Chapter 29 of Project Daedalus is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIX
Chapter 29 of Project Daedalus is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable. There's no getting around it. This vehicle was intended to perform best at the edge of space, not down here." "All right," he said slowly. "Then why not take her there?
Chapter 29 of Project Daedalus is here in full — 410 sentences across 82 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/82 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
elevation especially above sea level or above the earth's surface
From this reading “"Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.”
a friend who is frequently in the company of another
From this reading “"Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.”
(Greek mythology) an Athenian inventor who built the labyrinth of Minos; to escape the labyrinth he fashioned wings for himself and his son Icarus
From this reading “"Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.”
extraordinarily good or great; used especially as intensifiers
From this reading “"Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.”
carry out or perform an action
From this reading “This vehicle was intended to perform best at the edge of space, not down here."”
a raised horizontal surface
From this reading “"Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.”
a conveyance that transports people or objects
From this reading “This vehicle was intended to perform best at the edge of space, not down here."”
susceptible to attack
From this reading “"Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “This vehicle was intended to perform best at the edge of space, not down here."”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading "Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading "All right," he said slowly.
elevation especially above sea level or above the earth's surface
From this reading "Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading There's no getting around it.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading This vehicle was intended to perform best at the edge of space, not down here."
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading "Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.
the supreme effort one can make
From this reading This vehicle was intended to perform best at the edge of space, not down here."
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading "Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.
a friend who is frequently in the company of another
From this reading "Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.
(Greek mythology) an Athenian inventor who built the labyrinth of Minos; to escape the labyrinth he fashioned wings for himself and his son Icarus
From this reading "Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading This vehicle was intended to perform best at the edge of space, not down here."
the boundary of a surface
From this reading This vehicle was intended to perform best at the edge of space, not down here."
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading "Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.
the act of acquiring something
From this reading There's no getting around it.
change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading "Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.
the act of departing
From this reading "Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "All right," he said slowly.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading "Then why not take her there?
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading This vehicle was intended to perform best at the edge of space, not down here."
resulting from one's intentions
From this reading This vehicle was intended to perform best at the edge of space, not down here."
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading There's no getting around it.
extraordinarily good or great; used especially as intensifiers
From this reading "Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.
not any; not one
From this reading There's no getting around it.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading This vehicle was intended to perform best at the edge of space, not down here."
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading This vehicle was intended to perform best at the edge of space, not down here."
carry out or perform an action
From this reading This vehicle was intended to perform best at the edge of space, not down here."
a raised horizontal surface
From this reading "Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.
precisely, exactly
From this reading "All right," he said slowly.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "All right," he said slowly.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading "All right," he said slowly.
the unlimited expanse in which everything is located
From this reading This vehicle was intended to perform best at the edge of space, not down here."
carry out
From this reading "Then why not take her there?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading "Then why not take her there?
in or at that place or location
From this reading "Then why not take her there?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There's no getting around it.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading This vehicle was intended to perform best at the edge of space, not down here."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.
a conveyance that transports people or objects
From this reading This vehicle was intended to perform best at the edge of space, not down here."
susceptible to attack
From this reading "Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading This vehicle was intended to perform best at the edge of space, not down here."
the speaker together with one or more other people
From this reading "Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.
at the time that
From this reading "Comrade Vance, the Daedalus is a marvelous platform, but when we go for altitude, we're going to be vulnerable.
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading "Then why not take her there?
Chapter 29 of Project Daedalus by Thomas Hoover holds 410 sentences, grouped into 82 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 29 holds 410 sentences of Project Daedalus, unabridged, divided into 82 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 29 of Project Daedalus by Thomas Hoover exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 410 sentences, grouped into 82 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 82 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 82 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 29 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading Project Daedalus by Thomas Hoover on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 12245 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #34320 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #34320, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2449 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Project Daedalus section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 30 chapters of Project Daedalus to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Project Daedalus, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
