In Anderson's Psychotechnic History, "hyperspace" is an increase in phase velocity, made possible by the frequency of the engine's oscillators, or is a tachyon mode.
In The Peregrine, part of the Psychotechnic History, when the spaceship is in the fringes of a trepidation vortex:
"'Components of the vibration have the ship's resonance frequencies. They'll shake us apart, atom by atom.'" (CHAPTER XIII, p. 114)
The solution is to:
"'...get the ship as a whole in phase with the major space-pulsations -...'" (pp. 114-115)
- so Coordinator Trevelyan, having glanced at the ship's instruments, then subconsciously computed gravitational and electric potentials, gradients, magnetism, gyration, frequencies and amplitudes, directs the engine room how to:
"'Pulse the hyperdrive, sinusoid - here, I'll give you the figures.'" (p. 115)
It all sounds very similar.
When I worked in a labouring job at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, (see also Hospital) a member of the domestic staff informed me that a then current building project within the Infirmary was "Phrase One." We wondered how many Phrases there were going to be.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I think the Technic hyperspace FTL drive was more convincingly thought out than the Psychotechnic version. Also, it would be more realistic if a computer had done that complex brute force mathematical calculating. I don't think humans could do it quickly and accurately enough in their minds. We see Anderson moving away from such implausibilities in later stories.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Trevelyan had a trained mind but still.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
But I don't believe in the realism of that kind of "trained mind." I did note that "but still" of yours and its implications.
Ad astra! Sean
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