Chapter 1: Section 4: Page 34: Line 196 (568)

 "Hmm . . . well . . . as a figure to start from . . . if only for symmetry's sake . . . say about what Brother Tesla's getting from Mr. Morgan?"

* * * * * * * * * *

The Professor's ability to negotiate in this meeting makes perfect sense to me. Some people just don't understand business and they don't want to understand business. It's not some aspect of their lives they care enough about to have ever given it any thought. Some people just want to get on doing what they want to do. They want to follow their passion even if their passion isn't shared by anybody else. In certain instances, like with the Professor here, your passion is something valuable to somebody else. In other instances, like with me, nobody gives a shit about anything you write (except maybe three junior high school girls from Missouri). But it doesn't matter. People often say, "If I wasn't getting paid for this, I'd still do it!" But that's easy to say. Here's the better version: "I can't imagine ever getting paid for this but I still love doing it!"
    Anyway, I suck at business but I own my own business so that I have way more free time to do all the nonsense that actually makes my life interesting to me. And when people need to know how much I charge for something that I've never done before? I'm fucking stymied! I never know what to charge! Eventually I came down to a formula that seems to work but I'm probably shorting myself because everybody always agrees to my prices readily. Maybe I should change the formula and just add " + 20%" to the end of it. Even that increase would be far below the rate of inflation since I first started ten years ago!
    Damn, I really need to consult a business advisor!

Chapter 1: Section 4: Page 34: Lines 191-192 (563-564)

 "Tell me the details later. Now—how much do you reckon something like that would actually, um," lowering his voice, "cost?"

* * * * * * * * * *

"lowering his voice"
So the only part of this entire conversation that Scarsdale Vibe believes might constitute an indiscretion in polite conversation is the cost of it all? Or maybe he's just lowering his voice because he knows if the Professor estimates an exorbitant sum, Scarsdale's next words will be, "I guess I'll just have Tesla killed for twenty quid."

Chapter 1: Section 4: Page 34: Lines 189-190 (561-562)

 "Well in theory, I don't see any great obstacle. It's a simple phase inversion, though there may be non-linear phenomena of scale we cannot predict till we build a working Device—"

* * * * * * * * * *

"I don't see any great obstacle"
That's pretty much what I figured since I know so much about radio and I took calculus and physics in high school.
    Never mind what grade I got.

"It's a simple phase inversion"
I was going to brag some more about how I understand waves due to practically growing up on the beaches of Santa Cruz and seeing the phenomena of waves canceling each other out but then I thought about Star Trek and the transporters and I got super creeped out thinking about a Romulan device that could create a phase inversion transporter that would cancel out the person being beamed through space. I mean, in theory, that could work, right?!

"non-linear phenomena of scale"
I think this means once it's up and running, we could see unforeseen effects like giant earthquakes, random people's heads exploding, or Godzilla.

Chapter 1: Section 4: Page 34: Lines 185-188 (557-560)

 "Precisely why Pierpont's in on this. That and his arrangement with Edison—but there I go again spilling secrets. Bankrolling Tesla has given Morgan's access to all Tesla's engineering secrets. And he has operatives on the spot, ready day and night to rush us photographed copies of anything we need to know."

* * * * * * * * * *

A-ha! So J.P. Morgan's historical association with Nikola Tesla plays into Pynchon's tale! According to this fiction, Morgan wasn't interested in working with Tesla on a trans-Atlantic wireless system at all (or anything seven years before that, even, as he seems to be doing here in 1893, according to Scarsdale). He was simply infiltrating Tesla's camp to sabotage his work.
    I don't know if this is foreshadowing or some other literary motif but we'll see later that the working class plays the same game and are labeled socialists, communists, and anarchists for their efforts. How the world eventually comes to view you and your actions all depends on whether or not you own the media. And law enforcement. And politicians. One guy is just tweaking the rules because he's smart and good at money and rich and awesome. The other guy is a chowder-headed nitwit with a bomb who read one pamphlet on socialism, misunderstood it because he was poor and dumb, and became a terrorist who needs to be hanged as an example to all the other chowder-heads who dare to try to make the world a better place.

"he has operatives on the spot"
I should probably try to remember this when I get to the Nikola Tesla section. Maybe I can ferret out the characters who are obviously on Morgan's payroll!

Chapter 1: Section 4: Page 34: Lines 183-184 (555-556)

 "Hmm. It would help to see Dr. Tesla's drawings and calculations."

* * * * * * * * * *

Pynchon's fictional account of 1893 builds upon our modern love of conspiracy (and would you expect anything else from Pynchon?). Here Pynchon gives us exactly the sort of scene we imagine took place, one that takes place in fancy penthouses all over the country even today. Science and technology come up with an invention which will help people that corporations and industrialists can't earn money from. Not only will they be unable to earn money from it, it will cost them billions of dollars over time. Cars that run on water alone? Totally invented but squashed by fossil fuel companies! A cure for cancer? Anathema to pharmaceutical companies. Tesla's wireless and free world power system? Buried by the electrical cartel!

"Tesla"
Does anybody else get "Modern Day Cowboy" stuck in their head whenever they see the name Tesla? 

Chapter 1: Section 4: Page 34: Lines 180-182 (552-554)

 "Speak bluntly may I? Invent us a counter-transformer. Some piece of equipment that will detect one of these Tesla rigs in operation, and then broadcast something equal and opposite that'll nullify its effects."

* * * * * * * * * *

Here we see free market capitalism at work as it is expected to work by powerful and rich magnates. If somebody is free to improve society at the expense of the rich and powerful's wealth, then the rich and the powerful should be free to smash those people into little worthless smithereens. Scarsdale has no intention of "competing" in the "free market" of ideas. Tesla wants to build free power; Scarsdale wants to build a vault around the entire concept and sink it in the ocean.

"Speak bluntly may I?"
Imagine having to always couch your beliefs and declarations in metaphor, simile, and analogy because the earnest baring of your soul would be too horrific for those around you to stomach.
    I typed this meaning to criticize people like fictional character Scarsdale Vibe but have inadvertently hurt my own feelings.

"Invent us a counter-transformer"
Wait. I missed the part where Tesla was inventing Transformers in 1893. So basically Scarsdale wants the Professor to invent Decepticons.

"Some piece of equipment that will detect one of these Tesla rigs in operation, and then broadcast something equal and opposite that'll nullify its effects."
This isn't an outrageous theory at all. During the fledgling days of radio experimentation, transmissions had no way of going out without interfering with other radio transmissions in the area, resulting in garbled nonsense. This was about a decade or so later than 1893 so Scarsdale wouldn't be basing his idea on that. But the sense that if something can be transmitted, it is a thing that can be actively stopped is a reasonable one from a human perspective. Can you not smash a pipe pumping gas from one place to another to stop it from powering a distant apparatus? Could you not cut a wire to stop a telegraph transmission? Why not be able to detect and stop free power transmitted through the Aether then? And the best thing about making a "counter-transformer"? As the diabolical thwarter of some other scientist, you don't need to be nearly as imaginative or smart to build the thing that stops another thing!

Chapter 1: Section 4: Page 33: Line 175 (547)

 Vomit.

* * * * * * * * * *

Not much to say on a one word sentence so let me Gary Busey this one:

VOMIT
Viscous
Ooze
Moving
Inside
Throat.

Or maybe:

VOMIT
Vanderjuice
Obsesses Over
More
Intelligent
Tesla.

Okay maybe that's "voomit." But this is the Internet and according to "lose/loose," vomit may one day be spelled that way. I'm just ahead of the curve. Like Tesla!

Chapter 1: Section 4: Page 33: Line 174 (546)

 Every time Tesla's name came up, this was the predictable outcome.

* * * * * * * * * *

Oh, I see. I've been corrected. The Professor doesn't feel sick because he's negotiating a business deal with the most cartoonish villain since Montgomery Burns. He's sick because he was reminded that his brain isn't the biggest brain in the metaphorical locker room. Is that a thing? The metaphorical locker room? If not, I apologize for making you think of a bunch of men with their dongs out. Did I need to apologize? Or did you enjoy that? Well then, you're welcome!

At least the Professor thinks like a scientist. Whenever X happens, Y happens! Predictable! But I bet Tesla knew this was a theorem before the Professor did. His brain! So large! So veiny!

Chapter 1: Section 4: Page 33: Lines 167-172 (539-544)

 "Back in the spring, Dr. Tesla was able to achieve readings on his transformer of up to a million volts. It does not take a prophet to see where this is headed. He is already talking in private about something he calls a 'World-System,' for producing huge amounts of electrical power that anyone can tap in to for free, anywhere in the world, because it uses the planet as an element in a gigantic resonant circuit. He is naïve enough to think he can get financing for this, from Pierpont, or me, or one or two others. It has escaped his mighty intellect that no one can make any money off an invention like that. To put up money for research into a system of free power would be to throw it away, and violate—hell, betray—the essence of everything modern history is supposed to be."

* * * * * * * * * *

"Dr. Tesla"
Being that Scarsdale Vibe is such a comic book villain with a comic book villain name, Dr. Tesla simply sounds like a super hero. Which he totally was and, I imagine, Pynchon will continue to make him look more and more like one. Because I think, at least so far, Pynchon is really going for a comic book flavor with this book.

"of up to a million volts"
That's an actual lot in 1893 and not some Dr. Evil hilariously too low number, right? I'm only asking because I'm dumb. The only thing I know about electricity is that if your Crossbow arcade game isn't working right and you're holding the trigger, you can touch another piece of metal and get a somewhat pleasant low level shock run through you. Maybe it was just that one machine at the 7-Eleven by the house where I grew up and not all of the machines. Remember, I'm dumb so I don't know how science works.

"does not take a prophet"
"It doesn't take a prophet to see we can't make a profit with Tesla," is what Scarsdale Vibe should have said. I mean, he says it. But not like a comic book villain would have with a nice pun and a tweak of his waxed mustache.

"He is already talking in private"
If it's in private, how does Scarsdale know about it?! He must employ spies working for Tesla!

"a 'World-System,' for producing huge amounts of electrical power that anyone can tap in to for free"
Not just a hero but a socialist as well! That should be expected. In comic books, all super heroes are socialist in that they almost never charge for their heroics. And all comic book villains are capitalists because how else did they get all that money to build that evil lair in which they could hire lots of henchmen for low wages without health insurance to help them build a huge and expensive laser that can destroy the moon? "But why would they destroy the moon?" you might ask. For profit! Duh!

"uses the planet as an element in a gigantic resonant circuit"
Here's what I can find on the Internet when I search for "resonant circuit for dumbies":

"A resonant circuit is formed when a capacitor and inductor (coil) are in parallel or in series. The two circuit elements will block or pass a single specific frequency out of a divers mix. For this reason, resonant circuits make possible radio and TV transmission and reception and perform many other useful tasks."

Well, that explains that! I'm so glad I understand it now! Of course that's why they make TV and radio possible! Duh! So obvious! Now imagine if the Earth were a resonant circuit! We would have like a million more television shows, right?!

"He is naïve enough to think he can get financing for this"
This is why the government should fund experiments in science and technology. Because science and technology should make the world a better place for everybody, not just for the investors who then have a right to own it and partial it out to only people who can pay the exorbitant prices charged for access to it.

"Pierpont"
John Pierpont Morgan. A rich American bastard who exploited loads of people and stole ungodly amounts of money from the general economy. Eventually in 1900, J.P. Morgan does invest in Tesla because Scarsdale Vibe doesn't know as much as he thinks he knows! Except maybe he does because J.P. Morgan invests in Tesla to build a better telegraph system and Tesla immediately decided to work on the free power deal instead. Morgan, as Vibe notes, realized he couldn't make any money on owning 51% of free power and killed the deal, the selfish rich bastard. He had so much money but he could only invest in things that made him more money? What a jerk. Morgan died peacefully at the age of 76 because there is no God.

"It has escaped his mighty intellect that no one can make any money off an invention like that."
It has escaped Scarsdale's mighty intellect that not all people are selfish twats and so maybe profit isn't their only concern. But then again, Scarsdale has the kind of thinking you'd find in the brain of a modern Conservative in which only profit matters and life must be earned. So free energy has two faults: it doesn't make any money and it freely gives people something they, apparently, don't deserve.

"To put up money for research into a system of free power would be to throw it away, and violate—hell, betray—the essence of everything modern history is supposed to be."
People who think they're smart actually believe crap like this. They believe only profit motivates. They believe only competition can improve a system. They believe money invested for the betterment of mankind is money wasted. They believe modern history is made by rich and powerful men who make decisions based on numbers and not people. Maybe that's true. Maybe that is what modern history is and maybe to try anything else is to betray modern history. But if that's the case, I'm ready to fucking betray it. As Huck Finn said, "All right, then, I'll go to hell."

Chapter 1: Section 2: Page 19: Line 154-155 (259-260)

 "Speaking of voices," said Penny, "what have you heard about these . . . 'sightings' that keep getting reported in? Not just from crews up in the air but sometimes even from civilians on the ground?"

* * * * * * * * * *

Uh oh! Unidentified Flying Objects! Or maybe emanations from Nikola Tesla's experiments with wireless electricity? Or maybe ball lightning!

These "sightings" could be "The Light Over the Ranges" which is this chapter's title, right? Although I think probably not (unless they're due to Nikola Tesla's experiments). I think the whole "Light Over the Ranges" bit is just the thematic message for this chapter; we're discovering how light is changing the landscape of people's lives over the Midwest. And the greatest symbol of that change is the Chicago's World Fair.

"Speaking of voices . . . have you heard about these . . . 'sightings'"
"Speaking of this sense, have you heard something about this other sense?" Poor Penelope! Her excuses for digressions are worse than mine. I suppose she's implying a link between the voices in the air and the sightings of strange objects by people on the ground. Although unless she gets more specific with these reported sightings, isn't it possible the civilians are sighting the aeronaut ships and/or the falling poo of the ships' pets?

"these . . . sightings"
That ellipsis implies Penny feels these sightings are slightly ominous. It's the exact ellipsis I would put into any discussion of the ghost that made my bed squeak late at night from the ages of twelve to, well, forty-nine, I guess. "Oh yeah, I heard those . . . squeakings too. Damn ghost."

Chapter 1: Section 2: Pages 18-19: Line 149 (254)

 "Coming in over 'Egypt,' downstate Illinois to you, Darb, we caught us an upriser off a cornfield by Decatur, thought we'd be onto the dang moon by now—'scuse me"—pausing to sneeze—"icicles o' snot down to our belt buckles, goin all blue from the light of that electric fluid, 's whirlpoolin round our heads—ahh-pffeugghh!"

* * * * * * * * * *

Riley, one of the Bindlestiffs, is telling this recent story, probably of their trip to the Exposition, seeing as how he seems to have gotten sick from the experience. Because anybody with a grandparent knows you catch cold from being too cold. I don't know the science behind catching a cold if you don't wear a jacket. I guess it has something to do with the immune system falling asleep when the body temperature lowers or maybe cold germs can only live in weather that feels fair to young people but freezes the buttocks off of old men and women.

"Coming in over 'Egypt,' downstate Illinois to you, Darb"
At first I just assumed downstate Illinois was being referred to as Egypt because that's where Cairo, Illinois is. But I did my due diligent research and learned for the first time in my 49 years that Southern Illinois has been referred to as "Little Egypt" for a period of time long enough that when Southeastern Illinois College sprang to life (fully formed the way colleges do, like stars, if my understanding of the universe by way of Giles Goat-Boy is accurate), it incorporated a sphinx and a pyramid into its seal and logo. A better dating of the time the name came about (obviously prior to 1893 since Riley is calling it that in this book) is around the 1830s when the people of Northern Illinois were stricken by a terrible winter and early frost that ruined the crops so that they needed to travel to Southern Illinois to seek sustenance. In doing so, they compared themselves to the Hebrews having to travel to Egypt in a time of famine. Except in their story, nobody was murderously jealous of their little brothers gorgeous jacket and his stupid prophetic dreams and his father's big dumb love for the stupid kid.
    From the very little I've read, it was noted that the first documented use of the term was in 1912. But it was definitely used for longer than that almost certainly and probably. Not that I'd ever heard it before but I was born and raised in California and what do Californians know about the Midwest. Or East. What region is Illinois considered to be in? I'd say Midwest because it contains Chicago. Also because "Midwest" always includes a bunch of states I never would have thought were Midwest and excludes a bunch of states I always assumed were the Midwest. Again, what do Californians know?! The only regions we're concerned with are the beaches and valleys. And the people of the valleys better damn well stay off the beaches!

"caught us an upriser"
Obviously Riley is talking about a current of air that shot their balloon well into the troposphere, possibly even into the stratosphere! I don't know much about balloons and how high they can go but I can talk atmospheric layers all day long! As long as we stick to the one that had a Masters of the Universe character named after it and the troposphere. But the term "upriser" also suggests one who takes part in an uprising. As in "the immigrants and poor people of this country aren't going to take much more of this exploiting of labor by rich industrialists and they're going to make some serious trouble if nobody institutes any labor laws right quick, don't'cha know?!"

"the dang moon"
I don't know what Riley's got against the moon but come on! That kind of language is uncalled for. Unless he just meant "by dang we sure got sent way up in the air, almost to the beautiful and gorgeous and well-adjusted moon!"

"goin all blue from the light of that electric fluid, 's whirlpoolin round our heads"
I think Riley is talking about the Aether here. It's a super important part of this book because Against the Day takes place in the—oh! oh! here we go! Am I doing it right?!—liminal space in our changing understanding of light. In 1887, the Michaelson-Morley experiment began to cast doubt on the existence of aether, previously needed for the theory about how light traveled through space. One of Pynchon's stage decorations of the novel may be that our theories of the world create the world and so while we believed in aether, the world provided copious examples of it. But as we began to doubt it, it literally changed our world. And I don't mean Pynchon suggests this with only the aether but with our entire belief system, and possibly even our fiction.
    One example of this is the Hollow Earth theory. The theory was a popular belief but disproven in the late 1700s. At that point, it became a relic of science fiction. So while you wouldn't expect the Chums of Chance to travel through a Hollow Earth, having been disproven a century before their adventures, they still manage to do it because it's still a popular theme in science fiction, such as in 1892's The Goddess of Atvatabar by William R. Bradshaw.
    Also, the "electric fluid" might just be lightning! In 1893, the Chums are also in a liminal electric space! It was only in 1882 that the first New York electric street lamps were beginning to spring up. And the Chicago's World Fair will be a major exhibition of the wonders of electricity and lighting. The 1890s were also when Tesla was experimenting with wireless lighting and wireless electricity.
    My point, and I sometimes have them, is that 1893 seems to be a perfect space in time and science for Pynchon to explore the ideas of how our consciousness, and how the world around us and our perception of it, changed dramatically through technology and innovation. And also, as we'll see, labor practices!