Atlas Shrugged

Atlas Shrugged Glossary

Antipodal

Exactly or completely opposite

Causality

The relationship between two things which is a necessary function of their natures. An example in objectivism would be the correlation between ideas of self-sacrifice controlling government policies and the exploitation of the producers.

Concerto

A composition of music, usually for orchestra

Destroyer

Dagny's term for John Galt, before she knows who he is. He is the man, she believes, who talks to businessmen who are besieged by the new policies of the government. They give up and retire, never to be seen again. She comes to believe that he cannot exist, for she leaves Taggart Transcontinental without being visited by "the destroyer".

Directives

Euphemistic terms for orders sent down from the looter government. They are no longer voted on in any assembly, but simply decided upon by a few men in charge.

Grading

The leveling and slanting of the ground to prepare it for rails

Heat

The action of pouring liquid metal into a form or mold.

Line

Railway term for a main track or area of railway service.

Looters

Rand's term for people, usually in the government, who take money away from the businesses which make it. It also applies to their stooges and to people, like Ivy Starnes, who seek to redistribute wealth by their own standards, and exploit the workers who are the best workers to support those in need.

Mealy-mouthed

Cowardly or evasive in speech

Objectivism

Ayn Rand's philosophy of personal and commercial freedom, with the achievement of the individual being the paramount moral goal. Objectivism holds that there is an external object reality outside of perception, and bases all rational beliefs from this starting point.

Producers

Rand's name for people show are efficient and dedicated to their work. It especially applies to people who are the owners or originators of business that create money.

Rearden Metal

A new alloy created by Hank Rearden, which is lighter and several times stronger than steel.

Rolling stock

All the rolling equipment of a railway that runs on rails, such as engines, passenger carriages, and freight cars

Roomette

A small sitting room on a sleeper train, smaller than a bedroom or drawing room.

Rose-point lace

A lace with a raised pattern; a very expensive fabric

Shale

Rock containing petroleum. Ellis Wyatt has discovered a way of extracting it cheaply enough to be profitable, but he takes this knowledge with him when he disappears.

Swank

Mid-century term for fancy or stylish.

Ties

The wooden supports for railroad rails.

Truss

A support for a bridge, usually made of metal.

Tuyere

A kind of bellows or air vent for a blast furnace