98-533: Small Gods is the thirteenth of Terry Pratchett 's Discworld novels , published in 1992. It tells the origin of the god Om, and his relations with his prophet, the reformer Brutha. In the process, it satirises philosophy, religious institutions , people, and practices, and the role of religion in political life. Omnia is a theocracy based on the Seven Books of the Prophets of Om, collectively known as
196-724: A humanist . He was a Distinguished Supporter of Humanists UK (formerly known as the British Humanist Association) and an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society . Pratchett wrote that he read the Old Testament as a child and "was horrified", but liked the New Testament and thought that Jesus "had a lot of good things to say ... But I could never see the two testaments as one coherent narrative". He then read On
294-708: A knighthood for "services to literature" in the 2009 UK New Year Honours list. He was previously appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire , also for "services to literature", in 1998. He formally received the accolade at Buckingham Palace on 18 February 2009. Pratchett commented in the Ansible science fiction/fan newsletter, "I suspect the 'services to literature' consisted of refraining from trying to write any", but added, "Still, I cannot help feeling mightily chuffed about it." On 31 December 2008, it
392-428: A telegraph ) are programmed to repeat the name of its creator's deceased son; the sentiment in the novel is that no one is ever forgotten as long as their name is still spoken. A June 2015 web server survey reported that approximately 84,000 websites had been configured with the header. Pratchett's humanist funeral service was held on 25 March 2015. In 2015, Pratchett's estate announced an endowment in perpetuity to
490-496: A waterwheel to power the bellows of a blast furnace producing cast iron . Zhang Heng was the first to employ hydraulics to provide motive power in rotating an armillary sphere for astronomical observation . In ancient Sri Lanka, hydraulics were widely used in the ancient kingdoms of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa . The discovery of the principle of the valve tower, or valve pit, (Bisokotuwa in Sinhalese) for regulating
588-631: A "biting but compassionate satire". In 2011, National Public Radio ranked it #57 on its list of 100 best science fiction / fantasy novels. Pratchett stated that he received fan mail from "(1) pagans who say that it really shafts the Big Beard in the Sky religions, and (2) Christians who say that it is an incredibly pro-Christian book". In 2006 the book was adapted as a serial for BBC Radio 4 . It starred Patrick Barlow as Om, Carl Prekopp as Brutha, and Alex Jennings as Vorbis. Anton Lesser
686-743: A BBC television documentary, Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die , about assisted suicide. It won the Best Documentary award at the Scottish BAFTAs in November 2011. In September 2012, Pratchett told an interviewer: "I have to tell you that I thought I'd be a lot worse than this by now, and so did my specialist." In the same interview he said that the cognitive part of his mind was "untouched" and his symptoms were physical (normal for PCA). However, in July 2014 he cancelled his appearance at
784-449: A bank of six monitors to ease writing. When he travelled, he always took a portable computer, originally a 1992 Olivetti Quaderno , with him to write. In a 1995 interview with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates , Pratchett expressed concern about the potential spread of misinformation online. He felt that there was a "kind of parity of esteem of information" on the internet, and gave the example of Holocaust denial being presented on
882-535: A book about his experiences if he thought anyone would actually believe them". The first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic , was published in hardback by Colin Smythe Ltd in 1983. Pratchett gave up working for the CEGB to make his living through writing in 1987, after finishing the fourth Discworld novel, Mort . His sales increased quickly and many of his books occupied top places on bestseller lists; he
980-424: A catatonic Vorbis, they encounter ruined temples dedicated to long-dead, long-forgotten gods, the faint ghost-like small gods yearning to be believed in to become powerful, the small-god-worshipping anchorite St Ungulant, and the human cost of Vorbis's plan of leaving caches of water in the desert to attack Ephebe. Realising his 'mortality' and how important his believers are to him, Om begins to care about them for
1078-619: A few more books yet", and added that while he understood the impulse to ask "is there anything I can do?", in this case he would only entertain such offers from "very high-end experts in brain chemistry". Discussing his diagnosis at the Bath Literature Festival in early 2008, Pratchett revealed that by then he found it too difficult to write dedications when signing books. In his later years Pratchett wrote by dictating to his assistant, Rob Wilkins, or by using speech recognition software. In March 2008, Pratchett announced he
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#17327800317631176-402: A large scale to prospect for and then extract metal ores . They used lead widely in plumbing systems for domestic and public supply, such as feeding thermae . Hydraulic mining was used in the gold-fields of northern Spain, which was conquered by Augustus in 25 BC. The alluvial gold-mine of Las Medulas was one of the largest of their mines. At least seven long aqueducts worked it, and
1274-802: A number of game adaptations of his books. He favoured games that are "intelligent and have some depth", citing Half-Life 2 (2004) and fan missions for Thief as examples. The red army in Interesting Times prompted comparisons to the 1991 puzzle game Lemmings . When asked about this connection, Pratchett said: "Merely because the red army can fight, dig, march and climb and is controlled by little icons? Can't imagine how anyone thought that ... Not only did I wipe Lemmings from my hard disk, I overwrote it so I couldn't get it back." He described The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006) as his favourite video game, saying that he used many of its non-combat-oriented fan-made mods , and contributed to
1372-1060: A part of the Nebula Award ceremony. In 2016 the SFWA named Pratchett the recipient of Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award , given for "significant impact on the science fiction or fantasy landscape". He received the NESFA Skylark Award in 2009 and the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2010. In 2011 he won Margaret A. Edwards Award from the American Library Association , a lifetime honour for "significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature". The librarians cited nine Discworld novels published from 1983 to 2004 and observed that "Pratchett's tales of Discworld have won over generations of teen readers with intelligence, heart, and undeniable wit. Comic adventures that fondly mock
1470-517: A reciprocating device with hinged valves. The earliest programmable machines were water-powered devices developed in the Muslim world. A music sequencer , a programmable musical instrument , was the earliest type of programmable machine. The first music sequencer was an automated water-powered flute player invented by the Banu Musa brothers, described in their Book of Ingenious Devices , in
1568-535: A recovered Vorbis attempts to finish off Om's tortoise form, knocks out and abducts Brutha, and proclaims himself as the Eighth Prophet, elevating Brutha to archbishop to buy his silence. After Urn accidentally activates the hydraulic system which secretly operates the doors of the Great Temple, Brutha interrupts Vorbis's ordainment. As a result, Brutha is to be publicly burned for heresy but Om comes to
1666-752: A regional newspaper under the pseudonym Patrick Kearns. After various positions in journalism, in 1979 Pratchett became press officer for the South West Region of the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) in an area that covered three nuclear power stations . He later joked that he had demonstrated "impeccable timing" by making this career change so soon after the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in Pennsylvania , US, and said he would "write
1764-504: A serious and ultimately fatal illness to choose to die peacefully with medical help, rather than suffer". Pratchett was selected to give the 2010 BBC Richard Dimbleby Lecture , Shaking Hands With Death , broadcast on 1 February 2010. Pratchett introduced his lecture on the topic of assisted death (he preferred this to the term "assisted suicide"), but the main text was read by his friend Tony Robinson because his condition made it difficult for him to read. In June 2011, Pratchett presented
1862-456: A small publishing company, Colin Smythe Ltd. Pratchett mentioned that he had written a manuscript, The Carpet People . Colin Smythe Ltd published the book in 1971, with illustrations by Pratchett. It received strong, although few, reviews and was followed by the science fiction novels The Dark Side of the Sun (1976) and Strata (1981). In the 1970s and 1980s, Pratchett published stories in
1960-537: A style described as "more that of urban cowboy than city gent". Concern for the future of civilisation prompted him to install five kilowatts of photovoltaic cells (for solar energy ) at his house in 2007. Pratchett had an observatory built in his back garden and was a keen astronomer from childhood. He made a 2005 appearance on the BBC programme The Sky at Night . Pratchett started to use computers for writing as soon as they were available to him. His first computer
2058-518: A two-part documentary series about his illness, Terry Pratchett: Living With Alzheimer's . The first part was broadcast on BBC Two on 4 February 2009, drawing 2.6 million viewers and a 10.4% audience share. The second, broadcast on 11 February 2009, drew 1.72 million viewers and a 6.8% audience share. The documentary won a BAFTA award in the Factual Series category. On 26 November 2008, Pratchett met Gordon Brown , then Prime Minister of
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#17327800317632156-592: A watering channel for Samos , the Tunnel of Eupalinos . An early example of the usage of hydraulic wheel, probably the earliest in Europe, is the Perachora wheel (3rd century BC). In Greco-Roman Egypt , the construction of the first hydraulic machine automata by Ctesibius (flourished c. 270 BC) and Hero of Alexandria (c. 10 – 80 AD) is notable. Hero describes several working machines using hydraulic power, such as
2254-474: A writer, was born there in 1976. In 1993 the family moved to Broad Chalke , a village west of Salisbury , Wiltshire. Pratchett was the patron of the Friends of High Wycombe Library. In 2013 he gave a talk at Beaconsfield Library, which he had visited as a child, and donated the income from the event to it. He also visited his former school to speak to the students. Pratchett often wore large black hats, in
2352-593: A year. His 2011 Discworld novel Snuff became the third-fastest-selling hardback adult-readership novel since records began in the UK, selling 55,000 copies in the first three days. As of 2023, Pratchett's works have sold more than 100 million copies in 43 languages. Pratchett married Lyn Purves at the Congregational Church, Gerrards Cross , on 5 October 1968. They moved to Rowberrow , Somerset, in 1970. Their daughter Rhianna Pratchett , also
2450-434: Is a technology and applied science using engineering , chemistry , and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids . At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counterpart of pneumatics , which concerns gases . Fluid mechanics provides the theoretical foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on applied engineering using the properties of fluids. In its fluid power applications, hydraulics
2548-626: Is easier to bend the universe around the story." In the acceptance speech for his Carnegie Medal, he said: "Fantasy isn't just about wizards and silly wands. It's about seeing the world from new directions", pointing to the Harry Potter novels and The Lord of the Rings . In the same speech, he acknowledged benefits of these works for the genre. Hydraulic Hydraulics (from Ancient Greek ὕδωρ ( húdōr ) ' water ' and αὐλός ( aulós ) ' pipe ')
2646-416: Is illiterate, and rarely thinks for himself. This begins to change after Brutha discovers Ephebe's philosophers; the idea of people entertaining ideas they are not certain they believe or even understand, is an entirely new concept to him. With the help of Ephebe's Great Library and the philosophers Didactylos and his nephew Urn, Om learns that Brutha is his only genuine believer. All others either just fear
2744-458: Is the branch of hydraulics dealing with free surface flow, such as occurring in rivers , canals , lakes , estuaries , and seas . Its sub-field open-channel flow studies the flow in open channels . Early uses of water power date back to Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt , where irrigation has been used since the 6th millennium BC and water clocks had been used since the early 2nd millennium BC. Other early examples of water power include
2842-399: Is transmitted undiminished throughout the fluids. A French physician, Poiseuille (1797–1869) researched the flow of blood through the body and discovered an important law governing the rate of flow with the diameter of the tube in which flow occurred. Several cities developed citywide hydraulic power networks in the 19th century, to operate machinery such as lifts, cranes, capstans and
2940-436: Is used for the generation, control, and transmission of power by the use of pressurized liquids. Hydraulic topics range through some parts of science and most of engineering modules, and they cover concepts such as pipe flow , dam design, fluidics , and fluid control circuitry. The principles of hydraulics are in use naturally in the human body within the vascular system and erectile tissue . Free surface hydraulics
3038-519: The Daily Mail in which he denied that he had found God, and clarified that he believed the voice had come from a memory of his father and a sense of personal elation. In August 2007, Pratchett was misdiagnosed as having had a minor stroke a few years before, which doctors believed had damaged the right side of his brain. In December 2007, he announced that he had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease , which had been responsible for
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3136-506: The Discworld series of 41 comic fantasy novels published between 1983 and 2015, and for the apocalyptic comedy novel Good Omens (1990), which he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman . Pratchett's first novel, The Carpet People , was published in 1971. The first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic , was published in 1983, after which Pratchett wrote an average of two books a year. The final Discworld novel, The Shepherd's Crown ,
3234-529: The Bookseller's Pocket Yearbook (2005), in 2003 Pratchett's UK sales amounted to 3.4% of the fiction market by hardback sales and 3.8% by value, putting him in second place behind J. K. Rowling (6% and 5.6%, respectively), while in the paperback sales list Pratchett came 5th with 1.2% and 1.3% by value (behind James Patterson (1.9% and 1.7%), Alexander McCall Smith , John Grisham and J. R. R. Tolkien ). He has UK sales of more than 2.5 million copies
3332-933: The Qanat system in ancient Persia and the Turpan water system in ancient Central Asia. In the Persian Empire or previous entities in Persia, the Persians constructed an intricate system of water mills, canals and dams known as the Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System . The project, commenced by Achaemenid king Darius the Great and finished by a group of Roman engineers captured by Sassanian king Shapur I , has been referred to by UNESCO as "a masterpiece of creative genius". They were also
3430-572: The Septateuch . The Discworld is flat and is orbited by its sun, but Omnian doctrine says that the world is round and orbits the sun. Omnians believe in a single god, Om, though the Discworld has many gods, including the billions of Small Gods who exist as points of desire searching for believers. Om was once a Small God, but managed to speak to a shepherd, gained believers (despite the shepherd being stoned to death) and took over from Ur-Gilash as
3528-622: The University of South Australia . The Sir Terry Pratchett Memorial Scholarship supports a Masters scholarship at the university's Hawke Research Institute. In 2023, several stories published in a regional newspaper in the 1970s and 1980s under the pen name Patrick Kearns were discovered to have been authored by Pratchett. They were published as A Stroke of the Pen: The Lost Stories in October 2023. Pratchett received
3626-501: The University of Warwick in 1999, the University of Portsmouth in 2001, the University of Bath in 2003, the University of Bristol in 2004, Buckinghamshire New University in 2008, the University of Dublin in 2008, Bradford University in 2009, University of Winchester in 2009, The Open University in 2013 for his contribution to Public Service and his last, from the University of South Australia , in May 2014. Pratchett
3724-484: The ancient Near East in the 4th century BC, specifically in the Persian Empire before 350 BCE, in the regions of Iraq , Iran , and Egypt . In ancient China there was Sunshu Ao (6th century BC), Ximen Bao (5th century BC), Du Shi (circa 31 AD), Zhang Heng (78 – 139 AD), and Ma Jun (200 – 265 AD), while medieval China had Su Song (1020 – 1101 AD) and Shen Kuo (1031–1095). Du Shi employed
3822-460: The force pump , which is known from many Roman sites as having been used for raising water and in fire engines. In the Roman Empire , different hydraulic applications were developed, including public water supplies, innumerable aqueducts , power using watermills and hydraulic mining . They were among the first to make use of the siphon to carry water across valleys, and used hushing on
3920-469: The right to die public debate and his Humanist values. Pratchett's Discworld novels have led to dedicated conventions, the first in Manchester in 1996, then worldwide, often with the author as guest of honour. Publication of a new novel was sometimes accompanied by an international book signing tour; queues were known to stretch outside the bookshop as the author continued to sign books well after
4018-661: The "Top 200". Pratchett's highest-ranking novel was Mort , number 65, but he and Charles Dickens were the only authors with five in the Top 100 (four of his were from the Discworld series). He also led all authors with fifteen novels in the Top 200. An asteroid ( 127005 Pratchett ) is named after Pratchett. In 2013, Pratchett was named Humanist of the Year by the British Humanist Association for his campaign to fund research into Alzheimers, his contribution to
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4116-432: The "stroke". He had a rare form of posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), a disease in which areas at the back of the brain begin to shrink and shrivel. Describing the diagnosis as an "embuggerance" in a radio interview, Pratchett appealed to people to "keep things cheerful" and proclaimed that "we are taking it fairly philosophically down here and possibly with a mild optimism". He stated he felt he had time for "at least
4214-506: The 2001 Carnegie Medal from the British librarians , which recognised The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents as the year's best children's book published in the UK. Night Watch won the 2003 Prometheus Award for best libertarian novel. Four of the five Discworld novels that centre on the trainee witch Tiffany Aching won the annual Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2016. In 2005, Going Postal
4312-401: The 9th century. In 1206, Al-Jazari invented water-powered programmable automata/ robots . He described four automaton musicians, including drummers operated by a programmable drum machine , where they could be made to play different rhythms and different drum patterns. In 1619 Benedetto Castelli , a student of Galileo Galilei , published the book Della Misura dell'Acque Correnti or "On
4410-590: The Discworld Conventions have adopted Orangutan Foundation as their nominated charity, which has been acknowledged by the foundation. One of Pratchett's most popular fictional characters, the Librarian , is a wizard who was transformed into an orangutan in a magical accident and decides to remain in that condition as it is so convenient for his work. Pratchett, who was brought up in a Church of England family, described himself as an atheist and
4508-456: The God of what became Omnia. In Omnian tradition there is a new Prophet every two hundred years. The Great God Om tries to manifest himself once more in the world, as the time of his Eighth Prophet is nigh. He finds himself in the body of a tortoise, stripped of his divine powers, except for the ability to singe eyebrows with tiny thunderbolts. In the gardens of Omnia 's capital of Kom, he addresses
4606-678: The High Wycombe Technical School's magazine in 1962. It is the tale of a man named Crucible who finds the Devil in his flat in a cloud of sulphurous smoke. "The Hades Business" was published in the school magazine when he was 13, and published commercially when he was 15. Pratchett earned five O-levels and started A-level courses in Art, English and History. His initial career choice was journalism and he left school at 17, in 1965, to start an apprenticeship with Arthur Church,
4704-591: The Islamic world, including fulling mills, gristmills , paper mills , hullers , sawmills , ship mills , stamp mills , steel mills , sugar mills , and tide mills . By the 11th century, every province throughout the Islamic world had these industrial mills in operation, from Al-Andalus and North Africa to the Middle East and Central Asia . Muslim engineers also used water turbines , employed gears in watermills and water-raising machines, and pioneered
4802-551: The Klatchian coast and has sent an army against Omnia, establishing a beachhead near the citadel. Brutha attempts to establish diplomatic contact with the generals of the opposing army, wishing to stop the war before it starts by surrendering. Despite trusting Brutha, the leaders state they do not trust Omnia and that bloodshed is necessary. At the same time, Simony leads the Omnian military including Urn's 'Iron Turtle' war engine to
4900-677: The Measurement of Running Waters," one of the foundations of modern hydrodynamics. He served as a chief consultant to the Pope on hydraulic projects, i.e., management of rivers in the Papal States, beginning in 1626. The science and engineering of water in Italy from 1500-1800 in books and manuscripts is presented in an illustrated catalog published in 2022. Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) studied fluid hydrodynamics and hydrostatics, centered on
4998-526: The Origin of Species , which "all made perfect sense ... Evolution was far more thrilling to me than the biblical account." He said that he had never disliked religion and thought it had a purpose in human evolution . In an interview Pratchett cites a quotation from the protagonist in his novel Nation , "It is better to build a seismograph than to worship the volcano", a statement Pratchett said he agreed with. Pratchett told The Times in 2008: "I believe in
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#17327800317635096-636: The Quisition's wrath or go along with the church out of habit. After learning that Vorbis had facilitated the death of the missionary Brother Murduck to cover up his being mocked by Ephebian citizenry and to provide a reason for war against Ephebe, Brutha uses his memory to reluctantly aid an Omnian raid through the Labyrinth guarding the Tyrant's palace. Because of his authorship of De Chelonian Mobile ( The Turtle Moves ), which contradicts Omnian dogma about
5194-493: The UK, and asked for an increase in dementia research funding. Pratchett tested a prototype device to address his condition. The ability of the device to alter the course of the illness has been met with skepticism from Alzheimer's researchers. In an article published in 2009 Pratchett stated that he wished to die by assisted suicide (a term he disliked) before his disease progressed to a critical point. He later said that he felt "it should be possible for someone stricken with
5292-416: The basic principles of hydraulics, some teachers use a hydraulic analogy to help students learn other things. For example: The conservation of mass requirement combined with fluid compressibility yields a fundamental relationship between pressure, fluid flow, and volumetric expansion, as shown below: Assuming an incompressible fluid or a "very large" ratio of compressibility to contained fluid volume,
5390-401: The battle. Eventually he compels all other gods of the forces at the battle to tell their soldiers to stop fighting and make peace. In the aftermath Brutha becomes the Eighth Prophet, ending the Quisition's practice of torture and reforming the church to be more open-minded and humanist, with the citadel becoming home to the largest non-magical library on the Discworld. Om also agrees to forsake
5488-400: The beachhead in order to fight the anti-Omnian alliance. Om attempts to physically intervene in the battle, but Brutha demands he does not interfere with the actions of humans. Om is infuriated but obeys Brutha, and instead travels to Dunmanifestin, where gods gamble on the lives of humans in order to gain or lose belief. Om unleashes his fury on the other gods and causing a storm that disrupts
5586-445: The biennial International Discworld Convention , citing his condition and "other age-related ailments". Pratchett died at his home from complications of Alzheimer's disease on the morning of 12 March 2015. He was 66 years old. The Telegraph reported an unidentified source as saying that, despite his previous discussion of assisted suicide, his death had been natural. After Pratchett's death, his assistant, Rob Wilkins, wrote from
5684-453: The book as "one of the 20th century's finest satires", and added that "the gods are pompous, the worshippers cowed, and the priests violently closed-minded. Yet the tale is never heavy-handed, thanks to Brutha's sincerity and some deftly comical plot twists, as well as all the levity that comes from picturing an angry God trapped in the body of a tortoise." T.M. Wagner praised it as "an extraordinary novel" on SFreviews.net, and called it
5782-591: The building to stop Vorbis reading its scrolls. Completely unrelated to the story, the Librarian of the Unseen University travels through L-Space to rescue several of the abandoned scrolls. Fleeing the ensuing struggle in Urn's steam-powered boat, which is destroyed as the price for an earlier deal made between Om and the Sea Queen, Brutha and Om end up washed up on the desert coast. Trekking home to Omnia with
5880-466: The citadel and attempts to grant Brutha the honour of establishing the Church's new doctrines. However, Brutha wishes to establish a 'constitutional religion' whereby Om Himself obeys Omnianism's new commandments and answers some of the prayers of his followers in exchange for a steady source of belief, believing that Om will lose his power again otherwise. Ephebe has allied with several other nations along
5978-573: The condition for the BBC , and became a patron of ARUK. Pratchett died on 12 March 2015, at the age of 66. Pratchett was born on 28 April 1948 in Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire , England, the only child of David (1921–2006), a mechanic, and Eileen Pratchett (1922–2010), a secretary, of Hay-on-Wye . His maternal grandparents came from Ireland. Pratchett attended Holtspur School, where he
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#17327800317636076-451: The development of at least one popular fan-made mod. Pratchett had a fascination with natural history that he referred to many times, and he owned a greenhouse full of carnivorous plants . He described them in the biographical notes on the dust jackets of some of his books, and elsewhere, as "not as interesting as people think". By Carpe Jugulum the account had become that "he used to grow carnivorous plants, but now they've taken over
6174-406: The difference in pressure is proportional to the difference in height, and this difference remains the same whether or not the overall pressure of the fluid is changed by applying an external force. This implies that by increasing the pressure at any point in a confined fluid, there is an equal increase at every other end in the container, i.e., any change in pressure applied at any point of the liquid
6272-803: The editor of the Bucks Free Press . In this position he wrote, among other things, more than 80 stories for the Children's Circle section under the name Uncle Jim. Two of the stories contain characters found in his novel The Carpet People (1971). While on day release from his apprenticeship, Pratchett finished his A-Level in English and took the National Council for the Training of Journalists proficiency course. In 1968 Pratchett interviewed Peter Bander van Duren , co-director of
6370-483: The escape of water is credited to ingenuity more than 2,000 years ago. By the first century AD, several large-scale irrigation works had been completed. Macro- and micro-hydraulics to provide for domestic horticultural and agricultural needs, surface drainage and erosion control, ornamental and recreational water courses and retaining structures and also cooling systems were in place in Sigiriya , Sri Lanka. The coral on
6468-406: The fantasy genre, the Discworld novels expose the hypocrisies of contemporary society in an intricate, ever-expanding universe. With satisfyingly multilayered plots, Pratchett's humor honors the intelligence of the reader. Teens eagerly lose themselves in a universe with no maps." In 2003, BBC conducted The Big Read to identify the "Nation's Best-loved Novel" and finally published a ranked list of
6566-465: The first Discworld book marketed for children. He received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2010. In December 2007 Pratchett announced that he had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease . He later made a substantial public donation to the Alzheimer's Research Trust (now Alzheimer's Research UK , ARUK), filmed three television programmes chronicling his experiences with
6664-479: The first time. While Brutha, Vorbis, and Om are in the desert, the Tyrant of Ephebe manages to regain control of the city and contacts other nations who have been troubled by Omnia's imperialistic ambitions. Sergeant Simony, whose native Istanzia had been conquered by Omnia in his youth, brings Didactylos and Urn to Omnia to lead the Turtle Movement in a rebellion against the Church. On the desert's edge,
6762-419: The greenhouse and he avoids going in". In 1995, a fossil of a sea-turtle from the Eocene epoch of New Zealand was named Psephophorus terrypratchetti in his honour by the palaeontologist Richard Köhler. In 2016, Pratchett fans unsuccessfully petitioned the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) to name chemical element 117, temporarily called ununseptium , as octarine with
6860-533: The intended finishing time. His fans were not restricted by age or gender, and he received a large amount of fan mail from them. Pratchett enjoyed meeting fans and hearing what they think about his books, saying that since he was well paid for his novels, his fans were "everything" to him. In March 2017, Beaconsfield Town Council commissioned a commemorative plaque dedicated to Pratchett for Beaconsfield Library. Pratchett said that to write, you must read extensively, both inside and outside your chosen genre and to
6958-445: The inventors of the Qanat , an underground aqueduct, around the 9th century BC. Several of Iran's large, ancient gardens were irrigated thanks to Qanats. The Qanat spread to neighboring areas, including the Armenian highlands . There, starting in the early 8th century BC, the Kingdom of Urartu undertook significant hydraulic works, such as the Menua canal . The earliest evidence of water wheels and watermills date back to
7056-635: The like. Joseph Bramah (1748–1814) was an early innovator and William Armstrong (1810–1900) perfected the apparatus for power delivery on an industrial scale. In London, the London Hydraulic Power Company was a major supplier its pipes serving large parts of the West End of London , City and the Docks , but there were schemes restricted to single enterprises such as docks and railway goods yards . After students understand
7154-456: The massive rock at the site includes cisterns for collecting water. Large ancient reservoirs of Sri Lanka are Kalawewa (King Dhatusena), Parakrama Samudra (King Parakrama Bahu), Tisa Wewa (King Dutugamunu), Minneriya (King Mahasen) In Ancient Greece , the Greeks constructed sophisticated water and hydraulic power systems. An example is a construction by Eupalinos , under a public contract, of
7252-484: The necessary mathematical skills. He developed an interest in science fiction and attended science fiction conventions from about 1963–1964, but stopped a few years later when he got his first job as a trainee journalist at the local paper. His early reading included the works of H. G. Wells , Arthur Conan Doyle , and "every book you really ought to read", which he later regarded as "getting an education". Pratchett published his first short story, "Business Rivals", in
7350-481: The novice Brutha, the only one able to hear his voice. Om has a hard time convincing the boy of his godliness, as Brutha is convinced that Om can do anything he wants, and would not want to appear as a tortoise. Brutha is gifted with an eidetic memory and is therefore chosen by Vorbis, the head of the Quisition , to accompany him on a diplomatic mission to Ephebe as his secretary. Despite his amazing memory Brutha
7448-525: The official Terry Pratchett Twitter account: A T LAST, S IR T ERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER. Terry took Death's arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night. The End. Public figures who paid tribute included the British prime minister David Cameron , the comedian Ricky Gervais , and the authors Ursula K. Le Guin , Terry Brooks , Margaret Atwood , George R. R. Martin , and Neil Gaiman . Pratchett
7546-445: The official Terry Pratchett Twitter feed announced an upcoming comic adaptation of Small Gods by cartoonist Ray Friesen. An audiobook read by Andy Serkis was released on Audible on the 28th of April 2022; Bill Nighy and Peter Serafinowicz also had small roles. Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett OBE (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English author , humorist , and satirist , best known for
7644-437: The point of "overflow". He advised that writing is hard work, and that writers must "make grammar, punctuation and spelling a part of your life". However, Pratchett enjoyed writing, regarding its monetary rewards as "an unavoidable consequence" rather than the reason for writing. Although during his early career he wrote for the science fiction and horror genres, Pratchett later focused almost entirely on fantasy, and said: "It
7742-417: The principles of hydraulic fluids. His discovery on the theory behind hydraulics led to his invention of the hydraulic press , which multiplied a smaller force acting on a smaller area into the application of a larger force totaled over a larger area, transmitted through the same pressure (or exact change of pressure) at both locations. Pascal's law or principle states that for an incompressible fluid at rest,
7840-513: The proposed symbol Oc (pronounced "ook"). The final name chosen for element 117 was tennessine with the symbol Ts. Pratchett was a trustee for the Orangutan Foundation but was pessimistic about the future of orangutans . His activities included visiting Borneo with a Channel 4 film crew to make an episode of Jungle Quest in 1995, seeing orangutans in their natural habitat. Following Pratchett's lead, fan events such as
7938-484: The rescue, dropping from an eagle's claws onto Vorbis' head, killing him. The great crowd witnesses this miracle and comes to believe in Om, making him powerful again. In the ethereal desert, Vorbis learns to his horror that what he thought was the voice of Om was in fact his own voice echoing inside of his own head, plunging him into despair and leaving him unable to cross the desert and face judgement. Om manifests himself over
8036-540: The same God that Einstein did ... And it is just possible that once you have got past all the gods that we have created with big beards and many human traits, just beyond all that on the other side of physics, there just may be the ordered structure from which everything flows." In an interview on Front Row he described an experience of hearing his dead father's voice and feeling a sense of peace. Commentators took these statements to mean that Pratchett had become religious, but Pratchett responded in an article published in
8134-404: The same terms as peer-reviewed research, with no easy way to gauge reliability. Gates disagreed, saying that online authorities would index and check facts and sources in a much more sophisticated way than in print. The interview was rediscovered in 2019, and seen by Pratchett's biographer as prescient of fake news . Pratchett was an avid video game player, and collaborated in the creation of
8232-470: The shape of the Discworld, Didactylos is brought before Vorbis to face reprisal. Seemingly conceding his previous views about the shape of the world and willing to write a retraction extolling Omnian interpretations, Didactylos escapes after hitting Vorbis with his lantern. Ordered by Vorbis to burn down the Library, Brutha memorizes many scrolls in order to protect Ephebian knowledge as Didactylos sets fire to
8330-513: The smiting of Omnian citizens for at least a hundred years. A hundred years to the day after Om's return to power Brutha dies. In the afterlife he finds the spirit of Vorbis and, taking pity on him, guides him to his judgement. It is revealed that this century of peace was originally meant to be a century of war and bloodshed which the History Monk Lu-Tze changed to something he liked better. Australian author Jack Heath described
8428-435: The use of dams as a source of water power, used to provide additional power to watermills and water-raising machines. Al-Jazari (1136–1206) described designs for 50 devices, many of them water-powered, in his book, The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices , including water clocks, a device to serve wine, and five devices to lift water from rivers or pools. These include an endless belt with jugs attached and
8526-528: The water streams were used to erode the soft deposits, and then wash the tailings for the valuable gold content. In the Muslim world during the Islamic Golden Age and Arab Agricultural Revolution (8th–13th centuries), engineers made wide use of hydropower as well as early uses of tidal power , and large hydraulic factory complexes. A variety of water-powered industrial mills were used in
8624-533: Was a ZX81 ; the first computer he used properly for writing was an Amstrad CPC 464 , later replaced by an IBM PC compatible . Pratchett was one of the first authors to routinely use the Internet to communicate with fans, and was a contributor to the Usenet newsgroup alt.fan.pratchett from 1992. However, he did not consider the Internet a hobby, just another "thing to use". He had many computers in his house, with
8722-483: Was a key member of the debating society and wrote stories for the school magazine. Pratchett described himself as a "non-descript" student and, in his Who's Who entry, credited his education to the Beaconsfield Public Library. Pratchett's early interests included astronomy . He collected Brooke Bond tea cards about space, owned a telescope and wanted to be an astronomer, but lacked
8820-511: Was announced that Pratchett would be knighted (as a Knight Bachelor ) in the Queen's 2009 New Year Honours. Afterwards he said, "You can't ask a fantasy writer not to want a knighthood. You know, for two pins I'd get myself a horse and a sword." In 2010, Pratchett created his own sword from deposits of iron he had found in a field near his home as he believed a knight should have a sword. Ten honorary doctorates were conferred on Pratchett: from
8918-405: Was bullied for his speech impediments . He was bothered by the head teacher, who, he said, thought "he could tell how successful you were going to be in later life by how well you could read or write at the age of six". Pratchett's family moved to Bridgwater , Somerset, briefly in 1957. He passed his eleven plus exam in 1958, earning a place at High Wycombe Technical High School , where he
9016-467: Was donating $ 1 million (about £494,000) to the Alzheimer's Research Trust (later called Alzheimer's Research UK), and that he was shocked "to find out that funding for Alzheimer's research is just 3% of that to find cancer cures". He said: "I am, along with many others, scrabbling to stay ahead long enough to be there when the cure comes along." In April 2008, Pratchett worked with the BBC to make
9114-650: Was made an adjunct Professor in the School of English at Trinity College Dublin in 2010, with a role in postgraduate education in creative writing and popular literature. Pratchett won the British Book Awards ' "Fantasy and Science Fiction Author of the Year" category in 1994, the British Science Fiction Award in 1989 for his novel Pyramids , and a Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 2008 for Making Money . He won
9212-580: Was memorialised in graffiti in East London. The video game companies Frontier Developments and Valve added elements to their games named after him. Users of the social news site Reddit organised a tribute by which an HTTP header , " X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett ", was added to web sites' responses, a reference to the Discworld novel Going Postal , in which "the clacks" (a semaphore system, used as Discworld 's equivalent to
9310-500: Was published in August 2015, five months after his death. With more than 100 million books sold worldwide in 43 languages, Pratchett was the UK's best-selling author of the 1990s. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998 and was knighted for services to literature in the 2009 New Year Honours . In 2001, he won the annual Carnegie Medal for The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents ,
9408-569: Was shortlisted for the Hugo Award for Best Novel ; however, Pratchett recused himself, stating that stress over the award would mar his enjoyment of Worldcon . In the same year, A Hat Full of Sky won a Mythopoeic Award . In 2008, Making Money was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel . I Shall Wear Midnight won the 2010 Andre Norton Award , presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) as
9506-568: Was the UK's bestselling author of the 1990s. According to The Times , Pratchett was the top-selling and highest earning UK author in 1996. Some of his books have been published by Doubleday , another Transworld imprint. In the United States, where his books are published by HarperCollins , Pratchett had poorer sales, marketing and distribution until 2005, when Thud! reached the New York Times bestseller list. According to
9604-400: Was the narrator. A stage version of Small Gods was adapted in 2010 and performed between 17 and 19 February 2011 at The Assembly Rooms Theatre, Durham by OOOOK! Productions and members of Durham Student Theatre. All profits were donated to The Orangutan Foundation. The adaptation was written by Ben Saunders, a graduate of the University of Durham department of Archaeology. In January 2016
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