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Klingon scientists ?

M

mike hill

Lieutenant
Red Shirt
As a thought experiment, and taking the following three assumptions :-

1) We are solely discussing TOS Klingons.
2) Said TOS Klingons are more pragmatic and so not as dismissive of science as TNG "warrior"-biker gang-viking types are.
3) The D7/"K'Tagga" battle cruiser is a multirole multipurpose vessel with a few science labs built in.

What science disciplines would you want to have onboard to support exploitation and exploration, and why?

My choices would be :-

Life Sciences - are native foodstuffs biologically compatible with Klingon biochemistry? Could existing staples be transplanted to this new world? Ecological concerns are probably too subtle.

Space Sciences - structure and physics of the solar system, asteroid/meteorite threats etc stability of the star and gas giants.

Geology - probably number one choice - identify minerals to exploit!!!

What do you think??
 
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This exposes one of the myriad things I always liked about "Star Trek" vs. all of the follow-up shows. The Klingons were NOT 1 dimensional villains of the week. Neither, in truth, were the Romulans...

Anywho - I suspect Geology and Life Sciences would be of a higher priority since the Klingon Empire was "resource poor" (per dialog in 'The Day of the Dove'). Space Sciences and general Physics would probably be left for more dedicated ship types rather than regular battlecruisers like the D7.
 
This dude tried to sign on to a Klingon Warship, but they booted him off for being too wimpy....

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The simple truth of the matter is that space has a lot of funky science stuff going on and even a dedicated military warship has need of science personnel. Hell, even in the spin-off shows where Klingons are thugs stabbing each other and shouting about honor every third word, their ships still have science officers.
 
Classic Klingons? I tend to ere towards them being smarter than TNG and onward Klingons (on average). I would suspect that they would listen to scientists (assuming the scientist in question is respected by the officers).
 
I could actually make an argument that because Klingons have such a strong hunting/outdoorsman tradition, they would support ecological research and certain environmental causes (at least to the point of managing hunted species and associated ecosystems). Noble Klingon houses appear to own substantial estate lands. And nature, after all, is essentially a series of unending battles for survival and primacy. It is, in a way, a more primal reflection of the Klingon philosophy. So I could see a Klingon ecologist examining natural relationships in terms of battles, conquests, struggles - one creature vying against another. Surely there is honor in ecology for a Klingon.
 
Klingons have been in space since the 1600s.

Their tech has crawled forward.

Although if that's true, then why were they building ships for the Romulans?

Maybe they traded raw materials and manpower for a look at more advanced tech?
 
According to TOS, the Romulans almost destroyed what would become the Federation, without Warp Drive.

Which means they got Warp a century after Earth, and was experimenting with artificial singularities a hundred years later.

Mean while it's possible that the klingons were happy with warp 2 for 400 years.
 
The romulans had a 2000 year head start.

They can make a 40 year plan to surround and invade a star system at relativistic or subluminal speed that relies on trust rather than communication.

It may be your grand child that stand on the mangled corpses of your sorry victims, but you got the ball rolling, and the star empire is happier for it.
 
The episode never says the Romulans as a culture would lack warp. Scotty apparently bets his life on this particular ship lacking warp, but he is required to make that judgement in the first place: while the heroes are almost up to speed on Romulans after Spock's assorter briefings and Stiles' helpful tips, they clearly can't tell in advance whether a particular adversary ship would be faster or slower than the hero ship.

In ST:Insurrection, Dougherty says that warp drive transformed a bunch of thugs into an empire, referring to the Romulans. Picard later brings up the late 23rd century when countering Dougherty's "We can handle them" claims; whether Picard means Romulans got warp drive in the late 23rd century, became thugs thanks to an earlier acquisition in the late 23rd century, or were unsuccessfully handled in the late 23rd century (to no detriment known to the audience so far!), we never learn.

ENT in turn tells us Vulcans had interstellar travel down pat a thousand years before the Romulans left (or stopped visiting home, or whatever). This travel is not specifically called warp, but it apparently meets the specs.

As for 2ky head starts, how do you lose with that? Especially against a practice opponent such as the featherweight Earth, if your actual intent is to tackle the hated Vulcans?

OTOH, how do you win, when your enemy is constantly moving forward and your interstellar fleet is standing still, in the sense of evolving tech and doctrine?

Timo Saloniemi
 
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