Monday 20 July 2020

Future Historians And Astronomy

(Mercury.)

See:

The Astronomy Of The Technic Civilization Saga by Johan Ortiz

Some Notes On "Lodestar"

How Falkayn Did It

Astronomy advances during a future historian's career. Poul Anderson's characters struggle with whether giant stars should have planets.

Larry Niven's Tales Of Known Space begins with "The Coldest Place" in which the coldest place in the Solar System is not Pluto but the permanent night side of Mercury. This story was scientifically out of date before it was printed. In "Madness Has Its Place," Niven's second kzinti story, Mercury does spin in relation to the Sun, even though these stories are in the same future history. Niven says in his Introduction to Tales... that the Mars of Known Space changed in the light of new data from Mariner probes.

3 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I think prudent astronomers in the here and now will not state too dogmatically, either way, whether or nor giant stars can have planets. Not until they know more!

Ad astra! Sean

S.M. Stirling said...

It's one reason I prefer alternate history... 8-)

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Mr. Stirling!

Ha! And there's also Poul Anderson's story "A Sun Invisible," which also touches on that subject.

Ad astra! Sean