Frank Herbert Dune Essay Topics

Dune Dune, by Frank Herbert, is a terrific work of science fiction set on a planet called Arrakis that has almost no water. The maine character, Paul Atreides, is a powerful figure called the Muad’Dib. After a plot to kill his father is executed, Paul and his mother are forced into hiding in the desert where, after being captured by the nomads that live there named the Fremen, they discover that there is an old prophecy that the Muad’Dib will lead the Fremen to regain control of Arrakis from the group of lords called the guild that rule over the galaxy. After taking tests to prove that Paul is indeed the Muad’Dib, Paul leads the Fremen in a war against the guild.d After being reunited with the man who taught him to fight, Gurney, they triumph
over the guild with their advance methods of fighting. The first scientific issue addressed in this book is the need for water and ways of conserving and recycling water.
In Dune, the planet Arrakis has almost no water, so the people that live there have to struggle to find ways to obtain clean drinking water. One method that was the most common throughout the story is a suit that recycles the body’s water called a stillsuit. This is shown in the quote, “He found his stillsuit’s water tube, drew a warm swallow into his mouth, and he thought that here, he truly began an Arrakeen existence—living on reclaimed moisture from his breath and body.”(200). This shows that the inhabitants of Arrakis found a way to recycle the bodies water. Today, it is predicted that global warming will raise the temperature of the Earth by approximately 2°C to 6°C by the end of the 21st century which would limit the world's supply of clean drinking water. Some scientists are working on ways to recycle water. For example, according to Erika Lee, “Reverse Osmosis (RO): is a type of membrane desalination. Here salt water is forced under high pressures through a semipermeable membrane that produces relatively pure water on the downstream side and leaves saline-rich water on the source side. Because membrane cleanliness is crucial to the efficiency of this mechanism, salt water is treated with some initial filters to remove particulate matter. Additionally, after the water passes through the designated membrane, a post treatment generally occurs to to
kill any microbes in the water as well as adjustment of the water’s pH back to normal.” This shows that scientists are currently working on ways to recycle water. The second scientific issue briefly addressed in the book is the possibility of ecological restoration.
Because Arrakis is so dry, a Fremen scientist makes a plan that could make Arrakis full of plant life and running water, which is shown in the quote, “Our first goal on Arrakis is grassland provinces. When we have moisture locked in grasslands, we’ll move on to start upland forests, then a few bodies of open water—small at first—and situated along the lines of prevailing winds with wind trap moisture precipitators to recapture what the wind steals”(266). This shows that Keins, the scientist, found a way to effectively change Arrakis from a waterless desert to a planet with plentiful water and thriving plant life. This is important today because with all the natural habitats being destroyed, we must find ways to restore the destroyed ecosystems to their former state. Some projects are already being done to restore harmed ecosystems, as shown in the following quote from Alexandra Harmon-Threatt and Kristen Chin, “Habitat restoration is considered critical for maintaining and restoring biodiversity of many species groups. A better understanding of how species respond to the restoration process is imperative to identifying practices that benefit the target organisms. Using survey responses from land managers about the restoration process in tallgrass prairie habitat, we identify common restoration and management techniques. These responses are then combined with current
literature on bee and plant responses to these methods in tallgrass prairie habitat.” This shows that, although restoration processes are being implemented, there is still much research that needs to be done to figure out the most effective way of ecological. This issue is very relevant today so that we can conserve and restore native habitats.
Overall, I really liked this book. Frank Herbert has a terrific writing style full of description and riveting action. The only reason that I might not recommend this book to another student of my age is that it is extremely long (almost 600 pages.) If you can make it all the way through, I would really recommend reading this book.

Works Cited
"Desalination and Water Recycling." Desalination and Water Recycling | Water for All. Web. 25 May 2017.
Harmon-Threatt, Alexandra, and Kristen Chin. "Common Methods for Tallgrass Prairie Restoration and Their Potential Effects on Bee Diversity." Natural Areas Journal 36.4 (2016): 400-11. Web.