We have considered Poul Anderson's fictional accounts of longevity and have compared them with those of other sf writers but have missed two important ones. Heinlein's Howards live well into their second century, then age and die quickly. Thus, they do not prolong life indefinitely except in the single unaccountable case of Lazarus Long. However, the people of Earth, thinking that the departed Howards had had a secret, sought it and found a solution: old age is the accumulation of waste poisons in the blood so give everybody new blood artificially grown outside the body. Larry Niven's
A World Out Of Time offers an even more elegant solution: teleport wastes out of the body - the instant elsewhere is the young forever. Poul Anderson did not invent either of these means of longevity but sf speculation is a collaborative effort.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I find Niven's solution, TELEPORTING the wastes accumulated over time out of one's body hard to take seriously.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
It is plausible only if teleportation is possible and if it can be fine-tuned like that. But it is a logical conclusion in a novel that assumes teleportation.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Granted, and we see Anderson experimenting with teleportation in some of his stories: THE ENEMY STARS, and "The Ways of Love," plus another story whose name I can't quite recall. I think he came to think it was too implausible to use very often.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
"Interloper" has ship to planet teleportation.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I missed that one! So, that makes at least four stories in which Anderson examined teleportation.
Ad astra! Sean
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