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"I suspect that religion is a necessary evil in the childhood of our particular species. And that's one of the interesting things about contact with other intelligences: we could see what role, if any, religion plays in their development."
- Arthur C. Clarke

Nexialist  
  A person with a coordinative knowledge across a variety of sciences.  

The plan involved heat projectors, muscle-straining acceleration, and partial extermination of both groups of scientists. Captain Leeth failed even to mention the aliens, nor did it seem to occur to him that he was describing his intentions to an emissary of what he regarded as the enemy. He finished by saying, "Where your services will be important, Mr. Grosvenor, is in the science department. As a Nexialist, with a co-ordinative knowledge of many sciences, you can play a fairly decisive role against the other scientists..."
Technovelgy from Voyage of the Space Beagle, by A.E. van Vogt.
Published by Granada in 1950
Additional resources -

Here is another illustrative passage:

His high-probability chart contained, among other things, check marks in the proper printed spaces showing the amount of volcanic dust in the atmosphere, the life history of various plant forms as indicated by preliminary studies of their seeds, the type of digestive tracts animals would have to have to eat the particular plants examined and by extrapolation, what would be the probable ranges of structure and type of the animals who lived off the animals who ate such plants.

Grosvenor worked rapidly, and since he merely put marks on an already printed chart, it was not long before he had his graph. It was an intricate affair. It would not be easy to explain it to someone who was not already familiar with Nexialism.

Thanks to Winchell Chung and to Fred Kiesche for suggesting this item.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Voyage of the Space Beagle
  More Ideas and Technology by A.E. van Vogt
  Tech news articles related to Voyage of the Space Beagle
  Tech news articles related to works by A.E. van Vogt

Nexialist-related news articles:
  - Medical Researcher 'Discovers' Integration

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