Having spent most of my life helping to create things that didn’t exist before and that people now can’t live without, I think it’s pretty clear you need both: imagination to help you figure out where “B” is (or which “B” you’re interested in visiting), and logic to help you get there..Imagination has already suggested how we might get to the stars without violating Einstein’s limit (“186,000 miles per second—not just a good idea, IT’S THE LAW”): ever see the musical “Brigadoon”? About the town that sleeps for a hundred years and then wakes up for a day? It’s probably possible (at least it doesn’t violate any absolute natural laws). And in such a town (or planet, or on such a space ship), an 80-year human lifespan would last something close to 3 million years of outside time… enough to cross the entire Milky Way galaxy 30 times in a ship puttering along at a mere 10 percent of the speed of light (something DARPA’s already talking about how to achieve)..I suspect somebody’s already written a sci-fi story about this…
The best description of reaching the stars through sleep ships was, IIRC, in Norman Spinrad’s “Outward Bound”, where it comes across as better than not getting there—but only marginally. We want to see wonders with our own eyes, to explore now!
first thing we need to do is figure out how much “stuff” there is between the stars. hitting a sand grain at even 5% of the speed of light would be devastating.
Heinlein also did the generation ship story ‘Orphans of the Sky’ which had a great twist in another one of his stories. By the time the generation hip reached it’s destination mankind had developed ftl and beat them to their destination
Sisyphos almost 13 years ago
Imagination will even take you beyond the stars! —In your imagination.
puddleglum1066 almost 13 years ago
Having spent most of my life helping to create things that didn’t exist before and that people now can’t live without, I think it’s pretty clear you need both: imagination to help you figure out where “B” is (or which “B” you’re interested in visiting), and logic to help you get there..Imagination has already suggested how we might get to the stars without violating Einstein’s limit (“186,000 miles per second—not just a good idea, IT’S THE LAW”): ever see the musical “Brigadoon”? About the town that sleeps for a hundred years and then wakes up for a day? It’s probably possible (at least it doesn’t violate any absolute natural laws). And in such a town (or planet, or on such a space ship), an 80-year human lifespan would last something close to 3 million years of outside time… enough to cross the entire Milky Way galaxy 30 times in a ship puttering along at a mere 10 percent of the speed of light (something DARPA’s already talking about how to achieve)..I suspect somebody’s already written a sci-fi story about this…
Simon_Jester almost 13 years ago
Albert Einstein said that?
And all this time I thought it was Dr. McCoy, arguing with Mr. Spock
Happy, happy, happy!!! Premium Member almost 13 years ago
he also said that imagination is more important than knowledge.
bmonk almost 13 years ago
The best description of reaching the stars through sleep ships was, IIRC, in Norman Spinrad’s “Outward Bound”, where it comes across as better than not getting there—but only marginally. We want to see wonders with our own eyes, to explore now!
Happy, happy, happy!!! Premium Member almost 13 years ago
first thing we need to do is figure out how much “stuff” there is between the stars. hitting a sand grain at even 5% of the speed of light would be devastating.
Durak Premium Member almost 13 years ago
Heinlein also did the generation ship story ‘Orphans of the Sky’ which had a great twist in another one of his stories. By the time the generation hip reached it’s destination mankind had developed ftl and beat them to their destination