[mentioned in passing] Researcher who established statistical facts about geniuses as cited by Hartley Baldwin.
Hartley M. Baldwin
Physicist who developed the Nova Effect while attempting to prove it wouldn't work. He headed a secret organization of New Men whose purpose was to influence the progress of society. One of his aliases was Gregory Baldwin, a helicopter dealer.
Secret agent sent to the Moon to retrieve tapes describing the Nova Effect. He was taken prisoner by Mrs. Keithley after mailing the tapes to prevent their capture, and was rescued by Hartley Baldwin. His agency's head held him responsible for the mission's failure although he was given no support for it; he resigned and joined Baldwin's New Men, eventually being assigned to stop Mrs. Keithley's coup attempt using the Nova Effect. He died disarming the weapon, and a memorial was erected to him and his wife on the Moon. He used the name Joe Greene among the New Men, and also the aliases Joel Abner (a commercial traveler), Joseph Gilead (explorer, lecturer, and writer), and Jack Gillespie (loader and driver-helper on a diesel freighter).
Raymond Calhoun
Name to which Joe Briggs addressed the mailing tubes containing the Nova Effect tapes.
Carruthers (no first name)
Agent that Bonn ordered to search for the film that Joe Briggs had mailed.
Joe Briggs' teacher in New Men thinking methods and language. She joined him in thwarting Mrs. Keithley's blackmail scheme, and was killed stopping the Nova Effect. Her original surname is not given; since she and Joe "married" each other in their last minutes of life, she is known by the surname that he used in Hartley Baldwin's organization.
Name that Joe Briggs used in Hartley Baldwin's organization; this name is listed on the monument to him and his wife Gail Greene at the site where they died stopping the Nova Effect.
Wealthy widow who had a reputation for benevolence, but who used her influence to acquire plans for the Nova Effect. She intended to blackmail Earth to give her total control of the government. Hartley Baldwin mobilized his organization against her.
Genetically superior humans, whose main feature was advanced intellectual ability. Hartley Baldwin believed that once they consciously interbred they were destined to be the next step in human evolution, and organized those whom he identified as New Men into a society devoted to keeping the race from extinction through its own violence.
Apparently a method of effecting total mass conversion to energy; the target is turned into a "nova". Hartley Baldwin developed it while trying to prove it was impossible. The plans were acquired by Mrs. Keithley in spite of Baldwin's attempts to confiscate and destroy them, and used to blackmail the Earth governments. Her plot was foiled, but there is no indication whether the Nova Effect itself was destroyed along with all information on it.
[mentioned in passing] Linguist who demonstrated that 850 words were sufficient vocabulary to express anything, with supplements of technical terms. See also Richards.
Joe Briggs' name for Mrs. Keithley's agent who stole his wallet and guided him to the hotel where a trap had been laid for him; Briggs also called him Shorty.
Savoy
[mentioned in passing] Hotel where "Joseph Gilead" (an alias of Joe Briggs) normally stayed in Pied-a-Terre. After completing a mission on the Moon, Briggs passed it up in favor of the hotel recommended by Mrs. Keithley's agent.
