Meaning of P.R.S. Aes Triplex in Heinlein's Space Cadet

The name of the pictureThe name of the pictureThe name of the pictureClash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP





.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty margin-bottom:0;







up vote
5
down vote

favorite
1












I picked up an old library copy of the illustrated Scribner's edition Robert Heinlein's Space Cadet and am having fun reading it and pondering the seemingly artless and unresolved juxtaposition of the 1940's-sexist first section of the book with the final section involving the matriarchal Venerian society. But I have a much simpler sci-fi trivia question to ask here.



What is the meaning of the name of the ship that is called P.R.S. Aes Triplex? I checked with my medievalist wife, and she told me "aes" was pronounced like English "ace," then looked up the word and found that it meant "bronze," or some related meaning involving bronze coins or payments. So "triple bronze?" Huh? I'm guessing that "triplex" somehow relates to the three planets with native intelligent life: Venus, Earth, and Mars.






robert-a-heinlein







share|improve this question





















  • Awesome question. I did not expect this answer.
    – James McLeod
    2 hours ago
















up vote
5
down vote

favorite
1












I picked up an old library copy of the illustrated Scribner's edition Robert Heinlein's Space Cadet and am having fun reading it and pondering the seemingly artless and unresolved juxtaposition of the 1940's-sexist first section of the book with the final section involving the matriarchal Venerian society. But I have a much simpler sci-fi trivia question to ask here.



What is the meaning of the name of the ship that is called P.R.S. Aes Triplex? I checked with my medievalist wife, and she told me "aes" was pronounced like English "ace," then looked up the word and found that it meant "bronze," or some related meaning involving bronze coins or payments. So "triple bronze?" Huh? I'm guessing that "triplex" somehow relates to the three planets with native intelligent life: Venus, Earth, and Mars.






robert-a-heinlein







share|improve this question





















  • Awesome question. I did not expect this answer.
    – James McLeod
    2 hours ago












up vote
5
down vote

favorite
1









up vote
5
down vote

favorite
1






1





I picked up an old library copy of the illustrated Scribner's edition Robert Heinlein's Space Cadet and am having fun reading it and pondering the seemingly artless and unresolved juxtaposition of the 1940's-sexist first section of the book with the final section involving the matriarchal Venerian society. But I have a much simpler sci-fi trivia question to ask here.



What is the meaning of the name of the ship that is called P.R.S. Aes Triplex? I checked with my medievalist wife, and she told me "aes" was pronounced like English "ace," then looked up the word and found that it meant "bronze," or some related meaning involving bronze coins or payments. So "triple bronze?" Huh? I'm guessing that "triplex" somehow relates to the three planets with native intelligent life: Venus, Earth, and Mars.






robert-a-heinlein







share|improve this question













I picked up an old library copy of the illustrated Scribner's edition Robert Heinlein's Space Cadet and am having fun reading it and pondering the seemingly artless and unresolved juxtaposition of the 1940's-sexist first section of the book with the final section involving the matriarchal Venerian society. But I have a much simpler sci-fi trivia question to ask here.



What is the meaning of the name of the ship that is called P.R.S. Aes Triplex? I checked with my medievalist wife, and she told me "aes" was pronounced like English "ace," then looked up the word and found that it meant "bronze," or some related meaning involving bronze coins or payments. So "triple bronze?" Huh? I'm guessing that "triplex" somehow relates to the three planets with native intelligent life: Venus, Earth, and Mars.






robert-a-heinlein




robert-a-heinlein






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked 3 hours ago









Ben Crowell

801720




801720











  • Awesome question. I did not expect this answer.
    – James McLeod
    2 hours ago
















  • Awesome question. I did not expect this answer.
    – James McLeod
    2 hours ago















Awesome question. I did not expect this answer.
– James McLeod
2 hours ago




Awesome question. I did not expect this answer.
– James McLeod
2 hours ago










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes

















up vote
6
down vote



accepted










This is a reference to Horace, Ode 1.3:




Illi robur et aes triplex circa pectus erat
qui fragilem truci commisit pelago ratem primus




My Latin is rusty, but basically "the first man to sail fragile ships in the deep ocean wore armor of oak and three layers of bronze around his chest.



The term "aes triplex" becomes from this a metaphor for courage, especially relevant to the Space Patrol.






share|improve this answer




















  • Awesome answer. I probably read this first ca. 1974, wondered but never knew the answer until now.
    – Ben Crowell
    2 hours ago










Your Answer







StackExchange.ready(function()
var channelOptions =
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "186"
;
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
createEditor();
);

else
createEditor();

);

function createEditor()
StackExchange.prepareEditor(
heartbeatType: 'answer',
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: false,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
);



);













 

draft saved


draft discarded


















StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fscifi.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f197596%2fmeaning-of-p-r-s-aes-triplex-in-heinleins-space-cadet%23new-answer', 'question_page');

);

Post as a guest

















1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes








1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes








up vote
6
down vote



accepted










This is a reference to Horace, Ode 1.3:




Illi robur et aes triplex circa pectus erat
qui fragilem truci commisit pelago ratem primus




My Latin is rusty, but basically "the first man to sail fragile ships in the deep ocean wore armor of oak and three layers of bronze around his chest.



The term "aes triplex" becomes from this a metaphor for courage, especially relevant to the Space Patrol.






share|improve this answer




















  • Awesome answer. I probably read this first ca. 1974, wondered but never knew the answer until now.
    – Ben Crowell
    2 hours ago














up vote
6
down vote



accepted










This is a reference to Horace, Ode 1.3:




Illi robur et aes triplex circa pectus erat
qui fragilem truci commisit pelago ratem primus




My Latin is rusty, but basically "the first man to sail fragile ships in the deep ocean wore armor of oak and three layers of bronze around his chest.



The term "aes triplex" becomes from this a metaphor for courage, especially relevant to the Space Patrol.






share|improve this answer




















  • Awesome answer. I probably read this first ca. 1974, wondered but never knew the answer until now.
    – Ben Crowell
    2 hours ago












up vote
6
down vote



accepted







up vote
6
down vote



accepted






This is a reference to Horace, Ode 1.3:




Illi robur et aes triplex circa pectus erat
qui fragilem truci commisit pelago ratem primus




My Latin is rusty, but basically "the first man to sail fragile ships in the deep ocean wore armor of oak and three layers of bronze around his chest.



The term "aes triplex" becomes from this a metaphor for courage, especially relevant to the Space Patrol.






share|improve this answer












This is a reference to Horace, Ode 1.3:




Illi robur et aes triplex circa pectus erat
qui fragilem truci commisit pelago ratem primus




My Latin is rusty, but basically "the first man to sail fragile ships in the deep ocean wore armor of oak and three layers of bronze around his chest.



The term "aes triplex" becomes from this a metaphor for courage, especially relevant to the Space Patrol.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 2 hours ago









James McLeod

2,04211216




2,04211216











  • Awesome answer. I probably read this first ca. 1974, wondered but never knew the answer until now.
    – Ben Crowell
    2 hours ago
















  • Awesome answer. I probably read this first ca. 1974, wondered but never knew the answer until now.
    – Ben Crowell
    2 hours ago















Awesome answer. I probably read this first ca. 1974, wondered but never knew the answer until now.
– Ben Crowell
2 hours ago




Awesome answer. I probably read this first ca. 1974, wondered but never knew the answer until now.
– Ben Crowell
2 hours ago

















 

draft saved


draft discarded















































 


draft saved


draft discarded














StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fscifi.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f197596%2fmeaning-of-p-r-s-aes-triplex-in-heinleins-space-cadet%23new-answer', 'question_page');

);

Post as a guest
































































Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Long meetings (6-7 hours a day): Being “babysat” by supervisor

Image
Clash Royale CLAN TAG #URR8PPP .everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty margin-bottom:0; up vote 31 down vote favorite 4 I hold a PhD in mechanical engineering with a 7 year background in self-guided, self-paced research including 2 years as a graduate level course instructor and a subject matter expert for various engineering projects in a university setting in the United States. For the last 10-11 months, I am working in a research industry in France where my task is to debug C++ spaghetti code written over a period of several years by my current supervisor. It is a team of 2: just I and my supervisor. Diurnally, I am posed with a "bug of the day" to get out of this C++ code. My supervisor generally gives me about 15-30 minutes to solve it and then accosts me about whether or not the task is completed and then rinses and repeats this until the end of the day. Off-late, my supervisor has been holding 6-7 hour long "meetin
Read more

Is the Concept of Multiple Fantasy Races Scientifically Flawed? [closed]

Image
Clash Royale CLAN TAG #URR8PPP up vote 2 down vote favorite Many fantasy worlds have multiple humanoid species (elves, orcs, humans, etc) living in the same world, in addition to that, they often have the ability to interbreed. And I can't help but question their believability... fantasy-races reproduction interspecies-relations share | improve this question edited Aug 9 at 14:46 Michael Kjörling ♦ 21.1k 10 85 161 asked Aug 9 at 13:13 Chlodio 118 6 closed as unclear what you're asking by MichaelK, Gryphon, John, Vincent, Frostfyre Aug 9 at 15:25 Please clarify your specific problem or add additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it’s hard to tell exactly what you're asking. See the How to Ask page for help clarifying this question. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question. 3 Stack Exchange exist to
Read more

Confectionery

Image
Prepared foods made with a lot of sugar or other cabohydrates "Sweetmeat" redirects here. For the racehorse, see Sweetmeat (horse). Not to be confused with Sweetbread. This Kransekake is a traditional Scandinavian baker's confection. Confectionery is the art of making confections , which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. [1] In general, though, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories, bakers' confections and sugar confections. [2] Bakers' confectionery, also called flour confections , includes principally sweet pastries, cakes, and similar baked goods. Sugar confectionery includes candies ( sweets in British English), candied nuts, chocolates, chewing gum, bubble gum, pastillage, and other confections that are made primarily of sugar. In some cases, chocolate confections (confections made of chocolate) are treated as a separate category, as are sugar-free versions of
Read more