"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" - Arthur C. Clarke
So prophetic and true this statement is; and I know it first hand.
Showing posts with label time travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label time travel. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Friday, August 22, 2014
The Time Traders - review
Andre Norton's The Time Traders is an interesting story with an interesting concept.
It starts with a criminal who is given the option of rehabilitation or to join a top secret government project.
The project is the basis for the title of the novel and further discussion will damage the reader's enjoyment of the overarching story.
Given that this is from the early years of pulp science fiction I found it a good story despite the aspects of science that have developed completely differently from the predictions Norton created.
Some additional research is warranted, but won't be undertaken because I am lazy, as to whether some of the plot contrivances used in this novel were already cliched by the time Norton used them or whether they were somewhat novel at that point or, even, whether he invented them.
The disappointing, and yet great, part of this story is that it is the first of a series of novels. This, of course, is a fact I was made aware of at the end of the recording of the first book.
I look forward to finding the rest of the series even though books two and three may not be available in the public domain yet.
It starts with a criminal who is given the option of rehabilitation or to join a top secret government project.
The project is the basis for the title of the novel and further discussion will damage the reader's enjoyment of the overarching story.
Given that this is from the early years of pulp science fiction I found it a good story despite the aspects of science that have developed completely differently from the predictions Norton created.
Some additional research is warranted, but won't be undertaken because I am lazy, as to whether some of the plot contrivances used in this novel were already cliched by the time Norton used them or whether they were somewhat novel at that point or, even, whether he invented them.
The disappointing, and yet great, part of this story is that it is the first of a series of novels. This, of course, is a fact I was made aware of at the end of the recording of the first book.
I look forward to finding the rest of the series even though books two and three may not be available in the public domain yet.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
The Venue - fiction
This is a short concept story about a venue that is able to get very special performers.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Time Travel
Time travel as portrayed in movies is not science fiction; it's science fantasy.
There are many reasons I make this claim. The first has to deal with the actual science as we understand it- but I'll skip that for now.
The reason that intrigues me the most, and prompts this post, is spacial displacement. The earth is not the center of the universe; even if it were it rotates on its own axis. The earth moves around the sun which rotates around the center of our galaxy which is also moving through space. AND space itself is expanding.
Because everything is moving all the time ANY time travel would result in an arrival somewhere other than the desired location. Marty McFly wouldn't have ended up in Hill Valley of 1955; he would have ended up breathing vacuum in the Oort cloud.
This, of course answers Stephen Hawking's question "if time travel is possible where are the time travelers?" They're floating in space somewhere FAR FAR away.
On a plus side: unless you are able (and want to) do some SERIOUS math you can always answer "Do you know how fast you were going?" with an honest "No, Officer, I do not."
Monday, May 12, 2014
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Friday, April 4, 2014
Flight from the Future - review
H. Beam Piper seems fascinated with time and multiple realities.
This particular story cleanly handles the Grandfather Paradox in a way that wasn't particularly obvious to me while reading the story.
This, like the other works of Piper, is worth the read.
This particular story cleanly handles the Grandfather Paradox in a way that wasn't particularly obvious to me while reading the story.
This, like the other works of Piper, is worth the read.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
The Harsh Reality of Colonization Through an Einstein-Rosenberg Bridge - fiction
What happens when technology allows colonization to happen?
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
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