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Variant, v. 1, issue 3, September 1947
Page 37
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[[illustration text]] West To East Figure 4 [[end illustration text]] I would say that it was highly unlikely. In the case of antigravity I prefer to leave it with a big question mark. Our knowledge of the subject is in such a low state that we can say practically nothing definite concerning it. This brings us down to the cold facts of life: at the present time scientists have not the faintest glimmer of the beginning of an embryo [[?]]an idea for utilizing gravity in any shape of form. To begin a research on gravity control at the present time would be like doing a crossword puzzle in which you don't know which blocks to put the words in, and in which you didn't even know the definitions of the words to go in the blocks. However, if this will make you more hopeful, the status of physics at the present moment is just right for developments in this direction, and the next fifty years or so should give us considerable more knowledge on the subject. At any rate, this should help answer the question as to whether science has caught up with science fiction. The same sort of remarks apply to any of the various space drives which have been dreamed up in science fiction stories. Science today simply does not know where to start in making anything like a tractor ray, and as for the inertialess drive that E.E. Smith likes, it's simply out of the question. However, various general things can be said about these hypothetical means of interplanetary propulsion. We can at least state the physical laws under which the machines must operate. Any machine which attempts to violate any of these laws simply will not work. I say that at the risk of being dogmatic, and with the knowledge that various authors have spoken of various devices which operate in other dimensions in which the laws of nature are different. (For instance, Campbell's faster-than-light drive in Invaders From the Infinite.) All I have to say about things like this is1/2 show me one that works, and I'll believe it. For the present, (1947) I say that any possible means of propulsion must conform to the fundamental laws of nature which include the following two which apply especially to our problem. 1. Conservation of energy: You can't get something for nothing. 2. Conservation of momentum. This is extremely important, and is the one most violated by science fiction writers. It can be stated in various ways, all more or less technical, but for our purposes here we say it in a naive fashion: in order for a body to be set in motion, something has to push against something. While this sounds trivial, actually none other than John W. Campbell violated this principle in his molecular motion drive in several stories. Often Campbell tries to get around this by explaining that his machines push on " the fabric of space," whatever that is. While I will not deny that possibility, we must classify that together with antigravity among the developments not yet in sight. We are thus left with one important general principle: any kind of propulsion (37)
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[[illustration text]] West To East Figure 4 [[end illustration text]] I would say that it was highly unlikely. In the case of antigravity I prefer to leave it with a big question mark. Our knowledge of the subject is in such a low state that we can say practically nothing definite concerning it. This brings us down to the cold facts of life: at the present time scientists have not the faintest glimmer of the beginning of an embryo [[?]]an idea for utilizing gravity in any shape of form. To begin a research on gravity control at the present time would be like doing a crossword puzzle in which you don't know which blocks to put the words in, and in which you didn't even know the definitions of the words to go in the blocks. However, if this will make you more hopeful, the status of physics at the present moment is just right for developments in this direction, and the next fifty years or so should give us considerable more knowledge on the subject. At any rate, this should help answer the question as to whether science has caught up with science fiction. The same sort of remarks apply to any of the various space drives which have been dreamed up in science fiction stories. Science today simply does not know where to start in making anything like a tractor ray, and as for the inertialess drive that E.E. Smith likes, it's simply out of the question. However, various general things can be said about these hypothetical means of interplanetary propulsion. We can at least state the physical laws under which the machines must operate. Any machine which attempts to violate any of these laws simply will not work. I say that at the risk of being dogmatic, and with the knowledge that various authors have spoken of various devices which operate in other dimensions in which the laws of nature are different. (For instance, Campbell's faster-than-light drive in Invaders From the Infinite.) All I have to say about things like this is1/2 show me one that works, and I'll believe it. For the present, (1947) I say that any possible means of propulsion must conform to the fundamental laws of nature which include the following two which apply especially to our problem. 1. Conservation of energy: You can't get something for nothing. 2. Conservation of momentum. This is extremely important, and is the one most violated by science fiction writers. It can be stated in various ways, all more or less technical, but for our purposes here we say it in a naive fashion: in order for a body to be set in motion, something has to push against something. While this sounds trivial, actually none other than John W. Campbell violated this principle in his molecular motion drive in several stories. Often Campbell tries to get around this by explaining that his machines push on " the fabric of space," whatever that is. While I will not deny that possibility, we must classify that together with antigravity among the developments not yet in sight. We are thus left with one important general principle: any kind of propulsion (37)
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