(Found... Almost Certainly) Borrowed read, from the late 80's

[Satrn]

I read a book I borrowed from a friend in the late 80's, Paperback, it was old maybe then.
It started off I believe the explring ship/ships went to a spot beyond the sun, entrered a Galaxy and found a habitated planet.

The planet had a few different subsets of the same beings, ie engineering beings that were the lowest form, a middle class and a warrios class they hid from the explorers. The engineer subspecies was brought on the ship, they are tiny and mate like rabbits and fix any and everything. One passage I remember is them "fixing" a coffee pot so it never needed cleaning, the oils accumulated on the outside metals. After seeing the alien species vent the ship to control the engineer population, they realized how quickly they bred.

It was a great read, as towards the end they found a museum of sorts, with an astrological and mathmatical puzzle to open the door with advanced weapons etc. it seems the races destroys itself every so often and they put the advancements in the meuseum.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Got one! The brilliant The Mote in God's Eye...available - everywhere! It's by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.

There are sequels, of which I've read only the (IMO) terrible The Gripping Hand. Hope you enjoy your reread, Satrn! CC

 

[farntfar]

Well there's no more to be said.
Cat's has got it right on both counts, in my opinion.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Merci, ff! Mote is one of my all-time favorite SF novels...really original concepts, aliens, etc. A novel of its time, though, so there is sexism (IIRC; I think there is one female character).