Gernsback-9

Gernsback is an alternate universe (Quantum 7) described in GURPS Infinite Worlds, 4th edition, written by Kenneth Hite, Steve Jackson and John M. Ford.

Dark Jazz

Dark Jazz takes place on an analog of the Gernsback described in Infinite Worlds. The version of Gernsback described in that text is set in the year 1965, so the majority of the description does not apply. One should not assume that the description of Gernsback will act as a future-history for Dark Jazz.

As described in the official record:

The history of Gernsback diverges from Homeline with the marriage of Nikola Tesla, the last of the mad scientists, to the daughter of J.P. Morgan, the last of the robber barons. In Homeline history, Tesla and Anne Morgan became good friends, but Tesla died a bankrupt bachelor, the majority of his inventions remaining in his head or sketched in his notebooks. On Gernsback, Tesla’s marriage stabilized him both emotionally and financially, and he went on to revolutionize virtually every aspect of modern life. In 1902, the Morgan-Tesla Radio Company began global radio broadcasts from Wardenclyffe, Long Island. The immense success of global radio freed Tesla to concentrate on his lifelong goal: broadcasting electrical power without wires. (GURPS Infinite Worlds, 4th edition, p. 126)

As of 1924, Tesla is still developing his system for broadcasting electrical power at Wardenclyffe, Long Island. He is rumored to have short-range transmission working, but is facing serious obstacles with effective long-range transmission.

Notable Historical Differences

• The Red Scare did not occur in the United States. Certain events associated with that period, such as the Seattle Labor Riots of 1919, did occur on Gernsback, but often with different outcomes than in our history. The Seattle conflict, for example, was ended through peaceful negotiation rather than violence.

• Nearly a third of the voting public self-identifies as either Communist or Socialist. The Socialist Labor Party has the largest membership and has elected five Senators and several Congressmen. The party has yet to mount a national candidate. Several state governors and legislators are mebers of the party.

• Many of the national developments that result from President Roosevelt's New Deal and works programs , such as the electrification of rural areas, occur in the 1920s. The technological boom results in material prosperity that offsets the ill effects of the destructive world war. American banks and investors, rather than turning their back on Europe, invest heavily in the war-damaged states, especially Germany.