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Jinx, v. 1, issue 3, June 1942

Page 7

"Science in Science Fiction"
by PHILIP A SCHUMANN

Don't let that title scare you. I just want to take this space to get something off to you (and you, too, Bill) that I've been thinking of for quite a time; why are most fan articles on science so lightly taken to by fandom? Many fans write to say, "Oh yes. Whimpsnerdle's article on the "Hyperthraxobin of the Perimbolicolossis in Fandom" -- Argghhkk! Too dry, too dry ..." Dry? Why? Do they hate real science so much?

I think not, and for a good reason. Why are ASTOUNDING's articles so often appreciated when that other magazine's articles are sniffed at? I think I have the answer, and I shall attempt to show you what I mean in the following lines. The difference between a fan science article that will click and one that will thunk, lies chiefly in the manner in which facts are amassed. Suppose we take this subject: the cause and effect of sound upon the human ear. The question to be taken up is, of course, unprovable, and highly improbable. But here is the way one might present his facts:

"It is possible that human beings do not physically hear the sounds with which they are associated. These may simply be mental perceptions, gathered in by means of the ear, which acts as a small aerial. Radio waves might be considered in the same light as sound waves. Radio waves can not be heard as sound waves, but must, in order to be detected, be gathered in by electrical apparatus, wince the waves are electrical in nature. Conceivably, if a man was equipped with ears having the effect of a radio aerial, he would be able to pick up those broadcast waves of radio and "hear" them. Maybe other beings on this world can hear through other means than sound waves as we know them. Sound can't be heard in space, because sound, dependent upon gases for its vibration, does not exist in a vacuum. Some people have another sense of communication, faulty enough, but existent. We call this mental telepathy. It could be another type of wave, and it is possible that there are other creatures on this world, and on other planets, who hear by different means than we do. We can't prove that this is not the case, so we can't deny it. It may be, too, that there are certain things we cannot see, because the light reflected from them is of a different vibration that human eyes were made for. It is not impossible that beings exist which we cannot see because we have not the senses required to see them."

A second might treat the same subject thus: "BONG!" Read the word. Now imagine yourself hearing it. Bounce your foot on the floor. Hear the sound? 'Yup," you say. Oh so? How positive are you that the sound actually traveled to you? Maybe it didn't. Maybe you heard it mentally. In a real way, sound doesn't exist. It is only a combination of vibrations, which crawl[?] along silently until they reach a point of reception, an aerial, such as the human (or non-human) ear. The ear is more of an aerial than anything else. How do we know that radio waves are not just as easy to be heard as waves of sound? Of course, radio waves represent electrical vibration, but suppose one was equipped with radio aerial ears. He could then hear the voice of the radio. Now: how do we know that there are not actually certain forms of life on this planet capable of communicating by other means than those of sound waves? OR radio waves? This conjecture opens to us another idea; the human ear is equipped only to hear sound waves; sound transmitted from one object to another by vibration of the air. It has been said that sound cannot be heard in space because there is no air to carry the sound. Heh. Indeed, in a vaccuum there is no sound to be carried, since sound is only created by means of a concussion which sets air waves to motion.

"But back to the question: since we can only detect sound waves, and, through apparatus, radio waves, how can we be certain there are no other types of waves, or vibrations which might not, in a way, be heard by entities equipped to receive such impulses? We cannot be certain. We have, in the past, heard of isolated cases where "mental" communication has seemingly been carried on. We call this "mental telepathy". Might this not be a certain type of wave? (It is, in a way.) Might not there be creatures upon this world -- even upon others of those mysterious mysterious companions of our

Saving...

"Science in Science Fiction" by PHILIP A SCHUMANN Don't let that title scare you. I just want to take this space to get something off to you (and you, too, Bill) that I've been thinking of for quite a time; why are most fan articles on science so lightly taken to by fandom? Many fans write to say, "Oh yes. Whimpsnerdle's article on the "Hyperthraxobin of the Perimbolicolossis in Fandom" -- Argghhkk! Too dry, too dry ..." Dry? Why? Do they hate real science so much? I think not, and for a good reason. Why are ASTOUNDING's articles so often appreciated when that other magazine's articles are sniffed at? I think I have the answer, and I shall attempt to show you what I mean in the following lines. The difference between a fan science article that will click and one that will thunk, lies chiefly in the manner in which facts are amassed. Suppose we take this subject: the cause and effect of sound upon the human ear. The question to be taken up is, of course, unprovable, and highly improbable. But here is the way one might present his facts: "It is possible that human beings do not physically hear the sounds with which they are associated. These may simply be mental perceptions, gathered in by means of the ear, which acts as a small aerial. Radio waves might be considered in the same light as sound waves. Radio waves can not be heard as sound waves, but must, in order to be detected, be gathered in by electrical apparatus, wince the waves are electrical in nature. Conceivably, if a man was equipped with ears having the effect of a radio aerial, he would be able to pick up those broadcast waves of radio and "hear" them. Maybe other beings on this world can hear through other means than sound waves as we know them. Sound can't be heard in space, because sound, dependent upon gases for its vibration, does not exist in a vacuum. Some people have another sense of communication, faulty enough, but existent. We call this mental telepathy. It could be another type of wave, and it is possible that there are other creatures on this world, and on other planets, who hear by different means than we do. We can't prove that this is not the case, so we can't deny it. It may be, too, that there are certain things we cannot see, because the light reflected from them is of a different vibration that human eyes were made for. It is not impossible that beings exist which we cannot see because we have not the senses required to see them." A second might treat the same subject thus: "BONG!" Read the word. Now imagine yourself hearing it. Bounce your foot on the floor. Hear the sound? 'Yup," you say. Oh so? How positive are you that the sound actually traveled to you? Maybe it didn't. Maybe you heard it mentally. In a real way, sound doesn't exist. It is only a combination of vibrations, which crawl[?] along silently until they reach a point of reception, an aerial, such as the human (or non-human) ear. The ear is more of an aerial than anything else. How do we know that radio waves are not just as easy to be heard as waves of sound? Of course, radio waves represent electrical vibration, but suppose one was equipped with radio aerial ears. He could then hear the voice of the radio. Now: how do we know that there are not actually certain forms of life on this planet capable of communicating by other means than those of sound waves? OR radio waves? This conjecture opens to us another idea; the human ear is equipped only to hear sound waves; sound transmitted from one object to another by vibration of the air. It has been said that sound cannot be heard in space because there is no air to carry the sound. Heh. Indeed, in a vaccuum there is no sound to be carried, since sound is only created by means of a concussion which sets air waves to motion. "But back to the question: since we can only detect sound waves, and, through apparatus, radio waves, how can we be certain there are no other types of waves, or vibrations which might not, in a way, be heard by entities equipped to receive such impulses? We cannot be certain. We have, in the past, heard of isolated cases where "mental" communication has seemingly been carried on. We call this "mental telepathy". Might this not be a certain type of wave? (It is, in a way.) Might not there be creatures upon this world -- even upon others of those mysterious mysterious companions of our