Scientific Devices In Ernest Hemingway's The Repairman

Throughout the story “The Repairman,” several scientific devices of varying accuracy are presented. The author describes and uses some that use plausible science, but the facts and possibilities of each are not important to the story as a whole. The varying devices are described just enough to propel interest in the story, but most of the actual scientific plausibility has to be inferred from context. In the story, hyperspace travel is presented in a way that explains itself to a degree, but in terms of real life possibility, currently only exists as a theory. Hyperspace is described as being in a sort of “non-space” where “regular rules don’t apply.” Furthermore, the protagonist states that “speed and measurements are a matter of relationship,”
Many devices like the one presented are possible, if not already existing. Programming computers to learn and adapt is already something that many computer scientists have achieved. So it is a logical conclusion that a computer could “learn” a language to allow a running translation for a user. The protagonist also uses the machine to translate the words he speaks into the newly deciphered language, which is even more so in the realm of possibility. In fact, most modern electronic devices like phones and computers have multiple brands of translation devices, though these do have many limitations when it comes to nuance. Still, it’s entirely plausible that an advanced enough translation device could detect and work with nuance outside the range of our modern devices. However, even with the translator machine being within the realm of reality, the author still leaves most of the science behind the device to context and assumptions, finally putting the story in the category of soft-science-fiction. The Repairman is a story that contains several scientific devices of varying degrees of plausibility. Through the context, we can find many different realistic theories that either exist and function, or can exist in theory, in real-life, but the focus of the story isn’t on the devices or their plausibility. The story