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I
spotted this one in Part. III – Chapter II, when the Project X
(aka Xylophone, aka Thompson Harmonizer) is put into demonstration
before Docteur Robert Stadler during an official presentation to a
public of VIP's. At some point, the radio speaker makes mention of the
Rearden Metal though it should have been renamed Miracle Metal considering
who organized this event and who attended it, and since the Rearden Metal had been
officially renamed “Miracle Metal” long before in the Part. II Chapter VI –
MIRACLE METAL , when the doctor Ferris forced Hank Rearden into
signing the Gift Certificate through blackmail.
Did Ayn Rand miss this one, or did she decide to hold the name "Rearden Metal" even though it was unlikely to be named thus way in this context in particular ?
See:
Excerpt:
Part. II - Chapter VI - MIRACLE METAL
“
The
piece of paper, which he placed in front of Rearden, looked like a
small college diploma, with the text printed in old-fashioned script
and the particulars inserted by typewriter. The thing stated that he,
Henry Rearden, hereby transferred to the nation all rights to the
metal alloy now known as "Rearden Metal," which would
henceforth be manufactured by all who so desired, and which would
bear the name of "Miracle Metal," chosen by the
representatives of the people.”
Excerpt:
Part. III – Chapter III – ANTI-GREED
".
. . The sound ray is invisible, inaudible and fully controllable in
respect to target, direction and range. Its first public test, which
you are about to witness, has been set to cover a small sector, a
mere two miles, in perfect safety, with all space cleared for twenty
miles beyond. The present generating equipment in our laboratory is
capable of producing rays to cover through the outlets which you may
observe under the dome the entire countryside within a radius of a
hundred miles, a circle with a periphery extending from the shore of
the Mississippi, roughly from the bridge of the Taggart
Transcontinental Railroad, to Des Moines and Fort Dodge, Iowa, to
Austin, Minnesota, to Woodman, Wisconsin, to Rock Island, Illinois.
This is only a modest beginning. We possess the technical knowledge
to build generators with a range of two and three hundred miles but
due to the fact that we were unable to obtain in time a sufficient
quantity of a highly heat resistant metal, such as Rearden Metal, we
had to be satisfied with our present equipment and radius of control.
In honor of our great executive, Mr. Thompson, under whose
far-sighted administration the State Science Institute was granted
the funds without which Project X would not have been possible, this
great invention will henceforth be known as the Thompson Harmonizer!"
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