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Alfred Worden

Alfred Merrill Worden (February 7, 1932 – March 18, 2020) was an American test pilot, engineer and NASA astronaut who was command module pilot for the Apollo 15 lunar mission in 1971. One of 24 people to have flown to the Moon, he orbited it 74 times in the command module (CM) Endeavour.

Worden was born in Michigan in 1932; he spent his early years living on farms and attended the University of Michigan for one year, before securing an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Graduating in 1955, he elected to be commissioned in the United States Air Force, though he had no piloting experience. He proved adept at flying fighter planes, and honed his skills, becoming a test pilot before his selection as a Group 5 astronaut in 1966. He served on the support crew for Apollo 9 and the backup crew for Apollo 12 before his selection for the Apollo15 crew in 1970, with David Scott as commander and James Irwin as lunar module pilot.

After Apollo 15 reached lunar orbit, and his crewmates departed to land on the Moon, Worden spent three days alone in the CM, becoming in the process the individual who traveled the farthest from any other human being, a distinction he still holds. He took many photographs of the Moon and operated a suite of scientific instruments that probed the Moon. During Apollo 15's return flight to Earth, Worden performed an extravehicular activity (EVA), or spacewalk, to retrieve film cassettes from cameras on the exterior of the spacecraft. It was the first "deep space" EVA in history, and remains the one that has taken place farthest from Earth.

After their return, the crew became involved in a controversy over postal covers they had taken to the Moon; they were reprimanded by NASA and did not fly in space again. Worden remained at NASA until 1975 at the Ames Research Center, then entered the private sector. He engaged in a variety of business activities, and had a longtime involvement with the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, serving as chair of its board of directors from 2005 until 2011. He made many public appearances, promoting a renewed space program and education in the sciences, before his death in 2020.

Early life and education
Alfred Merrill Worden was born February 7, 1932, in Jackson, Michigan, the son of Merrill Bangs Worden (1904–1978) and Helen Garnett Worden (Crowell; 1909–2004). The second of six children, and the oldest of the four boys, Alfred Merrill Worden lived on his family's farm outside the city of Jackson, though the family stayed part of the time at his maternal grandparents' farm near East Jordan. Worden attended Dibble, Griswold, Bloomfield and East Jackson grade schools and graduated from Jackson High School, where he became the student council president. He was a Boy Scout and earned the rank of First Class Scout.

His family was not wealthy, so Worden sought a scholarship to enable his studies. He was able to secure one to the University of Michigan, but it was good for only one year. Seeing the U.S. service academies as his road to an education, Worden took an entrance examination and was offered appointments both to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. He selected West Point and began his studies there in July 1951. Worden later stated, "There was no way I was going to live the rest of my life on a farm. That kind of got me started down the path that led to NASA."

Worden came to like the demanding life at West Point, especially once he passed the initial stages of his military education and was given greater responsibility within the Corps of Cadets. In addition to his studies, he participated in cross country running, gymnastics and cheerleading. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in military science from West Point in 1955, finishing 47th out of 470 in his class.

Military service

At the time Worden graduated from West Point, he had no piloting experience. The United States Air Force Academy was not yet graduating cadets, and would not until 1959. Graduates of West Point and Annapolis were permitted to choose to be commissioned in the Air Force, and some of Worden's instructors urged this course upon him. He chose the Air Force, thinking promotion would be faster, something he subsequently learned was not the case.

Worden received primary flight training at Moore Air Force Base, Texas, where he learned to fly on Beechcraft T-34 trainer aircraft, coming to love piloting. Worden advanced for training at Laredo Air Force Base, Texas on Lockheed T-33 jet trainers, and after eight months went on to Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, for Air Defense Command training, flying F-86D Sabres. Worden first post-training assignment was with the 95th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Andrews Air Force Base, near Washington, D.C., where he flew F-86Ds, and later, F-102 Delta Daggers. In addition to serving as a pilot there from March 1957 until May 1961, he was his squadron's armament officer.

Seeking both to advance his career and to benefit the Air Force, Worden in 1961 asked to be sent to study aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan. He earned Master of Science degrees in aerospace engineering and instrumentation engineering from the University of Michigan in 1963.

After graduation, Worden applied for U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, but to his surprise, he was not selected. He learned that his superiors wanted him to be part of an exchange program with Britain's Royal Air Force and be trained at the Empire Test Pilots' School in Farnborough, England. Since that course would not begin for six months, Worden spent the time at the Randolph Air Force Base Instrument Pilots Instructor School. After successfully completing the course at Farnborough, second in his class, Worden returned to the U.S. He then served as an instructor at the Aerospace Research Pilot School (ARPS), to which he was ordered at the specific request of its commandant, Colonel Chuck Yeager, and from which he graduated in September 1965.

Selection
In 1963, Worden put his name in for selection to NASA's third group of astronauts but was told that though NASA was interested in him even without test pilot experience, he was ruled out by his pending orders to Farnborough, with which the agency could not interfere. Worden thought he would be beyond NASA's age limit for new astronauts when next free to consider such a career option, and so believed he would never be an astronaut.

NASA's recruitment for its fifth group of astronauts took place in 1965, at the same time the Air Force was seeking to recruit for its program, the Manned Orbiting Laboratory, with qualified pilots in the Air Force free to apply for either or both. Believing, as proved correct, that the Air Force program would never get off the ground, Worden chose to apply only to NASA, which he did in September 1965. Worden wrote in his first book of memoirs that "professionally, I figured it couldn't get any better than that. Even being a test pilot couldn't compare with being an astronaut and making a spaceflight." Under the selection criteria, candidates had to be born on or after December 1, 1929, raising the age limit from 34 to 36. Worden, aged 34 when selected, was one of the 19 candidates chosen by NASA in April 1966, together with his ARPS classmates Stuart Roosa and Charles Duke; four others were previous graduates.

Having been urged by NASA superiors to have plenty of astronauts available for the many hoped-for Apollo and Apollo Applications missions, Director of Flight Crew Operations Deke Slayton, the astronauts' supervisor, hired all the Group5 candidates he considered qualified. Budget cuts and the diversion of funds to other programs meant there would be relatively few flights, and Worden perceived some resentment at the new intake from more senior astronauts as the competition for spots on Apollo missions intensified.

Early assignments
On October 3, 1966, Chief Astronaut Alan Shepard assigned Worden and four other Group5 selectees, Ken Mattingly, Jack Swigert, Ronald Evans and Vance Brand, to the astronaut team dealing with the BlockII command module (CM), headed by Pete Conrad. The BlockI command modules were intended only for Apollo's initial Earth-orbit flights, and in fact never flew in space on a crewed mission; the BlockII modules would go to lunar orbit. The following month, Worden was assigned as part of the support crew for the second crewed Apollo mission, along with Fred Haise and Edgar Mitchell. Apollo support crews were to do the things that the prime and backup crews did not have time for. Worden took the assignment as an indication that NASA management, including Slayton, was pleased with him.

Worden was at North American Aviation's plant in Downey, California, where the BlockII command module was being built, on January 27, 1967, when he received an urgent phone call from Slayton, informing him that all three Apollo 1 astronauts had been killed in a fire at the launch pad, where a test was under way. Worden informed the other astronauts on-site and they flew back to Houston. He was especially saddened by the fact that the three accomplished pilots who were to make up the first Apollo space crew died on the ground, rather than flying. During the complete safety review that followed, Worden spent much of his time in Downey working on the BlockII CM, seeking (with other CM specialists such as Swigert) to remove potential combustibles and other hazards. After the pause, he remained on the support crew for the second Apollo mission, which was to include testing of the CM and Lunar Module (LM) in Earth orbit.

This mission was initially designated Apollo 8. There were delays in the development of the LM and in August 1968, NASA official George Low proposed that if Apollo 7 in October went well, Apollo8 should go to lunar orbit without a LM, so as not to hold up the program. The Earth-orbit test would become Apollo 9. The crew who had been scheduled for Apollo8, led by Jim McDivitt, became the Apollo9 crew, and Worden became part of that mission's support crew along with Mitchell and Jack Lousma.

Worden was named as backup command module pilot (CMP) for the Apollo 12 flight. Apollo9's CMP had been David Scott, who became, by the normal rotation of crews instituted by Slayton, the backup commander of Apollo12 and the prospective commander of Apollo 15, with Worden likely to be the CMP of Apollo15's prime crew. Jim Irwin was named backup lunar module pilot (LMP) for Apollo12, with similar prospects of flying on Apollo15. Slayton, in his memoirs, mentioned that Worden had been on the support crew for Apollo9, and deemed him a "logical choice". Worden wrote in his own autobiography that he and Irwin had learned of their selection for Apollo12 at a meeting in Scott's office.

As Apollo 12's backup command module pilot, Worden forged a close, lifelong friendship with the prime crew's CMP, Dick Gordon, with whom he trained. Worden remembered, "Dick was my buddy. We flew together and worked together for a year and a half when he was training for Apollo12 and I was his backup. We just went everywhere together. We worked really hard but it was also a lot of fun." Gordon and Worden learned navigational techniques for space so that if communications with Mission Control failed, the CMP could bring the craft home. Worden remembered that the Apollo12 prime crew, led by Pete Conrad, had a close bond and drove matching black and gold Chevrolet Corvettes at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). In reaction, the backup crew secured a red one for Irwin, white for Worden, and a blue car for Scott, both emphasizing their individuality within the crew and making them less conspicuous at times when they did not want to be recognized as astronauts, especially since the three cars were rarely seen together.

Preparation and launch

Scott, Worden, and Irwin were publicly named as the crew of Apollo15 on March 26, 1970. Apollo15 was originally scheduled to be an H mission, with a limited stay of 33 hours on the Moon and two moonwalks, but the cancellation of two Apollo missions in mid-1970 meant the flight would be a Jmission, with three moonwalks during its three-day stay, the first Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), and in the service module (SM) a suite of scientific instruments to probe the Moon. It was Worden's job, as his crewmates walked on the Moon, to operate these devices. For the first time, observations from lunar orbit were made a formal mission objective, and, like the CMPs of Apollo 13 and Apollo 14, Worden worked with geologist Farouk El-Baz during training, learning to interpret what he saw as he flew over the mountains and deserts of the western United States. Worden found El-Baz to be an enjoyable and inspiring teacher. He also accompanied his crewmates on geology training which took them to places where they walked over terrain resembling the Moon's, including sites in Hawaii, Mexico, and Iceland. He trained for the possibility he might have to return without Scott and Irwin or rescue them if the LM launched into the wrong orbit. When he was not busy with that or other training, Worden spent much of his time at North American Rockwell's facilities at Downey, supervising the construction and testing of Apollo15's command and service module (CSM).

Before leaving on his mission, Worden appeared on the children's television show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. He felt NASA needed to do more to engage children, members of a generation whose support would one day be necessary for the space program. Fred Rogers was planning to do shows on parents going away on trips, and felt Worden's appearance would mesh well with that. Worden appeared on the show before going to the Moon and answered several children's questions: he wrote down some others and took them with him on the spacecraft, promising to think about them on the trip, and after the mission, appeared again on the program to answer them.

Apollo 15 took off on its lunar journey from KSC on July 26, 1971. Once trans-lunar injection had been achieved, placing the spacecraft on a trajectory towards the Moon, explosive cords separated the CSM, Endeavour, from the booster as Worden operated the CSM's thrusters to push it away. Worden then maneuvered the CSM to dock with the LM, Falcon, which was mounted on the end of the S-IVB (the booster that had supplied the thrust for TLI), and the combined craft was then separated from the S-IVB by explosives.

Lunar orbit
After the mission arrived in lunar orbit, Scott and Irwin entered Falcon while Worden remained in Endeavour. When the two craft failed to separate to allow Falcon and its crew to prepare for the Moon landing, Worden went into the docking tunnel and reconnected a loose umbilical, fixing the problem. Worden, in Endeavour, was able to listen as Scott and Irwin descended toward and landed on the Moon, but was unable to spot Falcon until a later orbit, though he passed over the targeted site at the moment of planned landing. He had executed a burn of the CSM's main engine, the Service Propulsion System, to send Endeavour from the lower orbit in which the two craft separated, to an orbit of 65.2 nmi by 54.8 nmi in preparation for his scientific work.

Worden began what amounted to a separate mission from his crewmates, with a separate CAPCOM and mission controllers. His main tasks while alone in lunar orbit were photography, and operating the instruments in the SIM bay. Filling previously unused space in the service module, the SIM bay contained a gamma-ray spectrometer, mounted on the end of a boom, an X-ray spectrometer and a laser altimeter, which failed part way through the mission. A stellar camera and a metric camera together comprised the mapping camera, which was complemented by a panoramic camera, derived from the long-classified Corona spy technology. Also present were an alpha particle spectrometer, which could be used to detect evidence of lunar volcanism, and a mass spectrometer, also on a boom in the hope it would be unaffected by contamination from the ship. He supplemented the photographs with verbal descriptions; Endeavour's inclined orbit caused it to pass over features never seen before in detail as Worden watched. Each time Endeavour's orbit passed from the far side of the Moon to a view of the Earth and renewed communications with Mission Control, Worden greeted it with the words, "Hello, Earth. Greetings from Endeavour", expressed in different languages. Worden and El-Baz had come up with the idea, and had collaborated on translations.

Busy as he was, he still had time to savor the experience. Knowing he was unlikely to come back to the Moon, Worden was determined to absorb the entire experience. He did not need all the rest periods for sleep, and spent part of that time in contemplation of what was outside his craft, and what it all meant. Through Endeavour's windows, he watched the Moon, the Earth, and the stars – he could see many more stars, and more intensely, than Earthbound observers. He concluded it was naive to believe Earth had the only life in the universe, and he wondered if space exploration was part of humanity's survival instinct to avoid being trapped in a single solar system.

Worden has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the "most isolated human being" during his time alone in Endeavour. Orbiting the Moon alone, he was at his greatest distance from Scott and Irwin in Falcon, 2235 mi away from any other human beings. He later stated he enjoyed his "three wonderful days in a spacecraft all by myself", and that he was used to being alone as a fighter pilot. Worden remembered, "On the back side of the Moon, I didn't even have to talk to Houston and that was the best part of the flight."

Return

As Falcon took off from the Moon, Worden played a recording of the Air Force Song ("Off we go, into the wild blue yonder"), intending it to be heard only in Mission Control; somewhat to his chagrin, it was relayed to the LM, to the annoyance of Scott. Worden piloted the CSM as Scott maneuvered the LM, bringing them together in a direct rendezvous, on the first lunar orbit, the second time a first-orbit rendezvous had been accomplished (after Apollo14).

Endeavour completed 74 lunar orbits prior to trans-Earth injection (TEI), the burn to take the astronauts home. On the way back to Earth, Worden did a spacewalk to retrieve film from the spacecraft's cameras. He took 38 minutes in extravehicular activity (EVA) outside Endeavour to accomplish this, three times venturing from outside the hatch to the exterior of the SIM bay of the SM. In retrieving the film cassettes from the panoramic and mapping cameras, Worden performed the first deep-space EVA, and reported his personal observations of the general condition of equipment housed there. Worden remains,, the record-holder for the spacewalk performed furthest from Earth. Apollo15 concluded with a Pacific splashdown and subsequent recovery by the amphibious assault ship USS Okinawa. In completing his flight, Worden logged 295 hours and 11 minutes in space.

Covers incident
The crew had, before the mission, agreed with an acquaintance named Horst Eiermann, who was working on behalf of a West German stamp dealer, Hermann Sieger, to carry 100 postal covers to the Moon in exchange for approximately $7,000 to each astronaut. The astronauts added 100 more for each crew member, though two covers were unaccounted for, leading to a total of 398. These were carried aboard Endeavour prior to launch by Scott in his spacesuit's pocket, were transferred into Falcon and spent three days on the lunar surface inside the lander. After the return, 100 covers were sent to Eiermann in West Germany, and the astronauts received the agreed payments. NASA rules required that personal items carried aboard Apollo flights be manifested for weight and other reasons and approved by Slayton; this was not done. The astronauts stated their intent had been to set up trust funds for their children, and that they intended that the covers not be sold or otherwise publicized until the Apollo program was over and they had left NASA and the Air Force. Astronauts were forbidden by standards of conduct issued in 1967 from using their position for financial gain for themselves or other people.

In addition to the 398 carried by Scott, Worden took 144 covers into space, at the instigation of F. Herrick Herrick, a retired movie director and a stamp collector. These had, as required, been approved by Slayton, who did not ask where Worden had gotten them. After the flight Worden sent 100 of them to Herrick, who sold some. These sales prompted an inquiry to NASA, alerting Slayton, who warned Worden to avoid further commercialization. Worden wrote an angry letter to Herrick, stating that the sales were putting his career at risk.

The 100 covers Scott sent to West Germany were put on sale to Sieger's customers in late 1971 at a price of about $1,500 each. After receiving the agreed payments, the astronauts returned them, and in the end, took no compensation. Slayton heard about the Sieger covers, and he spoke with Worden and Irwin; both referred him to Scott. Slayton, knowing Worden was a stamp collector, became suspicious that he had arranged both deals, and this led to repeated phone calls asking for details. In April 1972, Slayton met with Scott and Worden and learned from them that unauthorized covers had been flown. Worden remembered what hurt the most about that meeting was having disappointed Slayton, a man he greatly admired.

The Apollo 15 crew had been recycled as the backup crew for Apollo 17, the final Apollo mission, as using fully-trained astronauts was easier than training a fresh backup crew who would have no prospect of being the prime crew on a later lunar Apollo mission. But in May 1972, as Worden remembered, Slayton called him while Worden was preparing for geological training, instructing him to clear out his office and go back to the Air Force. Slayton had prevailed on Irwin to retire, letting NASA assign a new backup crew. Worden did not clear out his office but began looking into ways of staying at NASA, even if outside the Astronaut Corps. Slayton said at the time that he had to reduce the number of astronauts, that Irwin and Mitchell were eligible for retirement from the military, and the astronaut he could most easily do without after that was Worden; the postal covers incident had played a part in that determination.

The matter became public in June 1972 and the three astronauts were reprimanded for poor judgment on July 10. Concerned about commercialization of Apollo15, the Senate Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences set a hearing for August 3, 1972; among those who testified were the astronauts, Slayton, NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher and Deputy Administrator George Low. Slayton wrote of the astronauts' testimony, "they came clean and took their lumps but I was still pretty pissed off about it."

This still left Worden trying to find a job at NASA; he testified before the committee that he had been told he could stay if he came to an agreement with whoever he was to work for. He found an ally in Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight Dale D. Myers, who helped Worden get a position at the Ames Research Center in California. According to Low, NASA was aware that the reprimands made the astronauts essentially unpromotable in the Air Force, which would not have jobs for them worth their abilities, and it was decided that though the crew was removed from flight status, they would be given positions elsewhere in NASA. At Ames, Worden served as a Senior Aerospace Scientist, and from 1973 to 1975, chief of the Systems Study Division. He retired from NASA and the Air Force, with the rank of colonel, in 1975.

In his first book of memoirs, Worden took responsibility for making "a decision that fucked up my life completely, utterly, and irreversibly", but felt Scott did not take enough of the blame on himself. In a second book, published posthumously in 2021, Worden expressed his belief that Slayton would not have fired him from the Astronaut Corps if given the chance, but that Slayton's superior, Christopher C. Kraft, wanted him fired. Apollo 10 commander Thomas P. Stafford wrote an epilogue to Worden's first book and stated, "Al should not have his efforts degraded by the decades-old, short-lived publicity surrounding some postal covers carried on board." Worden later stated, "We probably didn't do the smartest thing in the world, but we didn't do anything that was illegal. We didn't do anything that anybody else hadn't done, but the consequences were rather severe to us."

Post-NASA activities

After leaving the Air Force and NASA, Worden founded Alfred M. Worden, Inc., then served as the director of Energy Management Programs at the Northwood Institute in Midland, Michigan. In 1982, Worden ran for the United States House of Representatives in Florida's 12th congressional district but lost the Republican primary to state senator Tom Lewis. Despite the loss, Worden referred to his run as the high point of his life, "I thought that was a very important thing to do. I put everything into it and lost, but that is okay."

The Apollo 15 astronauts had been required to turn in, and NASA had retained, 298 of the postal covers carried aboard by Scott, as well as 61 more envelopes from the deal with Herrick; they were transferred to the National Archives in August 1973. It had been Worden's understanding that the covers would be returned once NASA's investigation was over, and in 1983 he sued the government. Believing it could not win, the government returned the covers and the 298 were divided by the three astronauts. Worden sold some of them to pay debts from his unsuccessful run for Congress.

Worden still believed other former astronauts looked at him askance because of the postal covers incident. In 1984, he began to involve himself with the Mercury Seven Foundation, set up by the original astronauts to provide scholarships for promising students in the sciences. Worden was at the time living near KSC and as the Mercury Seven aged, he and other later astronauts took on greater responsibilities. The organization's name was changed to the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, and in 2005, Worden was elected to chair its board of directors. He served in that capacity until 2011.

Worden held executive positions with Jet Electronics and Technology, Inc., and with B.F. Goodrich prior to his retirement from the business world in 1996. In 2011, Worden's autobiography, Falling to Earth: An Apollo15 Astronaut's Journey to the Moon made the top 12 of the Los Angeles Times Bestseller list. He also wrote Hello Earth: Greetings from Endeavour (1974), a collection of poetry, in 1974, and a children's book, I Want to Know About a Flight to the Moon (1974).

Widely known as "Al", Worden made many public appearances, and was one of the most approachable of the former astronauts, ready to chat over a vodka on the rocks. In 2018, Worden joined the Back to Space organization as an Astronaut Consultant with the goal of using film to inspire the next generation to go to Mars. Worden was a technical consultant to the 2018 film First Man, a biopic of Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong. 2019 saw the establishment of the Astronaut Al Worden Endeavour Scholarship to send "aspiring young space explorers" and their teachers to U.S. Space Camp in Alabama.

Awards and honors
Worden received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal in 1971. He entered the International Space Hall of Fame in 1983. He was inducted into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1997. In 2009, Worden was honored with the NASA Ambassador of Exploration Award. He was inducted in 2016 into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.

Worden and the other Apollo 15 crew members received the first United Nations Peace Medal in 1971. They also received the Robert J. Collier Trophy (1971), the Kitty Hawk Memorial Award (1971) and the AIAA Haley Astronautics Award (1972). He received an Honorary Doctor of Science degree in Astronautical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1971.

Personal life and popular culture
Worden married Pamela Vander Beek, whom he met on a blind date while a cadet, in June 1955. The couple divorced in December 1969, just before Worden was selected to fly on Apollo15. Worden became the first astronaut to divorce during the program and thereafter fly in space. Al and Pamela Worden lived across the street from each other following the separation, and he remained involved in their daughters' lives. He was initially shunned by the Astronaut Wives Club but in time this ended.

In September 1974 he married Sandra Lee Wilder; they divorced in January 1980. Worden married Jill Lee Hotchkiss in July 1982. She died in May 2014. He had two daughters with Pamela Worden, Merrill and Alison, and one stepdaughter, Tamara, from his third marriage. Worden's recreational interests included bowling, water skiing, golf, racquetball and playing the piano.

In the 1998 HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon Worden was played by Michael Raynor.

Death
Alfred Worden died on March 18, 2020, at an assisted living center in Sugar Land, Texas. He was 88 years old. Worden had been suffering from an infection at home in League City, Texas for which he was hospitalized at Texas Medical Center in Houston. He was convalescing at the Sugar Land facility at the time of his death.

The tributes to Worden upon his death were many. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine stated, "Al was an American hero whose achievements in space and on Earth will never be forgotten." Apollo11's Buzz Aldrin, a fellow West Point graduate, tweeted, "'Line of Grey, Be Thou at Peace!' Godspeed Al." Tom Kallman, president of Kallman Worldwide, Inc., with whom Worden had worked in setting up the Astronaut Al Worden Endeavour Scholarship Foundation, noted, "Though he was focused on STEM, Al's principal message was always to 'follow your passion, wherever that leads you'." Mike Pence, Vice President of the United States, stated, "We stand on the shoulders of space pioneers like Al, and America will always marvel at his achievements and look to him for inspiration as we strive to go farther and faster than ever before."

A celebration of Worden's life took place on September 19, 2020. This was originally to be a hybrid in-person/online event, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic was postponed and made online only. Those paying tribute to Worden included fellow Group 5 astronauts Duke, Haise and Jack Lousma.

Books

 * Hello Earth; Greetings from Endeavour, Nash Publishing (1974), ISBN 978-0-8402-1343-3
 * I Want to Know About a Flight to the Moon, Doubleday (1974), ISBN 978-0-385-05837-7
 * Falling to Earth: An Apollo 15 Astronaut's Journey to the Moon with Francis French, Smithsonian Books (2011), ISBN 978-1-58834-309-3
 * Astronaut Al Travels to the Moon with Francis French, Illustrated by Michelle Rouch, Bookpress Publishing (2021), ISBN 978-1-94730-527-4
 * The Light of Earth: Reflections on a Life in Space with Francis French, University of Nebraska Press (2021), ISBN 978-1-49622-865-9

title: Alfred Worden


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Ethical pot

The term "ethical pot" was coined by Oliver Watson in his book Studio Pottery: Twentieth Century British Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum to describe a 20th-century trend in studio pottery that favoured plain, utilitarian ceramics. Watson said that the ethical pot,"lovingly made in the correct way and with the correct attitude, would contain a spiritual and moral dimension." Its leading proponents were Bernard Leach and a more controversial group of post-war British studio potters. They were theoretically opposed to the expressive pots or fine art pots of potters such as William Staite Murray, Lucie Rie and Hans Coper.

The ethical pot theory and style was popularized by Bernard Leach in A Potter's Book (1940). He expanded the theories that ethical pots should be utilitarian, "naturally shaped" and originally as conceived should derive from "Oriental forms that transcended mere good looks." Leach had previously spent considerable time in Japan studying eastern crafts and mingei. His ethical pot idea was a rough interpretation of mingei for the western world; he advocated simplicity (ideally the best pots are so quick to make that they could be "thrown before breakfast"), and pots made to look natural and hand crafted. Soetsu Yanagi, a leading figure in the mingei movement, said that a craft object "must be made by an anonymous craftsman or woman and therefore unsigned; it must be functional, simple, and have no excess ornamentation; it must be one of many similar pieces and must be inexpensive; it must be unsophisticated; it must reflect the region it was made in; and it must be made by hand."

According to ceramic art critics of today, this pot style was intended to be modernist, useful, and "democratic in usage" as opposed to the fine art pot and also opposed to industrial art.

Potters in the movement
The potters apprenticed to Bernard Leach include: Michael Cardew, Katherine Pleydell-Bouverie, Norah Braden, David Leach and Michael Leach (his sons), William Marshall, Kenneth Quick and Richard Batterham. His American apprentices included: Warren MacKenzie, Byron Temple, Clary Illian and Jeff Oestrich. He was a major influence on the leading New Zealand potter Len Castle, and they had worked together in the mid-1950s. Through his son David, Bernard was the main influence on the work of the Australian potter Ian Sprague.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Ethical pot


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Differential (mathematics)

In mathematics, differential refers to several related notions derived from the early days of calculus, put on a rigorous footing, such as infinitesimal differences and the derivatives of functions.

The term is used in various branches of mathematics such as calculus, differential geometry, algebraic geometry and algebraic topology.

Introduction
The term differential is used nonrigorously in calculus to refer to an infinitesimal ("infinitely small") change in some varying quantity. For example, if x is a variable, then a change in the value of x is often denoted Δx (pronounced delta x). The differential dx represents an infinitely small change in the variable x. The idea of an infinitely small or infinitely slow change is, intuitively, extremely useful, and there are a number of ways to make the notion mathematically precise.

Using calculus, it is possible to relate the infinitely small changes of various variables to each other mathematically using derivatives. If y is a function of x, then the differential dy of y is related to dx by the formula $$dy = \frac{dy}{dx} \,dx,$$ where $$\frac{dy}{dx} \,$$denotes the derivative of y with respect to x. This formula summarizes the intuitive idea that the derivative of y with respect to x is the limit of the ratio of differences Δy/Δx as Δx becomes infinitesimal.

Basic notions

 * In calculus, the differential represents a change in the linearization of a function.
 * The total differential is its generalization for functions of multiple variables.
 * In traditional approaches to calculus, the differentials (e.g. dx, dy, dt, etc.) are interpreted as infinitesimals. There are several methods of defining infinitesimals rigorously, but it is sufficient to say that an infinitesimal number is smaller in absolute value than any positive real number, just as an infinitely large number is larger than any real number.
 * The differential is another name for the Jacobian matrix of partial derivatives of a function from Rn to Rm (especially when this matrix is viewed as a linear map).
 * More generally, the differential or pushforward refers to the derivative of a map between smooth manifolds and the pushforward operations it defines. The differential is also used to define the dual concept of pullback.
 * Stochastic calculus provides a notion of stochastic differential and an associated calculus for stochastic processes.
 * The integrator in a Stieltjes integral is represented as the differential of a function. Formally, the differential appearing under the integral behaves exactly as a differential: thus, the integration by substitution and integration by parts formulae for Stieltjes integral correspond, respectively, to the chain rule and product rule for the differential.

History and usage
Infinitesimal quantities played a significant role in the development of calculus. Archimedes used them, even though he did not believe that arguments involving infinitesimals were rigorous. Isaac Newton referred to them as fluxions. However, it was Gottfried Leibniz who coined the term differentials for infinitesimal quantities and introduced the notation for them which is still used today.

In Leibniz's notation, if x is a variable quantity, then dx denotes an infinitesimal change in the variable x. Thus, if y is a function of x, then the derivative of y with respect to x is often denoted dy/dx, which would otherwise be denoted (in the notation of Newton or Lagrange) ẏ or y. The use of differentials in this form attracted much criticism, for instance in the famous pamphlet The Analyst by Bishop Berkeley. Nevertheless, the notation has remained popular because it suggests strongly the idea that the derivative of y at x is its instantaneous rate of change (the slope of the graph's tangent line), which may be obtained by taking the limit of the ratio Δy/Δx as Δx becomes arbitrarily small. Differentials are also compatible with dimensional analysis, where a differential such as dx has the same dimensions as the variable x. Calculus evolved into a distinct branch of mathematics during the 17th century CE, although there were antecedents going back to antiquity. The presentations of, e.g., Newton, Leibniz, were marked by non-rigorous definitions of terms like differential, fluent and "infinitely small". While many of the arguments in Bishop Berkeley's 1734 The Analyst are theological in nature, modern mathematicians acknowledge the validity of his argument against "the Ghosts of departed Quantities"; however, the modern approaches do not have the same technical issues. Despite the lack of rigor, immense progress was made in the 17th and 18th centuries. In the 19th century, Cauchy and others gradually developed the Epsilon, delta approach to continuity, limits and derivatives, giving a solid conceptual foundation for calculus. In the 20th century, several new concepts in, e.g., multivariable calculus, differential geometry, seemed to encapsulate the intent of the old terms, especially differential; both differential and infinitesimal are used with new, more rigorous, meanings.

Differentials are also used in the notation for integrals because an integral can be regarded as an infinite sum of infinitesimal quantities: the area under a graph is obtained by subdividing the graph into infinitely thin strips and summing their areas. In an expression such as $$\int f(x) \,dx,$$ the integral sign (which is a modified long s) denotes the infinite sum, f(x) denotes the "height" of a thin strip, and the differential dx denotes its infinitely thin width.

Approaches
There are several approaches for making the notion of differentials mathematically precise.
 * 1) Differentials as linear maps. This approach underlies the definition of the derivative and the exterior derivative in differential geometry.
 * 2) Differentials as nilpotent elements of commutative rings. This approach is popular in algebraic geometry.
 * 3) Differentials in smooth models of set theory. This approach is known as synthetic differential geometry or smooth infinitesimal analysis and is closely related to the algebraic geometric approach, except that ideas from topos theory are used to hide the mechanisms by which nilpotent infinitesimals are introduced.
 * 4) Differentials as infinitesimals in hyperreal number systems, which are extensions of the real numbers that contain invertible infinitesimals and infinitely large numbers. This is the approach of nonstandard analysis pioneered by Abraham Robinson.

These approaches are very different from each other, but they have in common the idea of being quantitative, i.e., saying not just that a differential is infinitely small, but how small it is.

Differentials as linear maps
There is a simple way to make precise sense of differentials, first used on the Real line by regarding them as linear maps. It can be used on $$\mathbb{R}$$, $$\mathbb{R}^n$$, a Hilbert space, a Banach space, or more generally, a topological vector space. The case of the Real line is the easiest to explain. This type of differential is also known as a covariant vector or cotangent vector, depending on context.

Differentials as linear maps on R
Suppose $$f(x)$$ is a real-valued function on $$\mathbb{R}$$. We can reinterpret the variable $$x$$ in $$f(x)$$ as being a function rather than a number, namely the identity map on the real line, which takes a real number $$p$$ to itself: $$x(p)=p$$. Then $$f(x)$$ is the composite of $$f$$ with $$x$$, whose value at $$p$$ is $$f(x(p))=f(p)$$. The differential $$\operatorname{d}f$$ (which of course depends on $$f$$) is then a function whose value at $$p$$ (usually denoted $$df_p$$) is not a number, but a linear map from $$\mathbb{R}$$ to $$\mathbb{R}$$. Since a linear map from $$\mathbb{R}$$ to $$\mathbb{R}$$ is given by a $$1\times 1$$ matrix, it is essentially the same thing as a number, but the change in the point of view allows us to think of $$df_p$$ as an infinitesimal and compare it with the standard infinitesimal $$dx_p$$, which is again just the identity map from $$\mathbb{R}$$ to $$\mathbb{R}$$ (a $$1\times 1$$ matrix with entry $$1$$). The identity map has the property that if $$\varepsilon$$ is very small, then $$dx_p(\varepsilon)$$ is very small, which enables us to regard it as infinitesimal. The differential $$df_p$$ has the same property, because it is just a multiple of $$dx_p$$, and this multiple is the derivative $$f'(p)$$ by definition. We therefore obtain that $$df_p=f'(p)\,dx_p$$, and hence $$df=f'\,dx$$. Thus we recover the idea that $$f'$$ is the ratio of the differentials $$df$$ and $$dx$$.

This would just be a trick were it not for the fact that:
 * 1) it captures the idea of the derivative of $$f$$ at $$p$$ as the best linear approximation to $$f$$ at $$p$$;
 * 2) it has many generalizations.

Differentials as linear maps on Rn
If $$f$$ is a function from $$\mathbb{R}^n$$ to $$\mathbb{R}$$, then we say that $$f$$ is differentiable at $$p\in\mathbb{R}^n$$ if there is a linear map $$df_p$$ from $$\mathbb{R}^n$$ to $$\mathbb{R}$$ such that for any $$\varepsilon>0$$, there is a neighbourhood $$N$$ of $$p$$ such that for $$x\in N$$, $$\left|f(x) - f(p) - df_p(x-p)\right| < \varepsilon \left|x-p\right| .$$

We can now use the same trick as in the one-dimensional case and think of the expression $$f(x_1, x_2, \ldots, x_n)$$ as the composite of $$f$$ with the standard coordinates $$x_1, x_2, \ldots, x_n$$ on $$\mathbb{R}^n$$ (so that $$x_j(p)$$ is the $$j$$-th component of $$p\in\mathbb{R}^n$$). Then the differentials $$\left(dx_1\right)_p, \left(dx_2\right)_p, \ldots, \left(dx_n\right)_p$$ at a point $$p$$ form a basis for the vector space of linear maps from $$\mathbb{R}^n$$ to $$\mathbb{R}$$ and therefore, if $$f$$ is differentiable at $$p$$, we can write $$\operatorname{d}f_p$$ as a linear combination of these basis elements: $$df_p = \sum_{j=1}^n D_j f(p) \,(dx_j)_p.$$

The coefficients $$D_j f(p)$$ are (by definition) the partial derivatives of $$f$$ at $$p$$ with respect to $$x_1, x_2, \ldots, x_n$$. Hence, if $$f$$ is differentiable on all of $$\mathbb{R}^n$$, we can write, more concisely: $$\operatorname{d}f = \frac{\partial f}{\partial x_1} \,dx_1 + \frac{\partial f}{\partial x_2} \,dx_2 + \cdots +\frac{\partial f}{\partial x_n} \,dx_n.$$

In the one-dimensional case this becomes $$df = \frac{df}{dx}dx$$ as before.

This idea generalizes straightforwardly to functions from $$\mathbb{R}^n$$ to $$\mathbb{R}^m$$. Furthermore, it has the decisive advantage over other definitions of the derivative that it is invariant under changes of coordinates. This means that the same idea can be used to define the differential of smooth maps between smooth manifolds.

Aside: Note that the existence of all the partial derivatives of $$f(x)$$ at $$x$$ is a necessary condition for the existence of a differential at $$x$$. However it is not a sufficient condition. For counterexamples, see Gateaux derivative.

Differentials as linear maps on a vector space
The same procedure works on a vector space with a enough additional structure to reasonably talk about continuity. The most concrete case is a Hilbert space, also known as a complete inner product space, where the inner product and its associated norm define a suitable concept of distance. The same procedure works for a Banach space, also known as a complete Normed vector space. However, for a more general topological vector space, some of the details are more abstract because there is no concept of distance.

For the important case of a finite dimension, any inner product space is a Hilbert space, any normed vector space is a Banach space and any topological vector space is complete. As a result, you can define a coordinate system from an arbitrary basis and use the same technique as for $$\mathbb{R}^n$$.

Differentials as germs of functions
This approach works on any differentiable manifold. If then f is equivalent to g at p, denoted $$f \sim_p g$$, if and only if there is an open $$W \subseteq U \cap V$$ containing p such that $$f(x) = g(x)$$ for every x in W. The germ of f at p, denoted $$[f]_p$$, is the set of all real continuous functions equivalent to f at p; if f is smooth at p then $$[f]_p$$ is a smooth germ. If then This shows that the germs at p form an algebra.
 * 1) U and V are open sets containing p
 * 2) $$f\colon U\to \mathbb{R}$$ is continuous
 * 3) $$g\colon V\to \mathbb{R}$$ is continuous
 * 1) $$U_1$$, $$U_2$$ $$V_1$$ and $$V_2$$ are open sets containing p
 * 2) $$f_1\colon U_1\to \mathbb{R}$$, $$f_2\colon U_2\to \mathbb{R}$$, $$g_1\colon V_1\to \mathbb{R}$$ and $$g_2\colon V_2\to \mathbb{R}$$ are smooth functions
 * 3) $$f_1 \sim_p g_1$$
 * 4) $$f_2 \sim_p g_2$$
 * 5) r is a real number
 * 1) $$r*f_1 \sim_p r*g_1$$
 * 2) $$f_1+f_2\colon U_1 \cap U_2\to \mathbb{R} \sim_p g_1+g_2\colon V_1 \cap V_2\to \mathbb{R}$$
 * 3) $$f_1*f_2\colon U_1 \cap U_2\to \mathbb{R} \sim_p g_1*g_2\colon V_1 \cap V_2\to \mathbb{R}$$

Define $$\mathcal{I}_p$$ to be the set of all smooth germs vanishing at p and $$\mathcal{I}_p^2$$ to be the product of ideals $$\mathcal{I}_p \mathcal{I}_p$$. Then a differential at p (cotangent vector at p) is an element of $$\mathcal{I}_p/\mathcal{I}_p^2$$. The differential of a smooth function f at p, denoted $$\mathrm d f_p$$, is $$[f-f(p)]_p/\mathcal{I}_p^2$$.

A similar approach is to define differential equivalence of first order in terms of derivatives in an arbitrary coordinate patch. Then the differential of f at p is the set of all functions differentially equivalent to $$f-f(p)$$ at p.

Algebraic geometry
In algebraic geometry, differentials and other infinitesimal notions are handled in a very explicit way by accepting that the coordinate ring or structure sheaf of a space may contain nilpotent elements. The simplest example is the ring of dual numbers R[ε], where ε2 = 0.

This can be motivated by the algebro-geometric point of view on the derivative of a function f from R to R at a point p. For this, note first that f − f(p) belongs to the ideal Ip of functions on R which vanish at p. If the derivative f vanishes at p, then f − f(p) belongs to the square Ip2 of this ideal. Hence the derivative of f at p may be captured by the equivalence class [f − f(p)] in the quotient space Ip/Ip2, and the 1-jet of f (which encodes its value and its first derivative) is the equivalence class of f in the space of all functions modulo Ip2. Algebraic geometers regard this equivalence class as the restriction of f to a thickened version of the point p whose coordinate ring is not R (which is the quotient space of functions on R modulo Ip) but R[ε] which is the quotient space of functions on R modulo Ip2. Such a thickened point is a simple example of a scheme.

Algebraic geometry notions
Differentials are also important in algebraic geometry, and there are several important notions.
 * Abelian differentials usually mean differential one-forms on an algebraic curve or Riemann surface.
 * Quadratic differentials (which behave like "squares" of abelian differentials) are also important in the theory of Riemann surfaces.
 * Kähler differentials provide a general notion of differential in algebraic geometry.

Synthetic differential geometry
A fifth approach to infinitesimals is the method of synthetic differential geometry or smooth infinitesimal analysis. This is closely related to the algebraic-geometric approach, except that the infinitesimals are more implicit and intuitive. The main idea of this approach is to replace the category of sets with another category of smoothly varying sets which is a topos. In this category, one can define the real numbers, smooth functions, and so on, but the real numbers automatically contain nilpotent infinitesimals, so these do not need to be introduced by hand as in the algebraic geometric approach. However the logic in this new category is not identical to the familiar logic of the category of sets: in particular, the law of the excluded middle does not hold. This means that set-theoretic mathematical arguments only extend to smooth infinitesimal analysis if they are constructive (e.g., do not use proof by contradiction). Constuctivists regard this disadvantage as a positive thing, since it forces one to find constructive arguments wherever they are available.

Nonstandard analysis
The final approach to infinitesimals again involves extending the real numbers, but in a less drastic way. In the nonstandard analysis approach there are no nilpotent infinitesimals, only invertible ones, which may be viewed as the reciprocals of infinitely large numbers. Such extensions of the real numbers may be constructed explicitly using equivalence classes of sequences of real numbers, so that, for example, the sequence (1, 1/2, 1/3, ..., 1/n, ...) represents an infinitesimal. The first-order logic of this new set of hyperreal numbers is the same as the logic for the usual real numbers, but the completeness axiom (which involves second-order logic) does not hold. Nevertheless, this suffices to develop an elementary and quite intuitive approach to calculus using infinitesimals, see transfer principle.

Differential geometry
The notion of a differential motivates several concepts in differential geometry (and differential topology).
 * The differential (Pushforward) of a map between manifolds.
 * Differential forms provide a framework which accommodates multiplication and differentiation of differentials.
 * The exterior derivative is a notion of differentiation of differential forms which generalizes the differential of a function (which is a differential 1-form).
 * Pullback is, in particular, a geometric name for the chain rule for composing a map between manifolds with a differential form on the target manifold.
 * Covariant derivatives or differentials provide a general notion for differentiating of vector fields and tensor fields on a manifold, or, more generally, sections of a vector bundle: see Connection (vector bundle). This ultimately leads to the general concept of a connection.

Other meanings
The term differential has also been adopted in homological algebra and algebraic topology, because of the role the exterior derivative plays in de Rham cohomology: in a cochain complex $$(C_\bullet, d_\bullet),$$ the maps (or coboundary operators) di are often called differentials. Dually, the boundary operators in a chain complex are sometimes called codifferentials.

The properties of the differential also motivate the algebraic notions of a derivation and a differential algebra.

title: Differential (mathematics)


text:
Talk:Pan (god)

Reference to Pashupati
Pashupati does not appear to have horns and there is no resemblance to Pan whatsoever (see this image for example: http://redlotus.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Shiva-Pashupati.jpeg). Unless I'm missing something, I propose that the reference to Pashupati is removed from this section. --94.209.127.141 (talk) 10:09, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

Stupidity in it's best
Can/should this article mention Caesarea Phillipi, where I have heard there was a temple dedicated to Pan's worship which was visited by Christ at the time when he said "I will buld my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against her"  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.8.190.54 (talk) 15:35, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Removed folk etymology of "panophobia". The proper word is "Pantophobia", the fear of everything, and has nothing to do with the Greek god.JHCC 18:53, 24 May 2004 (UTC)

can anyone confirm the statement about panophobic/pantophobic? I ma doing a college research paper about Pan/Horned God and would like to know how i can confirm the etymology? Woudl appreciate any help, especially from the person who did the original post

 * You may find the connections to "pantophobia" are as tenuous as the connection between Pan and Horned God. Sounds like a Christian university. --Wetman 10:31, 23 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * Removed this new edit here: "Another theory about Pan's name is that it may be related to Panku, an ancient Chinese god, also horned, from whose body the Earth was created." Sure, and say! why not add "Some think there is a connection with "hanky-PANky" because the god was always fooling around with nymphs. Many see a possible reincarnation of Pan in SpongeBob SquarePANts.""

20050807 Just looking for Wiki input, should this photo be added? When posted on my defunct web page, I got two comments, both: "That's the best satyr COSTUME in the world!"

Proposed merge of "Panes"
All I know about the subject is what's at the current stub article, but what's there doesn't look like it warrants a merge - the only connection between Panes and Pan is that they look very similar. Are there any other connections between the two? Bryan 17:05, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

 * Panes was a redirect.I redirected it here, with the added notation "Pan could be multiplied as the Panes --Wetman 22:30, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

 * Whoops. It was a redirect because this morning I moved Panes to Pane (mythology), and neglected to update the merge notice. I'm reverting your edit since it doesn't make sense to me to pluralize the name of a singular god, and the issue of the Panes as a "species" still remains. Bryan 00:59, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

The cult of Pan was a serious Religious phenomenon
It may be fashionable to be dismissive about the God Pan - but there is plenty of evidence to support the idea that He was far more than a naughty God of Shepherds. Macrobius, for example in his "Saturnalia" describes Pan as an important "solar" diety who comprises the light of the sun, everything that the sun shines on, and the sun itself. Then there is this prayer from Plato's "Phaedrus": "O beloved Pan, and all ye other Gods, who are residents of this place, grant that I may become beautiful within, and that whatever I possess externally may be friendly to my inward attainments!  Grant, also, that I may consider the wise man as one who abounds in wealth; and that I may enjoy that portion of gold, which no other than a prudent man is able either to bear, or properly manage!" A thorough treatment of the cult of Pan as a serious Religious phenomenon can be found in Philippe Borgeaud's "The Cult of Pan in Ancient Greece". User:Durruti36 Tue Jul 11 10:53:35 EDT 2006

 * Pan was indeed very important, but waning by the time of classical Greek culture. Although I take issue with him being considered 'solar' - he is clearly an earth spirit. --Kelt65 (talk) 16:13, 4 February 2009 (UTC)

Source still needed
The following assertion is unusual enough to require a source in a classical text: " He is also credited with teaching masturbation to mankind. Having learned it from his father, Hermes, who was its inventor, he then proceded to teach it to his beloved shepherds, to relieve their erotic longings." --Wetman 20:33, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

 * Check this out: http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1000251,00.html . Unfortunately they cite no primary sources - not that we need one here but it would be nice to know. Haiduc 20:41, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

 * What? The source then is Thierry Paquot, The Art of the Siesta? —where one may also be informed that "There are deep yellow siestas, when it is hot and you are enveloped in sweat. There are red siestas: violent and incendiary. There are white siestas: virginal, pure and light." Paquot's light-hearted personal essay could not possibly provide a text, for none such exists. Let's leave this text here at Talk, then, where every passerby may read it... in hopes that one day we may return it to the article with some responsible link to the classical world. --Wetman 02:52, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

 * Not so quick! See Planned Parenthood, "the god Hermes taught his son Pan how to masturbate to relieve himself of the misery he felt when he was spurned by the nymph, Echo. Pan learned the lesson well, overcame his grief, and taught the trick to human shepherds," and Krippner who claims that "Romans gave Hermes the name of Mercury, and both traditions considered him to have invented masturbation," and Paquot is not to be easily dismissed. I am also puzzled about the source but too many serious players are making reference to this. To my mind we have enough to go on.
 * PS Late discovery - look at this: "but I must caution that Pan is also believed to have invented masturbation: Dio Chrys. Or. 6.20." So, Dio Chrysostom's Discourses. Haiduc 03:44, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

 * Well, now you've got something... and not Planned Parenthood, much as one admires them. Dio Chrysostom, Discourses, vi.20. Just report that Dio Chrysostom said it, and give the reference, and you're good to go! I was wrong in my doubts, but look! a much better reference! --Wetman 04:42, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

 * Actually I would like to dig a bit deeper - I am not happy with the inconsistency of the sources,  with Barchiesi claiming Pan invented it, instead of Hermes. If you do not have access to the Dio Chrysostom, I'll have to look for it. Haiduc 11:15, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

Categorization
Should this article be moved from Category:Sexuality in the classical world to its new subcat Category:Ancient Greek eros? —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 00:07, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

The last sentence in the following paragraph is unclear:

Once Pan had the audacity to compare his music with that of Apollo, and to challenge Apollo, the god of the lyre, to a trial of skill. Tmolus, the mountain-god, was chosen to umpire. Pan blew on his pipes, and with his rustic melody gave great satisfaction to himself and his faithful follower, Midas, who happened to be present. Then Apollo struck the strings of his lyre. Tmolus at once awarded the victory to Apollo, and all but Midas agreed with the judgment. He dissented, and questioned the justice of the award. Apollo would not suffer such a depraved pair of ears any longer, and caused them to become the ears of a donkey.

Should be changed to make it clear who's ears are being referred to.

 * Sounds pretty clear to me that Midas' ears are the ears in question, but I could just have a different way of processing paragraphs than most people. Anyone have a third opinion? Aeonoris (talk) 08:59, 3 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I can't see how it could possibly be interpreted as anyone other than Midas' ears. I don't see the paragraph as unclear, in fact. Fuzzypeg★ 23:22, 3 September 2008 (UTC)

Vandalism
Why is there continued vandalism on this entry? Symkyn 06:59, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

An unhelpful "See also" poster
"Boujeloud is a CD by the Moroccan Sufi trance musicians Master Musicians of Joujouka." The Wikipedia article Boujeloud is essentially a flyer for this CD. A purported connection to Pan (mythology), insisted upon by User:Opiumjones 23? too slender to be a "See also" link here: it's simply a poster advertising the CD. Wikipedia is a reader service: a link to a CD from the article on this mythological figure doesn't aid any reader. --Wetman (talk) 11:09, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Satan
"It is likely that the demonized images of the incubus and even the horns and cloven hooves of Satan, as depicted in much medieval and post-medieval Christian literature and art, were taken from the images of Pan."

It may seem intuitive that this be the case, but Pan was hardly the only mythological figure with horns and/or hooved feet. This really needs a source.141.154.48.254 (talk) 03:55, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

Rustic Music?
The introduction mentions that Pan is also the god of "rustic music". What is rustic music? I find no reference to it on the web. --Coching (talk) 05:01, 7 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Rural music, pastoral music, peasant music etc. There's also a song called "Rustic Raver" by Squarepusher. ;) —85.178.95.4 (talk) 17:43, 6 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Link now added. —85.178.95.4 (talk) 17:46, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

The term might be linked to Ovid (XI: 161-163), who uses terms which may be translated as "rustic" in regard to Pan's flute (calamis agrestibus) and music (barbaricoque [...] carmine) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 200.9.69.254 (talk) 18:27, 20 October 2021 (UTC)

Ovid did not substitute Pan for Marsyas
Hi folks, I just wanted to note that, contrary to what is said in the Music section, it is false that Ovid substituted Pan for Marsyas in depicting a musical duel between Apollon and someone else.

Granted, the duel between Marsyas and Apollon is not actually narrated by Ovid, but it is mentioned explicitly, and the punishment by flailing is duly described (VI: 382-400).

The duel between Apollon and Pan is indeed the one to which Ovid dedicates a longer description (XI: 146-194), but there is no punishment directly ascribed to Pan; in my view it wouldn't even make sense, since apparently Pan is superior to [or at least older than] Apollon and might even have trained the latter. Moreover, Pan is allegedly also immortal, and so the flailing wouldn't have lead to his death (as was the case with Marsyas).

The one punished in the Pan-Apollon duel is actually Midas, who gets donkey ears for refusing to recognize the (putative) superiority of the music of Artemis' brother.

Restored original text
''A common superstition in the Middle Ages was that goats whispered lewd sentences in the ears of the saints. The origin of this belief was probably the behavior of the buck in rut, the very epitome of lust. The common medieval depiction of the Devil was that of a goat-like face with horns and small beard (a goatee). The Black Mass, a probably-mythological "Satanic mass," was said to involve a black goat, the form in which Satan supposedly manifested himself for worship.''

Moved this replacement for the better sourced text here, restoring the former text. Nothing re: "goat whisper Saint" could be detected at JSTOR. Anything in the above to return to the article?--Wetman (talk) 21:26, 5 November 2010 (UTC)

"all the pans"?
In the section named 'All the Pans', there's material that was inserted long ago by RammsteinViking in this diff. Is there a source for this? Dionysus battled the Indians? I'm not a greek scholar by any means, but I wasn't aware there was significant contact between Greece and India. Thanks for any insight you can provide. Syrthiss (talk) 13:37, 10 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Didn't know this myself, but it's true. Overview and sources at theoi.com: http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/PanesPaneides.html —91.64.51.196 (talk) 15:11, 12 January 2011 (UTC)

Pan
I suggest addition of the following image to the article: 'Young satyr making love to a herm of the god Pan' Bas-relief on a marble sarcophagus from late 2nd century CE. Originally part of the Farnese collection, now in the Archeological Museum, Naples." http://www.gay-art-history.org/gay-history/gay-art/gay-rome-art/imgSuper/bacchanalia.jpg Israell (talk) 09:54, 16 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Go on then. Rainbow Shifter (talk) 18:38, 8 February 2013 (UTC)

"Panic"?
...means fear with hysteria. No sane connection to the god Pan. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.147.120.224 (talk) 16:40, 8 April 2016 (UTC)
 * The English word panic is from the Greek πανικός, meaning "of or pertaining to Pan". It was believed that Pan was the source of the sudden, unreasoning fear that sometimes gripped people or animals.  So yes, there's a direct connection.  P Aculeius (talk) 21:00, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

God of War
Pan is the God of the Wilds and of war, he's a stratiton, the wilds require a great deal of knowledge of war and planning, please stop removing this edit. 71.89.245.71 (talk) 05:25, 28 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Please provide reliable sources for the edit. -- ‖ Ebyabe talk - Repel All Boarders  ‖ 17:10, 28 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Although it is true that Herodotus reports a widespread rumor claiming that Pan aided the Athenians in the Battle of Marathon, Pan was not principally a war god and to call him the "god of war" is not an accurate statement. --Katolophyromai (talk) 20:07, 28 August 2017 (UTC)

God of theatrical criticism
Is Pan indeed the god of theatrical criticism?

I cannot find anything on the web about it, or in any other sources. I could not find it in the cited source here, either: Alfred Wagner, Das historische Drama der Griechen, Münster 1878, p. 78. https://archive.org/details/dashistorisched00wagngoog/page/n82

Is this the correct page number? Year 78 and page 78 suggest that something was confused.

With Pan being the God of pure natural instinct, loving rustic music, sex and easily panicked, I find it also a bit out of character for him to be a theatre critic – something much more in the realms of Dionysus and Apollo. Note that Pan is often confused with the Satyrs, who accompanied Dionysus, and who were central to Greek theatre. They had an entire Satyr play, as addition to the trilogy of tragedies, often commenting on the trilogy to lighten up the mood. Is this confusion what is happening here? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2604:2000:1280:C50F:AC6E:6A80:AE71:D655 (talk) 18:51, 11 January 2020 (UTC)

 * I suspect you're right, but unfortunately I can't understand Greek or German at all, and my Latin is woefully deficient. Google Translate does a credible job on German, but not so much on Latin or Greek.  The copy on Archive.org appears to have half the text missing from the page cited.  This copy on Google Books is intact.  It's definitely saying something about drama, but I can't make out what it is.  I don't see where Pan is mentioned, but I could easily have missed it.  The statement was added to the article by an IP editor on June 3, 2009, and that IP has no other edits to Wikipedia.  Could someone who can make sense of the text verify whether or not it supports the statement?  Perhaps it says it, perhaps not, and maybe it's relevant to the article, but the statement about it needs to be rewritten.  P Aculeius (talk) 19:29, 11 January 2020 (UTC)

 * I cannot get you a source right now, but in Athens he was indeed invoked as a god of theatrical criticism. (Or so I've heard from someone who tends to do their research.) The history behind it is somewhat complicated, and yes it was indeed out of character. Then again,I might not be remembering that correctly, or read that on this wiki and assigned it to them instead. If I'm wrong, I'll just cross this out. 216.56.145.37 (talk) 17:20, 3 February 2020 (UTC)
 * side note, my IP seems to keep changing, so I may get an account soon to keep my talk posts straight — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.56.145.37 (talk) 17:22, 3 February 2020 (UTC)

I deleted the comment on theatrical criticism a while ago. There was no mention of Pan from the original citation. Someone has changed it back since then and has added two new sources. I was able to verify one of them but it was hardly a primary source and since this was added well over a decade ago, it could be a feedback loop. I would like to think that Cambridge Press would be above that but it can’t be assumed. I’m not changing it again but I don’t trust the information and I’m putting that out there for anyone that might want to look into it. Vitleysa (talk) 22:40, 12 January 2021 (UTC)

 * I'm calling it bogus. The citation names three sources: Minchev, which is too new to be searchable on Google Books, but the citation seems to be claiming that it's cited by Braund et al., which it doesn't appear to be.  That book says, "Pan was also considered a patron of theatrical criticism and impromptus," citing Seyffert, not Minchev (although Minchev is cited for other things on the same page).  So Minchev is irrelevant to this claim.  A check of Seyffert, however, fails to justify the statement in Braund et al.  Here's the English version of "Pan", and here's the German original.  I may have missed something, but I don't see anything remotely connected to "theatrical criticism and impromptus" in the article that's cited for the claim, in the only source that appears to make it.

 * So, if the source cited by Braund et al. doesn't support the claim, what do we have? Poor research?  Erroneous citation?  Wishful thinking?  An academic mountweasel?  I could have seen Pan connected with the theatre, but why theatrical criticism in particular?  It's a bit like having a patron god of encyclopedia salesmen or frequent flyer miles.  Sure, we could figure out which god would naturally be assumed as a patron—but in the absence of evidence that the Greeks had a patron god for something, it's just a modern inference.  And if classical encyclopedias don't bother mentioning this unexpected connection, does Pan's Wikipedia article suffer if it's omitted due to reasonable doubts about where the claim comes from?  Given how improbable it sounds, I think we need some statement in support of it from a Greek or Roman author.  P Aculeius (talk) 00:16, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

Pan "had sex with" Selene
How should we describe Pan's relationship with Selene? I've suggested that we describe as an "affair" (Gantz, p. 36, and Kerenyi, p. 175, and Grimal, s.v. Selene, all call it an "affair", with Grimal saying Selene was famous for such "affairs"). But "affair" was objected to (by ) as implying an ongoing relationship. I don't think it necessarily does imply that, and there is no reason to believe that this relationship wasn't necessarily ongoing. Simply saying Pan "had sex with" her (the current wording)—although better than the previous, in my opinion too-clinical, "had sexual intercourse" with—completely fails to capture the romantic nature of the relationship. Paul August ☎ 15:33, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

 * I agree that most of these phrasings are jarring and ridiculous. I understand the complaint about describing Selene as Pan's "greatest conquest", but so far none of the alternatives proposed are any improvement, and all of them sound awful.  We're dealing with the mythical past and affairs—so to speak—of the gods.  But we don't normally speak of the gods having "affairs" (20th century slang).  I find "tryst" only slightly less bothersome—the word is old, but I think as a euphemism for sex it's also rather modern.  "Had sex with" sounds like something teenagers say (before picking up Anglo-Saxon words), and "had sexual intercourse" is, as Paul August suggests, "clinical"—perhaps "legalistic" as well.

 * At this stage I would prefer reverting to the previous wording, or perhaps Neby's objected-to "lay with"—but maybe there's a way to reword the passage to avoid the awkwardness of trying to render the mythical past using contemporary phrases. The description of a "conquest" is dated and potentially sexist by today's standards—but at least it suggests that there might be an alternative to finding a description or euphemism—for "sex" as an active verb.  There may be no particularly good way to do that in English, but maybe there's a less direct way of achieving the same result.  P Aculeius (talk) 16:00, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

 * I've been mulling alternatives too. Part of the problem is that many translations bring their own baggage and reticence; the 1900 Greenough translation of Virgil at Tufts has "snared and beguiled" for "captam te, Luna, fefellit", though fefellit's very root gives us "false" (see Lewis & Short "deceive, trick, dupe, cheat, disappoint") – and that's Virgil's comfortable version, in which Pan's described as offering a gift of wool rather than disguising himself. The previous version's "greatest conquest" isn't supported by Virgil, Servius or Hard, and I don't know what the scoring system might be (rank? beauty? difficulty?). It's in Graves, but might be his own narrative flourish. "Affair" might encompass "one-night stand" to some readers, but won't to many others (see our own Affair), and we don't have any sources for a longer relationship, let alone - particularly if Selene thought she was having sex with a sheep - a romantic one. Pan is a god of lust, not romance.
 * One alternative that might suffice and incidentally removes some current repetition, is
 * There was a legend that Pan seduced the moon goddess Selene, in one account (by Virgil) with the gift of a sheep's white fleece, and in another (by Servius, ascribed to the Greek poet Nicander) by wrapping himself in a fleece to disguise himself as a sheep.
 * Ah, I like that, elegantly done. P Aculeius (talk) 17:24, 28 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Yes, I like that. Paul August ☎ 17:55, 28 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Oh good! I've made the change. Thanks, both. NebY (talk) 18:07, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

 * By the way I suspect that the "greatest conquest" language comes by way of a rewording of Kerenyi, p. 175, which says: Pan's greatest passion was for Selene." If one thinks of Pan as something of a "lady-killer" then describing his affairs as "conquests" has some merit, in which case Selene would certainly seem to qualify as one of his "greatest". Paul August ☎ 18:22, 28 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Oh dear, now I'm wondering where Kerenyi got that from or if it's what our Károly Kerényi aricle calls "Psychological expansion". I haven't read any of his work; do you recommend him? NebY (talk) 18:35, 28 September 2021 (UTC)
 * I would describe Kerényi's two books, Gods of the Greeks and Heroes of the Greek's as useful but idosyncratic. Robin Hard, somewhat diplomatically perhaps, describes these two works as "works of strong individual character founded on an exhaustive knowledge of ancient sources". Paul August ☎ 19:55, 28 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Ah. Hard's description does seem admirably diplomatic. Maybe I won't seek those out. Thank you. NebY (talk) 20:19, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

 * I'm uncomfortable with the sharp distinction I made between Virgil and Nicander. Virgil's phrasing (roughly, "captured and deceived with the gift of a fleece") isn't captured well by "seduced ... with the gift", and after seeing Servius's gloss it's hard not to consider that Virgil's "gift" was a sly or ironic reference to the earlier raw pastoral myth Nicander mentions. I hope "There was a legend that Pan seduced the moon goddess Selene, deceiving her with a sheep's fleece" captures both versions without being too specific; I've slightly expanded the notes in the reference to suit. NebY (talk) 14:33, 19 October 2021 (UTC)

All of the pans
Hello all,

I noticed a distinct lack of citations in the category "all of the pans," how would I mark that?

Cahmad25 (talk) 15:03, 14 October 2021 (UTC)

 * I used Template:Unreferenced section. See the template documentation for more information about how it works, and how to use it in situations like this.  If you can find suitable sources, feel free to remove the template.  P Aculeius (talk) 16:22, 14 October 2021 (UTC)

 * On second thought, changed to Template:More citations needed section, since Nonnus is a perfectly good source for the first paragraph. Not all citations need ref tags; here it's attributed to Nonnus in the text.  The other statements in the section are probably correct, but ought to have a source.  I bet there's some useful material (and primary source citations) under Pan's entry in the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.  P Aculeius (talk) 16:31, 14 October 2021 (UTC)

"Identification with Satan" section
Some or most of this seems weak, uninformed, poorly sourced and a stretch. "Time to pay the piper" might as easily have come from the fairy tale The Pied Piper of Hamelin, wherein they refused to pay the piper for ridding the city of rats, to their woe; or, a similar permutation goes, "if you want to dance, you have to pay the band," which is not explicitly about pipers, but merely a truism. Furthermore, a glance at a dictionary tells the etymology of the word "pandemonium," a combination of "pan" and "demon," where "pan" is Greek for "all," which I take to be a mere homonymic coincidence -- nothing to do with the mythological Pan, whose name was actually a contraction of "paon" or "pasturer." Thus, "pandemonium" meant "abode of all demons," to which we converted it for use as "all hell breaking loose." To iterate, it is merely a prefix, the same as in words like pandemic or panoply or panacea ("cure-all"). Another point made was that traditional depictions of the devil show a beast-like, horned form. Nothing singular or surprising about such a depiction, given religious histories and patterns going back millennia. Lastly, Aleister Crowley is not a scholarly source: he was obsessed with the occult and seemed wont to equate everything including the kitchen sink to satanism. I am aware that some of my objections are presented more strongly than others.MacheathWasABadBadMan (talk) 03:45, 16 November 2021 (UTC)

 * I agree that some of this short section appears to be irrelevant or patent nonsense. I've deleted the opening part about Jerome—if he was referring to a human king, then what he said wasn't relevant to the identification of Pan with the Devil—and the Jews not identifying the serpent in Eden with the Devil; there's no clear relevance to Pan.  You're also correct in that "time to pay the piper" seems unlikely to be related to Pan; if it could be so related, a source ought to be found.  And of course while "pandemonium" in the metaphorical sense seems logically related to Pan, etymologically and as a proper noun it refers to "the abode of all demons", and not to Pan.  Perhaps the writer was thinking of "panic", which is supposed to be derived from Pan's name.  You're welcome to add something to the article about the etymology of "Pan", but it should have a reliable source.  Crowley is, as you say, not really a "scholarly source", but as his writing was quite well-known and influential, the fact that he noted similarities in depictions of Pan and the Devil has some relevance.  I've reworded that to make it sound less like the novel discovery of an expert in mythology.  P Aculeius (talk) 04:10, 16 November 2021 (UTC)

Image of bestiality needs removing - not suitable for children!
Can someone please remove the image of Pan having sex with a goat. Wikipedia is accessed by children. Even as an adult I did not want to see that. 109.150.40.85 (talk) 20:54, 24 September 2023 (UTC)

 * I agree that it's not a particularly nice or pleasant statue by modern standards—and it might not be the best choice to illustrate the article, but if so then it's not because it's "not suitable for children". Wikipedia isn't censored, and chooses images based on their suitability to illustrate relevant themes in an article.  Pan is certainly associated with bestiality in some traditions, even if that's not what he's mainly associated with in Greek mythology, or in modern times.  The image might be appropriate to illustrate that, in which case it can't be removed just because children might be exposed to it or adults might not like it.  Whether it gives undue attention to a minor point, or is a poor or unnecessary means of illustrating it, can certainly be debated here.  But it shouldn't be removed solely because some people find it offensive, or worry that it'll harm children (and it probably won't—you don't protect children by pretending that sex or distasteful things don't exist, or trying to shield them from ever finding out about them; and attempting to do so does a disservice to readers looking for honest and uncensored information).  P Aculeius (talk) 17:50, 25 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Modern standards vary so much (cf the Florida row over David). You used to need the King Of Naples' permission to see Pan and the Goat, now it travels the world and has been featured by such as the Telegraph, TLS and BBC, and in the British Museum's book of their 2013 Pompeii exhibition at which it was not hidden away. NebY (talk) 18:46, 25 September 2023 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: HUM 202 - Introduction to Mythology
— Assignment last updated by Mythgirlie23 (talk) 03:51, 12 October 2023 (UTC)

Another source
Here's another recent source: Robichaud, Paul, Pan: The Great God's Modern Return (2021) ISBN 978-1789144765.  Esowteric +  Talk  +  Breadcrumbs   09:18, 22 December 2023 (UTC)

 * Might help if you indicated precisely what it's a source for. It's an extensive article with lots of sources, ancient and modern, so general sources aren't really needed.  If it says something about a specific fact or set of facts that aren't already adequately covered or cited, feel free to cite this in the article itself.  P Aculeius (talk) 11:08, 22 December 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Pan (god)


text:
Foot roasting

Foot roasting is a method of torture used since ancient times.

Ancient Rome
The Romans immobilized the prisoner and pressed red-hot iron plates to the soles of his feet. The Spanish Inquisition bound the prisoner face-upward to the rack with his bare feet secured in a stocks. The soles of the feet were basted with lard or oil and slowly barbecued over a brazier of burning coals. A screen could be interposed between the feet and the coals to modulate the exposure, while a bellows controlled the intensity of the flame. A version that consisted of a chair with an integrated foot stocks was referred to as the Spanish chair, but this is readily confused with the Iron chair. By way of contrast, in the Brittany chair, the coals were held in a movable iron tray which could be cranked upward until it actually made contact with the feet. Added diversions included placing slivers of hot coals between the toes, or suspending the prisoner head-downward and placing hot coals directly on the soles. The destruction of the Order of the Knights Templars is credited largely to foot roasting, which was committed with savagery sufficient to, literally, drive the sufferers to insanity; Knights also had their toes denailed.

Brittany
In Brittany, a torture chair was used that immobilized the feet and provided a movable tray of coals that could be cranked up and down, eventually making physical contact with the soles of the feet.

Star kicking
A form of torture called "star kicking" supposedly began with Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who derived sadistic pleasure from placing oiled bits of paper or string between her prisoners’ toes and lighting the material on fire, inflicting savage burns.

title: Foot roasting


text:
Tashigang, Himachal Pradesh

Tashigang is a village near an ancient monastery in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India, at a staggering altitude of 15,256 feet above msl. It is a settlement in Kinnaur and is located in the Sutlej river valley near the India-Tibet border. National Highway 5 connects Khab with state capital Shimla. Below Tashigangis flows the Sutlej river, which originates from Mansarovar Lake in Tibet. The villages of Nako and Khab are nearby. Current Tashigang is controlled by India but claimed by Zanda County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet, China. You can go to the mountain Gang Chua via here through a pass.

Claims
According to some maps, the territory is disputed between India and China, while in others it is not.

Transportation
Tashigang can be reached by foot from Nako and Khab.

title: Tashigang, Himachal Pradesh


text:
Later Qin

Qin, known in historiography as the Later Qin (384–417) or Yao Qin (姚秦), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Yao clan of Qiang ethnicity during the Sixteen Kingdoms period in northern China. The Later Qin is entirely distinct from the Qin dynasty, the Former Qin and the Western Qin.

Its second ruler, Yao Xing, supported the propagation of Buddhism by the Madhyamakin monk Kumārajīva.

All rulers of the Later Qin declared themselves emperors, but for a substantial part of Yao Xing's reign, he used the title Heavenly King.

Background
The Yao clan was from Nan’an Commandery (南安郡; southeast of present-day Longxi County, Gansu) and claimed descent from the Shaodang Qiang. Yao Yizhong was chieftain under the Western Jin dynasty, and during the Disaster of Yongjia, he occupied Yumei (榆眉; east of present-day Qianyang County, Shaanxi) and welcomed many refugees under his wing. He later submitted to the Han-Zhao dynasty, and then the Later Zhao dynasty, where he associated himself with the commander, Shi Hu. After Shi Hu seized the government in 333, he followed Yizhong's advice of relocating the powerful Di and Qiang families in the Guanzhong to live around the capital, Xiangguo (襄國, in modern Xingtai, Hebei). Yizhong and his family were relocated to Shetou (灄頭; southeast of present-day Zaoqiang County, Hebei).

Although Yizhong was one of Shi Hu's most trusted officials, he and many other military generals colluded to overthrow his successor, Shi Shi after his death in 349. As Later Zhao descended into civil war, Yizhong tried to return west to the Guanzhong with his army, but was defeated by the Di general, Fu Hong, whose family founded the Former Qin dynasty in 351. Thus, Yizhong remained behind to aid the last emperor, Shi Zhi, in his war against Ran Min.

After Shi Zhi's death in 351, Yizhong advised his sons to move south to join the Eastern Jin dynasty. His son, Yao Xiang succeeded him in 352 and fulfilled his promise. He partook in the early Jin northern expeditions as a general, but due to suspicion from his superior, Yin Hao, he later rebelled in 354. He led his army through northern China in hopes of returning to his ancestral home in Longxi, fighting against Former Qin and Jin forces along the way. However, in 357, he was killed in an ambush by Former Qin forces, prompting his brother, Yao Chang to surrender with their army.

Yao Chang became a general during the reign of Fu Jian and participated in various campaigns, but was not present at the disastrous Battle of Fei River in 383. After the battle, two branches of the Murong-Xianbei rebelled, forming the Later Yan in northeastern China and the Western Yan near Former Qin's capital, Chang'an in 384. Yao Chang initially aided Fu Jian against the Western Yan, but during the course of the war, he feared punishment following a serious defeat and fled to the horse pastures north of the Wei River.

Reign of Yao Chang
At the same time, many of the local Han Chinese and tribal gentry clans had lost faith in the Former Qin and saw Yao Chang as a suitable successor. They gathered thousands of Qiang families and led them to join him. After some hesitation, he agreed to lead their coalition, taking the title of Everlasting King of Qin and proclaiming a new reign era in 384. To distinguish between the two states, historiographers refer to the Fu clan's state as Former Qin and Yao Chang's state as Later Qin.

Initially, Yao Chang avoided going straight for Chang’an, which was hotly contested between Fu Jian and Western Yan forces. He submitted to the stronger Western Yan, and after several battles with Former Qin forces, he ambushed and captured Fu Jian, who left Chang'an with his army in search of food. Yao Chang tried to force Fu Jian into formally abdicating the throne to him, but after he refused, had him killed instead. Chang’an eventually fell to Western Yan forces, who soon left to return to their homeland in the east. In 386, Yao Chang occupied the city, where he elevated himself to Emperor of (Later) Qin.

Despite Fu Jian’s death, there were still pockets of Former Qin and semi-independent forces in the Guanzhong region. A distant cousin of Fu Jian, Fu Deng, was acclaimed the new Emperor of (Former) Qin and waged war against Yao Chang. Yao Chang lost several battles to Fu Deng early on, but brought the conflict to a stalemate with a crucial victory at the Battle of Dajie in 389. From this point on, Fu Deng was unable to launch a major campaign, and Yao Chang soon gained the advantage by subjugating local warlords.

Early reign of Yao Xing and zenith of Later Qin
In 394, Yao Chang died and was succeeded by his son, Yao Xing. Hearing news of Yao Chang's death, Fu Deng led his army to attack Later Qin. At the Battle of Feiqiao, Later Qin won a decisive victory by crushing the main Former Qin force. No longer posing a threat, Yao Xing soon captured and executed Fu Deng, while the last ruler of Former Qin was killed in battle by Western Qin forces in 394. Yao Xing thus unified the Guanzhong, establishing Later Qin as a regional power. While he initially inherited his father's title of Emperor, he changed it to Heavenly King in 399.

Under Yao Xing, the Later Qin greatly expanded their borders, occupying areas in the Ordos, Longxi and Hedong regions. Most notably, in 399, they capitalized on Eastern Jin’s internal turmoil to capture Luoyang and several commanderies north of the Han and Huai rivers. In 400, they conquered Western Qin, and in 401, they forced the Later Liang into submission after besieging their capital. Fearing Later Qin’s presence, the other Hexi states, Southern Liang, Northern Liang and Western Liang, followed suit. Despite success in the west, Yao Xing was dissuaded from expanding east after a heavy defeat to the Northern Wei at the Battle of Chaibi in 402. The Later Liang surrendered their territory in 403, and in 405, Chouchi also submitted, bringing Later Qin to its peak.

Yao Xing upheld Confucianism by inviting famous Confucian scholars to teach in Chang'an and allowing easy access to the capital for aspiring students. At the same time, he was also an avid believer in Buddhism and heavily promoted the religion in his state. In 401, he welcomed the Kuchean monk, Kumarajiva to his court, where he was highly honoured and became one of the most important translators of Sanskrit Buddhist texts into Chinese. It was also under the Later Qin in 399 when the monk Faxian departed from Chang'an for India to acquire Buddhist texts. Yao Xing built various temples and pagodas, with construction of the Maijishan Grottoes beginning under his reign, and records claim that around nine-tenths of the population in Later Qin practiced Buddhism.

Decline and fall
Upon reaching its peak, the Later Qin quickly declined due to pressure from its own vassals and the Eastern Jin. Yao Xing ceded twelves commaderies around the Han river at the request of Jin's paramount authority, Liu Yu, in exchange for peace, while giving up his holdings in the Hexi to the Southern Liang. In 407, he received Southern Yan and Western Shu's submissions, but lost Chouchi's allegicance to Jin. Worst of all, however, was the rebellion of the Xiongnu general, Helian Bobo, in the Ordos. Bobo established the Helian Xia, and for many years, led a war against Later Qin that drained their resources and killed many key generals. In 409, the Western Qin was revived in the Longxi, further reducing Later Qin's territory.

When Liu Yu led an expedition to conquer Southern Yan in 409, Yao Xing was powerless to stop him, leading to Southern Yan's demise in 410. He responded with an invasion of Jing province in conjunction with Western Shu and the Jin rebel, Lu Xun, but was defeated. Both Western Shu and Lu Xun were later vanquished by Jin, and Later Qin entered itself into a marriage alliance with the Northern Wei to protect itself.

Internally, Yao Xing also laid the seeds for a succession crisis. He appointed his eldest son, Yao Hong as Crown Prince, but only after much hesitation. He showed more favour to his other son, Yao Bi, who he gave military power and assigned to guard the borders while Yao Hong oversaw matters in Chang'an. Yao Bi attempted to take the throne on three occasions, all which ended in failure. He was forgiven after the first two attempts and was finally forced to commit suicide after the third in 416. However, Yao Hong still had other younger brothers and cousins who held military command and ambitions to seize power.

After Yao Xing died in 416, Yao Hong was immediately met with rebellions by his dukes. There were also revolts by the Xiongnu and Qiang tribes, and the Helian Xia, Chouchi and Western Qin all took the chance to attack Later Qin. To deal with the threats, Yao Hong entrusted military affairs to his great-uncle, Yao Shao who had much initial success, but the chaos soon caught the attention of Liu Yu. He began an expedition to conquer Later Qin, and by late 417, Yao Shao had died while Jin forces entered the Guanzhong and reached Chang'an. In the end, Yao Hong surrendered and was sent to the Jin capital, Jiankang, where he was executed. Members of the Yao clan who surrendered to Jin were exterminated, while the others who fled to Northern Wei survived.

title: Later Qin