"Our age will go down in fire. But it will leave gifts for which a later mankind will be grateful." (p. 155)
It is to be hoped, first, that that first sentence is not true and, secondly, that, if it is true, then so is the second. Poul Anderson wrote the same about the Roman Empire. See here.
The second sentence quoted above refers both to gifts and to a later mankind. This time, unlike in the aftermath of the Roman Empire, there is a question not only as to whether gifts will be left but also as to whether there will be a later mankind to receive them. One function of sf is to warn. Despite all its fantastic content, There Will Be Time accurately reflects first the contrast between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and secondly genuine concerns about the twenty-first. Now that we are in the twenty-first century, the novel is still relevant.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
IF Elon Musk manages to found his colony on Mars that alone might be enough to change events so that we avoid our own War of Judgment. Or at least no longer be stupidly keeping all our eggs in the only basket we now have, Earth.
My little investment in Tesla was also, in part, a way of helping Musk achieve his goal of a Mars colony.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Apart from the ecological crisis, I am concerned about the next asteroid strike. We need a laser defense system and populations in self-sustaining environments throughout the Solar System.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Considering how we DID get smacked by a big rock as recently as the Tunguska Incident, getting hit by an even bigger rock is a near statistical CERTAINTY. I don't know if you read it, but Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's LUCIFER'S HAMMERS explores what happen if a big rock did hit Earth. So, yes, we need asteroid detection/defense systems for rocks getting too close to Earth.
Ditto for O'Neill habitats and self sustaining colonies around the Solar System.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
In LUCIFER'S HAMMER, it was known that the asteroid would come near Earth but not that it would hit it. But something that big coming that close is too dangerous and responsible governments would be cooperating to take action against the next close approach now. Instead, they either suppress dissent to stay in power or, where there are elections, concentrate on winning the next one.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
IIRC, by the time the Hamner-Brown asteroid was discovered, at the beginning of LUCIFER'S HAMMER, it was probably too late to do anything to deflect or break up such a rock. It would have taken years to do anything about it if the "Hammer" had been found, say, ten years before. So all people could do was HOPE it would be a narrow miss.
And that is not good enough, of course! Preemptive action against asteroid strikes needs to be taken now, preferably starting years ago. All gov'ts, bad or good, do the things you mentioned, but SOME things, like asteroid detection/deflection, should be a matter of common agreement.
Ad astra! Sean
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