there was no evidence that Sofia and Weierstrass had an affair. Yashmeen is similar to Sofia in many ways including her obsession with mathematics and her disinterest in much else. Her ability to sit down and teach her self rather dense material as we see Yashmeen do on page 496 is very similar that which Sofia did her whole life.

Other instances where Sofia’s work comes into play in the book would be with her research regarding the refraction of light. Iceland Spar is a topic of interest throughout the book and deals with this exact interest in the refraction of light. Sofia wrote a paper specifically on the refraction of light with crystals in her years leading up to becoming a professor. Light is an underlying theme not only in relation to crystal but to almost every aspect. Merle Rideout is obsessed with light and how it can be stopped or transfer, manipulated or isolated. Though Sofia does not play a huge role in the book her research may be applied in various sections.

 

http://www.physics.purdue.edu/wip/herstory/kovalevskaia.html

 

http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Biographies/Kovalevskaya.html

 

http://www.maa.org/pubs/Calc_articles/ma072.pdf

 

http://www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/kova.htm

 

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Detective Novels

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was the creator of the London based "consulting detective" Sherlock Holmes.  Doyle wrote four novels and 56 short stories featuring Holmes, the first of which was published in 1887, and almost all of which are narrated by Holmes's friend, Dr. John H. Watson.  The character of Holmes was inspired by two men, Dr. Joseph Bell and Sir Henry Littlejohn, the former for his noteworthy perceptiveness, able to "draw large conclusions from the smallest observations," and the latter for his use of forensics in crime detection.
There isn't a lot of background information on Holmes, as almost all his stories are related by Dr. Watson, but we get an estimate of Holmes being born in 1853 or 1854 dude to him being 60 years old in "The Last Bow," which was set in 1914.  Holmes was college-educated, his specialty being chemistry, and although it is never specified if he graduated from university, his first amateur cases came from university classmates.  Holmes then worked as a consulting detective for six years before taking in Watson as a roommate, which is when the stories begin at 221B Baker Street.
Holmes's stories are usually frame narratives, a summary of Holmes's adventures written from Watson's point of view, which Holmes feels sensationalizes his craft and doesn't objectively portray the science of the cases.  Watson was present for 17 of the 23 years Holmes was in practice, and although Holmes had a pretty cold exterior, Watson was his best friend.
As far as Holmes's personality, Watson described him as "bohemian," "eccentric," and stated he had a total disregard for contemporary standards of order or cleanliness.  Watson downplays Holmes's use of cocaine and morphine, although he is morally against it, as well as looks the other way when Holmes is less than upstanding in his crime-solving methods.  Holmes is described as arrogant with a dispassionate demeanor, although when working a case he shows "remarkable passion" and has a "flair for showmanship" when preparing elaborate traps to expose culprits.
Holmes's primary detection method is abductive reasoning, which is basically a hybrid of guessing and common sense based on keen observation skills, now deemed "Holmsian deduction."  Holmes is a big fan of disguises, and apparently so good at being under cover he even fools Watson on some occasions.  Along with Holmsian deduction, Holmes uses forensic science to solve his cases, including collecting trace evidence, ballistics, questionable documents, and toxicology based on his extensive chemistry knowledge for blood and poison analysis.

 Relevance to Against the Day:
Lew Basnight is a Sherlock Holmes-esque detective, which we haven't gotten to yet in the reading, as he apparently ends up in California and has a Holmesian adventure.  From what we have read, there are parallels between Holmes and Basnight, the biggest one so far, beyond the fact they're both detectives, is their drug use.  Holmes favored cocaine to "activate" his mind, whereas Basnight was all about cyclomite.  We'll read a reflection of Basnight's in upcoming chapters, in which he speaks of bilocation and how his other self, "the Sherlock Holmes type of  sleuth" is out capturing criminal masterminds who are basically no different than Scarsdale Vibe and others like him.  Due to Pynchon's affinity for genre-poaching, my abductive reasoning leads me to infer that Basnight reading will reflect Doyle's writing style and be a Holmesian adventure.



Sources:
http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
http://steampunkscholar.blogspot.com/2009/07/against-day-by-thomas-pynchon-part-3.html
Against The Day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes
http://www.sherlockholmesonline.org/

H. G. Wells

H.G. Wells

Born September 21^st, 1866, Herbert George Wells went on to become on of the greatest early science fiction writers. He is best known for his novels The War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, The Invisible Man and The Island of Dr. Moreau. As a child his family was poor and his father worked tirelessly to support his family from a small store he owned. A significant moment in his life occurred when he was 8 years old. An unfortunate accident resulted in young Wells breaking his leg but his bed ridden days were subsequently filled with books. During this time he grew to love literature and started to develop a passion for writing. As Wells grew older his family fell on hard times when his father also broke his leg and young Herbert was compelled a seek apprenticeship as a draper at the Southsea Drapery Emporium. His mother accepted a position as a maid soon after and his parents subsequently lived completely separate lives.

As Wells grew older, he pursued his education through a variety of colleges. He briefly attended the National School at Wookey and then served as a student pupil at Midhurst Grammar School.  From here he won a scholarship to the Normal School of Science and studied biology with Thomas Huxley. He joined several debating society’s and published The Time Machine in 1886. Soon after publication he married his cousin Isabel Mary Wells, but the couple separated a few years later when he fell in love with one of his students, Jane Robbins. He had two sons with Jane and numerous affairs throughout their time together.

As a writer, Wells sought to incorporate social issues and his political beliefs. It seems as if his difficult childhood stayed with him throughout his life, and his works included many themes involving social justice and the rise of a privileged class. He even went so far as to write utopian novels, including A Modern Utopia (1905). His novel The Island of Dr. Moreau discussed the question of nature vs. nurture.
Class issues were also very important to him. In particular, The Time Machine reflected the growing disparity between the leisurely upper class elite and the downtrodden working class. In his novel, the main protagonist, simply known as the Time Traveler goes ahead about 800,000 years in the future to discover that the human race has actually diverged into two separate species, the Eloi and the Morlock. The Eloi are simple, childlike people who lack any motivation or compassion for one another. They have no need for strength or intelligence anymore so they appear to have deteriorated into small, naive beings. The Morlock are the creatures that live in the ground, also descended from human beings. They are brutish and mean, feeding and clothing the Eloi in order to sneak up at night to eat them. The Time Traveler deduces that these separate species the Eloi and the Morlock are the descendants of the upper and lower classes, respectively. It is this distinction that is important to the H.G. Wells's novel, that the future of humanity is based on extrapolations of current social conditions.

He died in August 1946 in his home in Regents Park.

Relevance to Against the Day

H.G. Wells is mentioned in Against during the section devoted to time travel. Since the success of his novel, The Time Machine, Wells name had become synonymous with time travel and his name is naturally brought up when the Chums meet Plug Loafsley, who has access to a time machine. This sets forth a new adventure involving the Chums as Chick and Darby seek out the time machine and end up on a wild ride. The Chums then head over to Candlebrow University where they include themselves in a series of lectures by about time travel and try to find a working machine. Later, Wells name is brought up when listing the attendees of the First International Conference on Time Travel. His involvement in the book is a bit limited, but he opens the door to the theory of time travel and initiates many professors to talk about it.

Wells's  importance in the books exceeds his name being mentioned in the conferences at Candlebrow. Because of the many political references in his books to the working conditions of the day, it can be argued that Pynchon includes this author in particular to highlight one of his ongoing themes in Against The Day. From the very beginning of the book the Chums of Chance fly over the meatpacking district in Chicago, an area known for exploiting immigrant workers in slum like conditions to power the factories for the upper class. Also, throughout the book there are continual references to the dangers of the rich upper class business men, such as Scarsdale Vibe and the power they hold over lower or working class families. So the importance of Wells has not so much to do with time travel as it does as a reflection of the social stratification and the dangers it imposes on the working man.