Wizards, Aliens, and Starships: Physics and Math in Fantasy and Science Fiction
Page 38
[245] David Walker and Richard Walker. Energy, Plants and Man, 2nd ed. Oxygraphics, 1992.
[246] Jearl Walker. Fundamentals of Physics, 8th extended ed. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2008.
[247] Peter D. Ward and Donald Brownlee. Rare Earth. Copernicus, New York, 2000.
[248] H. G. Wells. The War of the Worlds. Harper & Brothers, New York, 1898.
[249] H. G. Wells. The First Men in the Moon. G. Newnes, London, 1901.
[250] John Archibald Wheeler and Richard Phillips Feynman. Interaction with the absorber as the mechanism of radiation. Reviews of Modern Physics, 17:157–181, 1945.
[251] T. H. White. The Once and Future King. Collins, London, 1958.
[252] Clifford M. Will. Was Einstein Right? Putting General Relativity to the Test. Basic Books, New York, 1986.
[253] Gene Wolfe. The Fifth Head of Cerberus. Scribner, New York, 1972.
[254] Gene Wolfe. The Citadel of the Autarch. Vol. 4 of Book of the New Sun. Timescape Books, New York, 1983.
[255] W. K. Wootters and W. H. Zurek. A single quantum cannot be cloned. Nature, 299:802–803, 1982.
[256] Robert M. Zubrin and Christopher P. McKay. Technological requirements of terraforming Mars. In Bringing Mars to Life, ed. R. L. S. Taylor. British Interplanetary Society, 1994.
INDEX
40 Signs of Rain (novel), 279, 280
2001: A Space Odyssey (movie), 71, 99, 130
2010: Odyssey 2 (novel), 219, 294
absolute zero, 17, 18, 22, 32
accelerating universe, theory of, 342, 348
acceleration: centrifugal, definition of, 94; centripetal, definition of, 76; relativistic, 184
acceleration of gravity, 51; and ballistic missile trajectories, 69
Adler’s Mantra, 218, 219, 238
albedo: definition of, 226; and zone of life, 227, 232
Alderson, Dan, and Ringworld instability, 320–321
Alderson drive, 192–193
alien civilization: detection and contact by radio waves, 244, 265, 267; and interstellar warfare, 261
alien intelligence, differing views on, 255–259
allometric scaling, 41
Alpha Centauri: star system of as setting for science fiction story, 39; travel to, 159, 178, 183, 265
Anderson, Poul: on Dyson sphere, 325; on planet building, 217
angular momentum, conservation of, 136, 210
angular size, of star or moon, 225
“Anna Karenina” principle, 237, 238, 266
ansible, 189, 210
anthropocene era, 332
antimatter, 107, 161, 165–173, 263, 265, 310, 318, 357
Anvil of Stars (novel), 262
aphelion, 135–137
Apollo (program), 74, 106, 131, 155
Armageddon (movie), 337
Arrhenius, Svante: and life on Mars or Venus, 228, 243; and predictions of global climate change, 280
Asimov, Isaac: and absence of aliens in Foundation series, 258; and “galactic empires,” 326; as “Golden Age” writer, 8n; and the long-term fate of the universe, 341
Asten (proposed space station), 109, 112–114
asteroid(s): mining of 88, 153; and planetary impacts, 234, 236, 240, 261–262, 337–338
astronaut, and concept of free fall, 90–91, 93
atmosphere: composition of Earth’s, 110, 111, 233, 250, 278, 280–282, 313, 332; and life, 218, 226; of Mars; and planetary temperature, 60, 142, 229–230, 237, 241n1, 243, 295–300, 302; of space station, 110–111, 114n4; of Venus, 220, 228–230. See greenhouse gas; greenhouse effect
atmospheric loss, 235–236
Avatar (movie), 39, 59, 219, 256, 260, 262, 265
Avatar, The (novel), 199
Babylon 5 (TV show), 93, 95–96, 99, 108, 143, 190, 256
“baloneyum,” 3–4
Bear, Greg, 231, 262, 310, 331
Bernal, J. D., as SF precursor, 88
Big Bang, 206, 244, 341–342, 357
biosphere, 304, 325, 330
black hole, 19, 177, 187ff, 195–197, 318, 344–348
Bladerunner (movie), 334
Blood Music (novel), and Type I civilization, 331
Bond, James (Bond), 67
Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), 18
Bowl of Heaven (novel), and discussion of Dyson sphere, 323
Bremsstrahlung, 164, 175n
Building Harlequin’s Moon (novel), and antimatter generation, 172
Burj Khalifa tower, compared to space elevator, 125
Bussard ramjet, 153, 159, 161–162, 164, 177
Butcher, Jim: and realism in fantasy 25; and second law of thermodynamics, 21
canals, Martian, 228, 243
candles, magic, 36
car, flying, 60, 67–70
carbon nanotube(s), 118, 122–123, 126, 201, 308
Casimir effect, and faster-than-light travel, 202
causality, 193, 205, 208, 213n5
centrifugal force. See force, centrifugal
centripetal force. See force, centripetal
CERN, and antimatter production, 166
Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters, 81
chaos, chaotic (mathematics sense of): and orbits, 138, 141; and planetary axial tilt, 239, 291; in weather and ecology, 332
chronology protection hypothesis, 199, 204
Clarke, Arthur C.: on advanced technology and magic, 326; and black holes, 197; and manned space flight, 61–62, 71; and space elevator, 118
comet impact. See impact, comet or asteroid
Commercial Orbit Transportation Services program, 83
communications satellite (vs. manned space stations), 86
Complete Venus Equilateral, The (book), 86, 93; and space station atmosphere, 110
consensus model (of cosmology), 341–342, 348
conservation of angular momentum. See angular momentum, conservation of
conservation of energy. See energy, conservation of
conservation of momentum. See momentum, conservation of
Contact (novel), and wormholes, 190, 199
Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, 189, 210–211
Copernican principle, 257–258
Coriolis force. See force, Coriolis
cotangent orbit, 135, 138
critical mass, 150–151
crystal growing, on space station, 87, 113
Cylons: as alien species, 258; civilization of powered by black hole, 345
dark energy and dark matter, 341–342
Deep Impact (movie), 337
“delta-v”: definition of and formulas for, 136–137; in powered slingshot maneuver, 141
Dennis Tito, as first space tourist, 74, 84
Destinies of the Stars, The (book), and life in the solar system, 228, 243
deuterium, use of in fusion reactions, 158, 164, 330
Diamond, Jared: and alien contact, 260; and Anna Karenina principle, 237
Dick, Philip K.: and alien contact, 267; and space travel, 72–73
Dirac, Paul, 166
disapparition, 16, 19, 28
Doppler effect, 187n4, 247, 249
Doppler technique for finding exoplanets, 246–247, 249–250
drag force, 51, 64, 67, 163–164, 357
dragon, flight of, 53
Drake, Frank, and SETI, 244
Drake equation, 239, 267–269
Dresden files (novel series), 25, 27
Dyson, Freeman: and Dyson sphere/net/shell 303, 305; and long-term survival of humanity, 4, 339, 343, 348; and Project Orion, 85, 153
Dyson net, 305–307, 309, 347; detection of, 310–311
Dyson sphere, 153, 276, 303, 306, 311, 323
Earth, atmosphere of. See atmosphere: composition of Earth’s
Earthsea trilogy (novel series), and “rule of names,” 13
eccentricity, orbital, 132, 135, 220; and planetary life, 232–233
ecology: of Chtorrans, 252; of space colony, 86, 106–107; of Type I civilizati
on, 330
economics: of manned space flight, space colonies, and space elevator, 60, 112; of terraforming, 293, 301
Edward, Bradley, 126
Ehrenfest’s paradox, 318–319
ejection speed, 78–79, 85n
elastic modulus, 42
electromagnetic wave. See wave, light
electron: as fundamental particle, 30, 166, 346, 356; as part of atom, 149–150; reaction of with positron, 167–168
elevator, space, 113–114, 115, 118–120, 123–127, 129, 201, 307–308, 317, 325n
energy, conservation of, 6, 14, 16, 85, 107, 124, 136, 204
energy, kinetic: of asteroid impact, 337; formulas for, 7, 77, 80; for Ringworld, 314
energy-mass equivalence (E = Mc2), 10, 166, 170, 318
engine efficiency, 66–68
Enterprise, U. S. S. (Star Trek), 20, 165
entropy, 16, 21–25
EPR paradox, 211
escape velocity: and atmospheric loss, 233–236; formula for, 141, 195
Euler buckling, 42–43
event horizon, 187n1, 196–197
exhaust velocity, 78, 147, 151–152, 154, 158, 160
exoplanet, 2, 219, 232–233, 240, 242, 244–246, 248–249, 251, 268
exotic matter, 198, 200–203
Farmer in the Sky (novel): and agriculture, 107; and economics of terraforming, 301; and space colonies, 143, 293
faster-than-light (FTL) travel, 177, 183, 188–194, 199, 201, 292, 335; and quantum mechanics, 210, 213; and time travel, 206
Federation of Planets (Star Trek), as type II or III civilization, 333–334
Fermi, Enrico, on “Great Silence,” 257
Feynman, Richard: on Challenger disaster, 81, 83; on conservation of mass-energy, 203; on uses of nuclear energy, 148–149
Fiasco (novel), and alien contact, 267
fission, nuclear, 149–153, 158
flukes, horizontal, on whales or mermaids, 46–47
flukes, vertical, on fish, 46–47
Footfall (novel): and alien invasion, 262; and Bussard ramjet, 153; and Orion drive, 153
force, centrifugal, 94–96, 103–105; and space elevator, 116, 128; and Ringworld, 307, 314, 316, 322–324; and tidal forces, 306
force, centripetal, 76, 93
force, Coriolis, 94–96
Forge of God, The (novel): and interstellar war, 262; and planetary destruction, 310
Forward, Robert L., 167–168, 172
Foundation trilogy (novel series): and absence of aliens, 258; and Kardashev scale, 326
Fountains of Paradise, The (novel), and space elevator, 118
free fall, 90, 93, 355
frequency, of light, 31
fusion, nuclear, 149, 157–162, 164, 330; in stars, 196, 221, 240, 343
Futurama (TV series), and “corpsicles,” 174n
galactic empire, and Kardashev scale, 326–327, 333
galactic habitable zone, 240
Galileo: and free fall, 90; and “square-cube” law, 40
Game, playing the, 1, 37
gamma factor, 179–180, 182–183, 261
Ganymede, 107, 143, 293, 301
gas giant, 39, 219, 237, 256, 293
GDP (gross domestic product) of U.S. or world, vs. cost of large space projects, 112, 159, 301
general relativity. See relativity, general
geometrical scaling, 39–43, 45, 51–52
geosynchronous orbit, 20, 103, 112–113, 116, 118–119, 121–124, 126–127, 129
Gerrold, David: and alien ecology, 251; on baloneyum, 3; involvement with Star Trek of, 256; space elevator in works of, 119
giants, plausibility of, 39, 42
gleipnirsmalmi, 202, 317
global climate change. See global warming
global positioning system (GPS): and relativity, 181, 196; on the Ringworld, 318–319
global warming, 278–279, 281–282, 290, 337
Goddard, Robert: on manned spaceflight, 61–62; and rocket equation, 73
Godel, Kurt, and time travel, 198
grandfather paradox, 205, 208
grandfather paradox paradox, 213n4
gravitational slingshot, 138–139, 339
gravitational time dilation, 181, 187n1, 195–196
gravitational waves, 19, 345
“Great Silence,” 257
greenhouse effect, 220, 229, 233–234, 252, 279–282, 291
greenhouse gas, 229, 280–281, 290, 296, 298, 313
habitable zone, 231–232, 240, 250–251, 269, 294
Harry Potter novels, science in, 3, 4, 14, 16, 21, 25–28, 39, 43, 47, 53–54, 55n2, 210
Hawking radiation, 197, 318, 344–345
Heinlein, Robert: and alien life, 257; and energetics of spaceflight, 74; and faster-than-light travel, 199–200; and flying cars, 68; and life on Mars and Venus, 228, 243; and manned spaceflight, 59–60, 130, 152; and rules of magic, 13; and space colonies, 107, 111–112, 143, 293; and tesseract, 213n2; and twin paradox, 176–177, 182–183, 192
Heisenberg uncertainty principle, 17, 347
High Frontier, The (book), 87, 112
His Master’s Voice (novel), and alien contact, 267
Hiten probe, chaotic orbit of, 141
Hohmann transfer orbit, 134–135, 138, 145. See also cotangent orbit
hot Jupiter, 219, 233, 239–240, 251
“How to Build a Planet” (essay), 3, 55n1, 217–218
Hubbert, M. King, and resource depletion, 283–284, 287
Hubbert(s) peak, 283, 290, 324
hyperspace, 188, 190, 192, 258, 327
illuminance, definition of, 34
illumination, of Hogwarts Great Hall, 34–35
impact, comet or asteroid, 220–221, 234, 236–237, 261, 337–339
inflation, cosmological, 341
infrared radiation: and illumination, 31, 34; and photosynthesis, 109, 252–253; and planetary temperature, 229–235, 245–246
International Space Station, 81, 84, 89
interplanetary travel, 72–73, 130, 155
interstellar travel: and advanced civilizations, 327, 343; faster-than-light (see faster-than-light [FTL] travel); and overpopulation, 305; and warfare 261–262
Jeans escape mechanism, for planetary atmosphere, 233
Jones, Chuck, and swimming mammals, 46
Jumping off the Planet (novel), and space elevator, 119
Kardashev scale, 326, 328–329
Kepler mission, 231, 249–250
Kepler’s laws of planetary motion, 117, 131–134, 138, 145, 225, 248, 294
Kerr black hole, for faster-than-light travel, 197
Kleiber’s law, 45, 48–49
Known Space stories: and alien species, 256; and antimatter, 318; and Bussard ramjet, 161; and hyperspace, 190; and interstellar warfare, 261
Kuiper belt, 339
Lagrange point(s): as positions for space stations, 86, 103, 106; stability of, 105
Last and First Men (novel): and ethics of interplanetary warfare, 260; and the future of humanity, 275; and the Kardashev scale, 330; and space travel, 61
“Last Question, The” (story), 341
Left Hand of Darkness, The (novel), 210, 232
Le Guin, Ursula K.: and “ansible,” 189, 210; and orbital eccentricity of habitable planets, 232; and rules of magic, 13
Lem, Stanislaw: and alien contact, 259, 266–267; and faster-than-light travel, 197; and Kardashev scale, 334
L’Engle, Madeleine, and misuse of “tesseract,” 190, 213n2
“Lensman” series, 189
lift force (aerodynamic), 50, 52–53, 67; vs. spacecraft propulsion, 75
light, value of speed of, 7, 30
light bulb, luminosity of, 34–35
Lowell, Percival, and life on Mars, 228, 243, 260
Lucifer’s Hammer (novel), and cometary impact, 337
lumen, definition of, 33
luminosity: of Dyson net, 311; of stars, 220–224, 227, 231, 245–246, 252, 254n1, 281, 291, 318,
338, 343
luminous efficacy: definition of, 33; of different light sources, 34
Magic, Incorporated (novella), and “laws” of magic, 13
Magic Goes Away, The (novel), and oil crisis, 289
main-sequence star: and habitable planets, 221–225; lifetime of, 343
“Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex” (essay), 266
Mars: atmosphere of, 233–237; life on, 60, 228, 231, 243, 260; manned exploration of, 142; temperature of, 229; terraforming of, 293–302; travel to, 131–138, 140, 144n2, 145–147, 151–152, 155; water on, 295–296, 298
mass, conservation of, 14–15, 204, 206
mass-energy equivalence. See energy-mass equivalence
Matter for Men, A (novel), and alien ecological invasion, 251
Maxwell, James Clerk, and stability of Saturn’s rings, 321
McAndrew chronicles (series), and miniature black holes, 345
mermaid: as fish, 47; as mammal, 45–47
metabolic rate: and breathing rate, 47–48; and flying, 48, 52–54
microgravity. See free fall
momentum, conservation of, 14, 355; in disapparition, 16–17, 20; in Doppler wobble technique, 247; in rocket equation, 136; in slingshot maneuver, 139
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (movie), and owl post, 49
Moon: and axial tilt of Earth, 291; formation of, 221; illuminance of, 36; manned spaceflight to, 61, 81, 88, 116, 131, 151, 153–154; mining of, 60, 88, 106, 112–113
Morrison, Phillip, and alien contact, 243–244, 265
Mote in Gods Eye, The (novel): and alien contact, 257; as example of galactic empire, 327; and faster-than-light travel, 190, 192
nanotubes, carbon. See carbon nanotube(s)
NASA: and Asten study, 89, 114n3; and development of space transport systems, 84; and NERVA program, 151–152; and Orion program, 153; and shuttle program, 62, 80–81, 83; and studies of space colonies, 88
NERVA program, 72, 151–152
neutrinos, 167, 346, 356; as tachyons, 189
neutron, 7, 30, 149–150, 152, 346, 356
neutron star, 139, 221
“Neutron Star” (story), and tidal forces, 307
Newton’s laws of motion, 4, 6, 50, 64, 75, 77, 78, 95, 121, 246, 353–355
Newton’s shell theorem, 306
Niven, Larry: and alien life, 256–257; and antimatter production, 172; and black holes, 197–198; and Bussard ramjet, 161; and conservation of momentum in teleportation, 17, 19–20; and the energy crisis, 289; essays on science fiction ideas by, 3; and faster-than-light travel, 190, 192, 198; and habitable planets, 217; and interstellar war, 262; and the Kardashev scale, 326; and moving planets, 343; and Orion drive, 153; and other large structures, 323–324; and “playing The Game,” 1; and “relations” with aliens, 266; and relativity, 177; and Ringworld, 306, 311–312, 314–315, 318, 320–321, 333; and science in fantasy stories, 15–16; and tidal forces, 307; and time travel, 210