Pages 71-72

This page-by-page annotation is organized by sections, as delineated by the seven squares (sprockets) which separate each section. The page numbers for this page-by-page annotation are for the original Viking edition (760 pages). Editions by other publishers vary in pagination — the newer Penguin editions are 776 pages; the Bantam edition is 886 pages.

Contributors: Please use a 760-page edition (either the original Viking edition with the orange cover or the Penguin USA edition with the blue cover and rocket diagram — there are plenty on Ebay for around $10) or search the Google edition for the correct page number. Readers: To calculate the Bantam edition use this formula: Bantam page # x 1.165. Before p.50 it's about a page earlier; as you get later in the book, add a page.

Finally, profound thanks to Prof. Don Larsson for providing the foundation for this page-by-page annotation.

Page 71

Tyrosine Molecule

Correspondent Matthias Bauer notes that "sam" derives from the German "samen," for "seed." "Krypto," of course, derives from the same word as "cryptography," the study of codes. Weisenburger claims that the "tyrosine" from which kryptosam is supposed to derive is "undoubtedly fictional," but it is in fact an amino acid, which can convert to melanin, just as Jamf's note indicates (although it is unclear whether semen will in fact act as the catalytic agent).

Tyrosine is found in casein, and the name derives from the Greek, tyros meaning cheese.

Significant properties of note for Tyrosine:
- Tyrosine functions as a phenol, which Nazi doctors used in injections for rapid executions. Phenols were used extensively at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
- Tyrosine occurs in proteins that are part of the signal transduction process -- a biological processes that converts one kind of signal or stimulus into another -- cell signalling.

The SBB (SIS/MI6 forerunner) allegedly discovered that semen, if not a catalyst, did at least make a good invisible ink. Semen in espionage, Mansfield Smith Cuming, and Spymaster

71.32 GEHEIME KOMMANDOSACHE
Secret Air Command

71.33 ... von Bayros or Beardsley.
Marquis Franz von Bayros and Aubrey Beardsley were renowned for their erotic sketches in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Learn more about Beardsley and von Bayros

71.36 ... a De Mille set really...
This is open to skepticism, but I believe he's referring to Cecil B. DeMille, who was famous for his construction of grandiose sets, particularly "The City of the Pharaoh," the largest set in film history.

Cecil B. Demille at Wikipedia.

71.39 corselette
Type of underwear that combines a bra and a girdle. Wiki

Page 72

72.17 nacreous
Nacre or "mother of pearl" coats the inner surface of many seashells. It appears iridescent because the thickness of its microscopic aragonite platelets is close to the wavelength of visible light. This results in constructive and destructive interference of different wavelengths of light, resulting in different colors of light being reflected at different viewing angles. [1]

72.27 ...Wuotan and his mad army
Wuotan is the Old High German spelling of Odin; the 'mad army' is mentioned again at 75.13 in German as Wütende Heer. It is interesting that Pynchon chose to translate wütende as 'mad' rather than, say, 'angry' or 'furious', thus allowing the reader to take 'mad' to mean 'insane'. On the other hand, the disease rabies is called "Tollwut" in German, so "Wut" may not ring as a totally sane kind of rage. Historians and Nordic legends attributed a behavior called "bärsärkar-gång" (Swedish, same root of the English expression "going beserk") to Odin-worshiping proto-Lombard fighters. Rage, variously tied to willful adrenalin overload, traumatic stress, fly-agaric, or godly intervention, gave them superhuman strength but clouded their judgment and made them dangerous to friend and foe alike.

72.32 Was tust du für die Front, für den Sieg? Was has du heute für Deutschland getan?
What are you doing for the front, for the victory? What have you done for Germany today?
Also see ThomasPynchon.com for lots of GR translations.

Compare this with Roger and Jessica's not-quite-secession from the Home Front (41.20-27).