Where my education in the history of science overlaps with Neal Stephenson, there is often not too much agreement. Naturally, he has license to make things work

Where my education in the history of science overlaps with Neal Stephenson, there is often not too much agreement. Naturally, he has license to make things work however he choses in his fictional universe. I'd be wary about thinking that you have learned anything direct about history from his writing. Remember, this is the author who defined BIOS as "built-in operating system", not because he didn't know better, but because that's what he would like it to stand for. I much preferred Anathem for this reason, when he's writing about another world he's not polluting the real history of this one. In a sense Neal Stephenson's novels that are set in apparently historical contexts are a little like later chapters in "the book" from Anathem