By reading works like Poul Anderson's
Tau Zero and
Starfarers, we get some idea of modern scientific cosmology and cosmogony. We might supplement hard sf with science writing by Asimov etc and also with TV documentaries popularizing scientific discoveries. See
Fifth Force. Last night, another such documentary addressed the size of the universe. However, most sf readers are not cosmologists, astrophysicists or mathematicians so our understanding remains limited and superficial and we continue to ask uninformed questions. (What else can we do? Any question presupposes lack of knowledge of the answer.)
If the universe has expanded from a single point 13.77 billion years ago, then it must now be a sphere with a radius of less than 13.77 billion light years? No. It is said to expand equally from every point and to extend infinitely in every direction. Although Poul Anderson's readers are familiar with the idea of a multiverse, evidence for cosmic collisions, which would demonstrate the existence of other universes, is still being sought. But it seems unlikely that our Big Bang was a unique event.
The Terran Empire seems spatiotemporally small.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I too have tried to correct, ever so slightly, my superficial knowledge of the galaxy and cosmos by reading books of popular science, such as Avi Loeb's EXTRATERRESTRIAL. And the more academic collection of articles EXTRATERRESTRIALS IN THE CATHOLIC IMAGINATION, ed. by J. Rosato and A. Vincelette.
And I have read other, similar books in the past. Including some by Asimov himself. And works trying to explain quantum mechanics and how there might actually be alternate or parallel universes. Including works by Tipler and Sean Carroll.
Incidentally, the expansion of the universe you summarized means that, in time, every single galaxy will become undetectable by even the most sensitive instruments as they move away from each other. Every galaxy will become its own "small" island universe.
And I recall how many times in the stories set in Flandry's time characters have commented on how few were the stars known by mankind and other intelligent races. And of how small the galaxy itself was compared to the sheer vastness of the cosmos.
So, yes, the Terran Empire was a small thing compared to the rest of the cosmos. And the Emperors made no impossible claims of ruling even the galaxy alone, never mind the cosmos!
Ad astra! Sean
The Terran Empire is small and temporary compared to the universe it exists in, but on the scale of human institutions it's enormous and long-lived. Almost inconceivably big in terms of population and environments.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I agree, and I have argued with Anderson himself in some of my letters to him that he tended to be somewhat too "minimal" about the Empire. E.g., in the commentary prefacing my revision of Sandra Miesel's Chronology of Technic Civilization, I collected evidence from Anderson's own texts showing the Empire was older than he thought it was. And he did bring out very well how "...inconceivably big in terms of population and environments" the Empire was.
Ad astra! Sean
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