Hahn, Dr. Doris— Human female Flatlander, probably a psychist. In 2314 she informed Douglas Hooker he was a potential paranoid. ["The Ethics of Madness"]

Harrison, Ann— Human female Flatlander, circa 2366 a crew member on the Angel's Pencil. She was blonde, blue eyed, muscled and tall. ["The Warriors"]

helium II lifeforms— Resembling a pool of oil, these amoeba-like creatures living on very cold worlds are composed mainly of helium in its "superfluid" state of helium II. The first were discovered prior to 1989 on the dark, cold side of Mercury. By 2645, 20 varieties had been documented. [Spoiler alert: "Flatlander"] Another variety was discovered that year on the antimatter planet. ["The Coldest Place", "Flatlander"]

hellflare tattoo— The mark of a Human trained to fight Kzinti bare-handed circa 2615. Beowulf Shaeffer encountered a man with this tattoo in 2645. See Kzinti "incidents". ["Flatlander"]

Heroes' Tongue— The Kzinti language, full of hissing and spitting, sounds like cats fighting and like insults. ["The Soft Weapon"]

History of Earth courses— In Sol system circa 2355, attempts to stamp out violence in Human cultures included censorship regarding humanity's history of wars, murders, and other violence. Only about one in 12 qualified for "History of Earth courses", and even those revealed just part of the truth. See also Golden Age. ["The Warriors", "Telepath's Dance"]

Ho River— A river on Down, sometimes used for water-skiing. [ "The Handicapped"]

Homo habilis (Pak breeder) Copyright © 2005 Encyclopedia Brittanica, Inc.

hominid— [Spoiler alert: Protector] Any of the various humanoid species descended from, and including, the Pak (Homo habilis). This includes Humans (Homo sapiens). [Spoiler alert: Ringworld Engineers] It also includes all the hominids on the Ringworld, encompassing an estimated one to two thousand intelligent species. [Protector, Ringworld Engineers]

Hooker, Clarisse— Human female Flatlander, married to Douglas Hooker in the 2320s, divorced prior to 2344. ["The Ethics of Madness"]

Hooker, Douglas— Human male Flatlander, President of Skyhook Enterprises when it built the first safe ramscoop starship, in 2326. He was thin, blonde and blue-eyed. For a time he was married to Clarisse. [Spoiler alert: "The Ethics of Madness"] In 2371 he was one of the very few during Sol System's Golden Age to become murderously psychotic. In 2385, following successful therapy on Plateau, he became involved in a deadly chase with Greg Loeffler, using safe ramscoop ships, moving at near-lightspeed into the far future. See "The Ethics of Madness" (story summary). ["The Ethics of Madness"]

Emil Horne Copyright © 1997 by The Icon Factory

Horne, Emil— Human male Jinxian, a topflight computer-programmer, in 2647 a passenger aboard the Argos. [Spoiler alert: "Grendel"] He insisted on trying to find and rescue the kidnapped Kdatlyno artist Lloobee, and dragged a very reluctant Beowulf Shaeffer along with him. See "Grendel" (story summary). ["Grendel"]

Hrodenu— A famous Kdatlyno artist. In 2645 his touch-sculpture "FTL-SPACE" was on display in the Art Section of the Institute of Knowledge on Jinx. ["At the Core", "Grendel"]

hullmetal— A structural material in use by 2647 to construct hulls for ships without a General Products hull, for airlock doors in GP hulls, and in other applications where a very strong material was needed. ["Grendel"]

Human— See individual entries for Crashlander (from We Made It), Downer (from Down), Flatlander (from Earth), Jinxian (from Jinx), Mountaineer (from Plateau), Wunderlander (from Wunderland)

Human Space— The Human-colonized worlds and the space between. In the pre-hyperdrive era, prior to 2400, Humans spread from Earth to colonize the Belt, Down, Home, Jinx, Luna, Plateau, We Made It, and Wunderland. By 2645 this "bubble" of space was about 30 light-years across [1], and included Canyon, Down, Fafnir, Gummidgy, Hrooshpith, the Serpent Stream and Silvereyes. By 2850, Human Space had grown to about 60 light-years across [2], and included Margrave. By 3100 it had expanded greatly, as Known Space become the "Thousand Worlds" [3]. ["At the Core"]

hyperdrive— A method of superluminal (faster-than-light) travel through hyperspace. Hyperdrive technology was sold by the Outsiders to the Human colony of We Made It, perhaps in 2406 (see "Dating the Advent of Hyperdrive" in the Articles section). The speed of normal (Quantum I) hyperdrive travel is three days per lightyear. Hyperdrive ships are navigated with the aid of a mass pointer, a psionic device only usable by a living brain. In some cases an autopilot may navigate the ship, but likely this occurs only on well-surveyed, established routes. When a working hyperdrive gets too deep into a gravity well, it disappears [4]. Therefore hyperdrive cannot be used close to a star or planet, and cannot be engaged too close to another ship. A starship leaving a planet must travel beyond this mass limit, to "flat space" before engaging the hyperdrive. In Sol system, the sun's mass limit is beyond the orbit of Neptune. ["At the Core", "Flatlander", "Grendel", "The Soft Weapon" "There Is a Tide"]

See also: hyperspace blind spot, Quantum II hyperdrive, "Hyperspace Theory & Practice" in the Articles section

hyperphone— See hyperwave communicator

hyperspace— A space, or condition of existence, outside the normal universe in which spaceships can travel much faster than light, and through which instantaneous signals can be sent. For a detailed study, see "Hyperspace Theory & Practice" in the Articles section. ["A Relic of the Empire", "At the Core"]

See also:hyperdrive, hyperspace blind-spot, hyperwave communicator, mass pointer, quantum II hyperdrive

"If you look long enough, the Blind Spot starts to spread..."

hyperspace blind-spot— The minds of Humans and Kzinti, and probably other species, refuse to see hyperspace. If, for example, a window is present looking out on hyperspace, the mind sees adjacent walls and objects stretched in to cover it completely. Most find the mental influence of the hyperspace blind spot highly disturbing, unlike the eye's normal blind spot. It will drive some insane; they are said to have "blind-spot phobia". For this reason, passenger starships have no windows. A small minority of Humans are not bothered by the blind-spot phenomenon. In Kzinti the ability to withstand it is so rare that it is considered an indication of noble blood. [Spoiler alert: "Flatlander"] In 2645 when Beowulf Shaeffer was piloting a hull-less starship through hyperspace and happened to glance up, so that his entire view was filled with hyperspace blind-spot, he even forgot he had the ability to see. ["At the Core", "Flatlander", "Fly-By-Night"]

See also: "Hyperspace Theory & Practice" in the Articles section

hyperwave— The hyperspace technology equivalent of radio signals. See hyperwave communicator ["Grendel", "The Soft Weapon"]

hyperwave communicator— (also called hyperphone) The hyperspace technology equivalent of a two-way radio. By 2645 it allowed instantaneous transmissions even at galactic distances [5]. Like hyperdrive it was usable only in "flat space" far from any star, so messages had to be relayed to inhabited worlds via laser. ["Neutron Star", "At the Core"; "The Soft Weapon", "Grendel"]

See also: "Hyperspace Theory & Practice" in the Articles section

Footnotes

[1] "The human sphere of colonization is some thirty light-years across, is it not?" [paragraph] "Maximum. It's not exactly a sphere—" ("At the Core", Neutron Star p. 54)

[2] "...a bubble sixty light-years across by Louis Wu's time..." ("Introduction", Tales of Known Space p. xi)

[3] "Every boosterspice plant in the Thousand Worlds..." ("Safe at Any Speed", Tales of Known Space p. 217)

[4] Apparently the entire ship disappears, not just the hyperdrive. "...any ship in known space would take six hours to reach the breakout point. If it tried to go farther in hyperspace, CY Aquarii's gee well would drop it permanently into the Blind Spot" ("Grendel", Neutron Star p. 249).

[5] Beowulf Shaeffer was able to carry on real-time conversations with his Puppeteer employer via hyperphone, even at a distance of tens of thousands of light-years ("At the Core", Neutron Star p. 62).

[6] "A Relic of the Empire", Neutron Star p. 37