Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific-theories/
--
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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

James Nicoll <jdnicoll@panix.com> wrote:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

Sure, but there are millions of these, starting with the thousands of
stories taking place on a watery venus or on a Mercury with only one face. That's not even counting retrophrenology.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

In article <uv8rvl$7h9$1@panix2.panix.com>,
Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> wrote:

James Nicoll <jdnicoll@panix.com> wrote:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

Sure, but there are millions of these, starting with the thousands of
stories taking place on a watery venus or on a Mercury with only one face. >That's not even counting retrophrenology.

There was a case for Venus being tide-locked as well, but I can only
think of two authors who used that model: Stanley G. Weinbaum and
Clark Ashton Smith.
--
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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

On 11 Apr 2024 14:08:18 -0000, jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll)
wrote:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor =20
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific-t= heories/

Wasn't there at least one novel based on the Steady-State Universe?
--=20
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

James Nicoll wrote:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific-theories/

The Destruction of Planet V

The region between Mars and Jupiter is filled with a myriad of small
bodies. That is not controversial. The Belt’s origin, however, has
been the subject of various competing theories over the years. In
1972, M. W. Ovenden proposed that the Belt is the remnant of a
large planet that exploded about sixteen million years ago.

Overden draws upon centuries old theory:

Physical sciences: Bode's Law and the Missing Planet

Ovenden, M. W.

Abstract

EXACTLY two hundred years ago, Titius published a mnemonic for
the mean distances of the planets from the Sun. His rule was

[a_i is proportional to 2^(i - 2) . 3 + 2^2]

where a_i is the major semi-axis of the orbit of the ith planet
from the Sun. Titius's law represents the distances of the then
known planets with an accuracy of a few per cent, provided that
(i) for Mercury, we take i= -∞ instead of i=1 and (ii) the
orbital i=5 is left vacant. The law made three valid predictions.
Uranus (discovered by William Herschel in 1781) fits the orbital
i=8. After the discovery of Uranus, Bode publicized the law,
which became known as Bode's Law. The search for a planet for
i=5 culminated in the discovery of the first asteroid, Ceres,
in 1801. Recognition of a similar law for the satellite system
of Saturn led to the discovery of Hyperion in 1848.

(10.1038/239508a0)

Ovenden himself presents his proposal's planet Phaeton problem in the
summary of his paper:

Two major problems remain. First, what physical caused the sudden
dissipation of A? From the point of view of the dynamical arguments
presented, it is probably true that A was always in the form of a
ring. But while it may be difficult to "explode" a planet, it would
seem even more difficult to dissipate a ring suddenly after it has
been quiescent for 4.5 X 10^9 yr. Second, only ~0.1 M [sun cross]
seems now to reside in the asteroid belt. What has appended to the
other 89.9 M [sun cross]?

(ibid)

Here's another sfnal romp around planet Phaeton:

Science fiction naturally reflects the interest in this supposedly-
lost world, and continued to do so even as the hypothesis fell out
of scientific favour. The idea that something as large as a planet
could be destroyed both horrified and appealed to audiences, and -
particularly in the mid twentieth century when the world-shattering
potential of nuclear weaponry was recognised - suggested a deep
suspicion of the scientific theories and processes that might
release enough energy for the task.

<https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/astro/people/stanway/sciencefiction/cosmicstories/the_vermin_of/>

Danke,

--
Don.......My cat's )\._.,--....,'``. https://crcomp.net/reviews.php telltale tall tail /, _.. \ _\ (`._ ,. Walk humbly with thy God.
tells tall tales.. `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.' Make 1984 fiction again.


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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific
Theories

On 4/11/2024 10:08 AM, James Nicoll wrote:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific-theories/

Niven seems to have done a lot of these - memory RNA, Bussard ramjets,
etc.

Another that stands out for me is any story that posits that humanity
did not evolve on Earth. Our biochemistry and genetics are just too
similar to all other Earth life for that.

pt

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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

In article <cf1g1jlvc4325bh5aqt8bn5akut0qsc96f@4ax.com>,
Paul S Person <psperson@old.netcom.invalid> wrote:

On 11 Apr 2024 14:08:18 -0000, jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll)
wrote:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific-theories/

Wasn't there at least one novel based on the Steady-State Universe?

Starchild, by Pohl and Williamson.

--
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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific
Theories

In article <uv93d4$1pbbb$1@dont-email.me>,
Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:

On 4/11/2024 10:08 AM, James Nicoll wrote:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific-theories/

Niven seems to have done a lot of these - memory RNA, Bussard ramjets,
etc.

Another that stands out for me is any story that posits that humanity
did not evolve on Earth. Our biochemistry and genetics are just too
similar to all other Earth life for that.

Points to Hogan for addressing all of the obvious issues with ET
humans in Inherit the Stars.
--
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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific
Theories

On 11/04/2024 11.55, James Nicoll wrote:

In article <cf1g1jlvc4325bh5aqt8bn5akut0qsc96f@4ax.com>,
Paul S Person <psperson@old.netcom.invalid> wrote:

On 11 Apr 2024 14:08:18 -0000, jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll)
wrote:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific-theories/

Wasn't there at least one novel based on the Steady-State Universe?

Starchild, by Pohl and Williamson.

Also, _The Triumph of Time_, by James Blish.

--
Michael F. Stemper
Why doesn't anybody care about apathy?


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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific
Theories

On 11/04/2024 09.08, James Nicoll wrote:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific-theories/

Wasn't Vonnegut's "Ice Nine", as portrayed in _Cat's Cradle_, inspired
by polywater?

--
Michael F. Stemper
Why doesn't anybody care about apathy?


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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories


jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) writes:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific-theories/

There's a very nice short story based on The Origin of Consiousness
and the Bicameral Mind.

Anyone recall title & author which I forget?

--
Mike Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada

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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific
Theories

In article <uv99qu$1quav$2@dont-email.me>,
Michael F. Stemper <michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:

On 11/04/2024 09.08, James Nicoll wrote:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific-theories/

Wasn't Vonnegut's "Ice Nine", as portrayed in _Cat's Cradle_, inspired
by polywater?

I don't know.
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

On Apr 11, 2024, Scott Dorsey wrote
(in article <uv8rvl$7h9$1@panix2.panix.com>):

James Nicoll <jdnicoll@panix.com> wrote:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

Sure, but there are millions of these, starting with the thousands of
stories taking place on a watery venus or on a Mercury with only one face. That's not even counting retrophrenology.
--scott

There are even watery Venus stories written in the full knowledge of Venus’ reality. How Venus _got_ to be watery is a Major Plot Point. Examples
include:

1. David Drake’s Surface Action and The Jungle: Venus was terraformed by humans. Things got out of hand. Homocidal honeysuckle and five-ton monitor lizards are among the more minor problems.

2. S.M. Stirling’s The Sky People and In The Courts of the Crimson Kings
had Venus (and Mars) rebuilt by the Lords of Creation, who have Plans for humanity. Humanity doesn’t know what the plans are. They include a watery Venus, a habitable Mars. ad other toys, such as a Dyson sphere and working instant interstellar travel. And humanity, all three humanities from Earth, Mars and Venus (and yes, all three are subspecies or species close enough to interbreed, that’s been clearly established) have yet to actually meet the Lords of Creation. It’s been a while and they haven’t been back to check on their experiments. It’s not at all clear that they still exist. I forsee problems.


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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

On Apr 11, 2024, Cryptoengineer wrote
(in article <uv93d4$1pbbb$1@dont-email.me>):

On 4/11/2024 10:08 AM, James Nicoll wrote:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific-theor
ies/

Niven seems to have done a lot of these - memory RNA, Bussard ramjets,
etc.

Another that stands out for me is any story that posits that humanity
did not evolve on Earth. Our biochemistry and genetics are just too
similar to all other Earth life for that.

pt

Niven did that one, too. Protector. Which was linked to Known Space and directly contradicts the ‘mutated food yeast’ hypothesis from World of Ptavvs, also linked to Known Space.


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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

In article <0001HW.2BC87CCC0051425470000497138F@news.supernews.com>,
WolfFan <akwolffan@zoho.com> wrote:

On Apr 11, 2024, Cryptoengineer wrote
(in article <uv93d4$1pbbb$1@dont-email.me>):

On 4/11/2024 10:08 AM, James Nicoll wrote:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific-theor >> > ies/

Niven seems to have done a lot of these - memory RNA, Bussard ramjets,
etc.

Another that stands out for me is any story that posits that humanity
did not evolve on Earth. Our biochemistry and genetics are just too
similar to all other Earth life for that.

pt

Niven did that one, too. Protector. Which was linked to Known Space and >directly contradicts the ‘mutated food yeast’ hypothesis from World of >Ptavvs, also linked to Known Space.

It could be both Earth and the Protector home world were former Slaver
food worlds.

Kzin and Earth both were but I note that Kzin and humans have entirely different body plans. Why Protectors look so much like mammals is
hard to explain unless Protector ancestors came from Earth in the
first place. I blame the Outsiders.
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

In article <87frvrll0w.fsf@enoch.nodomain.nowhere>,
Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> wrote:

jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) writes:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific-theories/

There's a very nice short story based on The Origin of Consiousness
and the Bicameral Mind.

Anyone recall title & author which I forget?

I think it is a Turtledove.
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories Reply-To: slp53@pacbell.net

ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) writes:

In article <uv99i1$1quav$1@dont-email.me>,
Michael F. Stemper <michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:

On 11/04/2024 11.55, James Nicoll wrote:

In article <cf1g1jlvc4325bh5aqt8bn5akut0qsc96f@4ax.com>,
Paul S Person <psperson@old.netcom.invalid> wrote:

On 11 Apr 2024 14:08:18 -0000, jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll)
wrote:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor >>>>> but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific-theories/

Wasn't there at least one novel based on the Steady-State Universe?

Starchild, by Pohl and Williamson.

Also, _The Triumph of Time_, by James Blish.

Interesting, in that the coda for "Cities In Flight" is distinctly >non-steady-state.

Is it? To paraphrase another classic, a circle has no end....

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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

In article <XnsB151AF16AF916mmikedacomcastnet@85.12.62.219>,
Michael Ikeda <mmikeda@erols.com> wrote:

WolfFan <akwolffan@zoho.com> wrote in >news:0001HW.2BC87C1F005119BE70000497138F@news.supernews.com:

On Apr 11, 2024, Scott Dorsey wrote
(in article <uv8rvl$7h9$1@panix2.panix.com>):

James Nicoll <jdnicoll@panix.com> wrote:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of
scientific favor but not before they've found their way into
science fiction!

Sure, but there are millions of these, starting with the
thousands of stories taking place on a watery venus or on a
Mercury with only one face. That's not even counting
retrophrenology. --scott

There are even watery Venus stories written in the full
knowledge of Venus’ reality. How Venus _got_ to be watery is a
Major Plot Point. Examples include:

(snipped)

I seem to recall Dorothy Heydt mentioning here that she was working
on a book with watery Venus and Mars-with-canals.

If I recall correctly, it was set in the far future and there had
been a period of disorder and lost records between the time of the
story and the time of the terraforming so no one in the story
actually knew the details of how Mars and Venus became habitable,
although they did know that they weren't always habitable.

Al Sarrantonio's Masters of Mars has a set up like that, I think.
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific
Theories

On 4/11/2024 10:08 AM, James Nicoll wrote:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific-theories/

Thomas Gold was an astrophysicist, but like academics, opined in areas
well outside his training.

He, along with Fred Hoyle, pushed the Steady State Universe model for
many years. He also proposed the existance of a 'deep hot biosphere' of primitive bacteria living in bedrock pores down several miles.

Those bacteria supposedly fed on hydrocarbons, which Gold proposed were
created by non-biological process further down in the Earth, and
gradually rose to the surface. This implied that the supply of gas and
oil was essentially unlimited.

pt

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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific
Theories

On 4/11/2024 4:17 PM, WolfFan wrote:

On Apr 11, 2024, Cryptoengineer wrote
(in article <uv93d4$1pbbb$1@dont-email.me>):

On 4/11/2024 10:08 AM, James Nicoll wrote:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific-theor
ies/

Niven seems to have done a lot of these - memory RNA, Bussard ramjets,
etc.

Another that stands out for me is any story that posits that humanity
did not evolve on Earth. Our biochemistry and genetics are just too
similar to all other Earth life for that.

pt

Niven did that one, too. Protector. Which was linked to Known Space and directly contradicts the ‘mutated food yeast’ hypothesis from World of Ptavvs, also linked to Known Space.

That's what I was referring to.

pt

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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific
Theories

On 4/11/2024 4:44 PM, James Nicoll wrote:

In article <0001HW.2BC87CCC0051425470000497138F@news.supernews.com>,
WolfFan <akwolffan@zoho.com> wrote:

On Apr 11, 2024, Cryptoengineer wrote
(in article <uv93d4$1pbbb$1@dont-email.me>):

On 4/11/2024 10:08 AM, James Nicoll wrote:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific-theor >>>> ies/

Niven seems to have done a lot of these - memory RNA, Bussard ramjets,
etc.

Another that stands out for me is any story that posits that humanity
did not evolve on Earth. Our biochemistry and genetics are just too
similar to all other Earth life for that.

pt

Niven did that one, too. Protector. Which was linked to Known Space and
directly contradicts the ‘mutated food yeast’ hypothesis from World of >> Ptavvs, also linked to Known Space.

It could be both Earth and the Protector home world were former Slaver
food worlds.

If I want to nit-pick, I'd point out that 'yeast' is a eucaryote. If
that was all that was seeded, then where did procaryotes, which still
share a huge amount of genetics and biochemistry with us, come from?

pt


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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific
Theories

On 4/11/2024 2:23 PM, Michael F. Stemper wrote:

On 11/04/2024 09.08, James Nicoll wrote:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific-theories/

Wasn't Vonnegut's "Ice Nine", as portrayed in _Cat's Cradle_, inspired
by polywater?

Not that I recall. There actually is an 'ice-9' phase of water, but it
only stable temperatures below -40C, and 213 Mpascals of pressure
(about 300 atmospheres).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Phase_diagram_of_water.svg

pt


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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific
Theories

On 4/11/2024 4:08 PM, Mike Spencer wrote:

jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) writes:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific-theories/

There's a very nice short story based on The Origin of Consiousness
and the Bicameral Mind.

Anyone recall title & author which I forget?

There's an entire book based on it, but I too forget the author and
title. Late 80s, set in ancient Greece. I think 'sand' may have been
in the title.

pt

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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

In article <l7r1ahFebf0U2@mid.individual.net>,
ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) wrote:

In article <l7r18mFebf0U1@mid.individual.net>,
Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:

In article <87frvrll0w.fsf@enoch.nodomain.nowhere>,
Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> wrote:

jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) writes:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor >>> but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific-theor

ies/

There's a very nice short story based on The Origin of Consiousness
and the Bicameral Mind.

Anyone recall title & author which I forget?

Turtledove. "Bluff".

He sort of revisited the idea in _Between The Rivers_
--

BTW, has TOOC been "disproved"? I'm not sure how you could do that.

Assuming I remember the basic idea correctly, I can't see how it can be demonstrated (even with profoundly unethical experiments).

--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_. ‹-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com

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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific
Theories

On 11/04/2024 15.57, Scott Lurndal wrote:

ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) writes:

In article <uv99i1$1quav$1@dont-email.me>,
Michael F. Stemper <michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:

On 11/04/2024 11.55, James Nicoll wrote:

In article <cf1g1jlvc4325bh5aqt8bn5akut0qsc96f@4ax.com>,

Wasn't there at least one novel based on the Steady-State Universe?

Starchild, by Pohl and Williamson.

Also, _The Triumph of Time_, by James Blish.

Interesting, in that the coda for "Cities In Flight" is distinctly
non-steady-state.

Is it? To paraphrase another classic, a circle has no end....

Yeah, it is. At the end, Amalfi decides to roll the dice and start
his next universe in an explosive manner.

If one's really into hard-core retcons, one could say that the universe
that he explosively created is our big-bang universe, which is a direct descendant of a steady-state universe.

--
Michael F. Stemper
Always use apostrophe's and "quotation marks" properly.


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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

On 11 Apr 2024 21:00:01 GMT, ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan
<tednolan>) wrote:

In article <l7r18mFebf0U1@mid.individual.net>,
Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:

In article <87frvrll0w.fsf@enoch.nodomain.nowhere>,
Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> wrote:

jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) writes:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories
=20
Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific =

favor =20

but not before they've found their way into science fiction!
=20

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific= -theories/

There's a very nice short story based on The Origin of Consiousness
and the Bicameral Mind.

Anyone recall title & author which I forget?

Turtledove. "Bluff".

He sort of revisited the idea in _Between The Rivers_
--=20

BTW, has TOOC been "disproved"? I'm not sure how you could do that.

Until we can /define/ "consciousness" in a way that allows us to
detect it from the outside (as it were), neither proof nor disprove
are possible.

Whether such a definition would make it possible is a different issue.
--=20
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"

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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific
Theories

On 4/11/2024 8:49 PM, Cryptoengineer wrote:

On 4/11/2024 4:08 PM, Mike Spencer wrote:

jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) writes:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific-theories/

There's a very nice short story based on The Origin of Consiousness
and the Bicameral Mind.

Anyone recall title & author which I forget?

There's an entire book based on it, but I too forget the author and
title. Late 80s, set in ancient Greece. I think 'sand' may have been
in the title.

I was thinking of Wolfe's "Soldier in the Mist", but what I can find
online include no references to TOOC.

pt


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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific
Theories

On 11/04/2024 19.32, Cryptoengineer wrote:

On 4/11/2024 10:08 AM, James Nicoll wrote:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific-theories/

Thomas Gold was an astrophysicist, but like academics, opined in areas
well outside his training.

He, along with Fred Hoyle, pushed the Steady State Universe model for
many years. He also proposed the existance of a 'deep hot biosphere' of primitive bacteria living in bedrock pores down several miles.

Those bacteria supposedly fed on hydrocarbons, which Gold proposed were created by non-biological process further down in the Earth, and
gradually rose to the surface. This implied that the supply of gas and
oil was essentially unlimited.

This idea was used in L. Neil Smith's _Henry Martyn_, or at least mentioned.
I can't say how significant it was because I only ever got forty or fifty
pages into that train wreck.

<https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?670>

--
Michael F. Stemper
Nostalgia just ain't what it used to be.


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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

begin fnord
Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> writes:

There's a very nice short story based on The Origin of Consiousness
and the Bicameral Mind.

Not what you're thinking of (because not short story) but Stephenson's
_The Big U_ mentions bicameralism; one of the characters believes in it
but the narrative does not appear to take a stand. If I recall it turns
up in _Snow Crash_ as well.

--
Steve Coltrin spcoltri@omcl.org
"A group known as the League of Human Dignity helped arrange for Deuel
to be driven to a local livestock scale, where he could be weighed."
- Associated Press

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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

On 11 Apr 2024 14:08:18 -0000, jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll)
wrote:

Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

Plenty of exciting hypotheses eventually fall out of scientific favor
but not before they've found their way into science fiction!

https://reactormag.com/five-sf-novels-inspired-by-disproven-scientific-theories/

Polywater was even used in a Star Trek episode, "The Naked Time".

I believe that Pierre Boulle's "Monkey Planet" was similar enough to
the infamous series of movies based on it (the first one, of course,
was worthwhile, if only it had been left to stand on its own), Planet
of the Apes, that it was also based on the discredited theory that
white people were descended from chimpanzees, East Asians were
descended from orangutans, and black people were descended from
gorillas, as advocated for in the works of Carleton S. Coon.

One side of Mercury always facing the Sun, Venus being, if not a
tropical paradise, a livable hot swamp world, and Mars having a
breathable atmosphere... stories too many to count were based on
these, and it was reasonable to exclude them, as his column would have
been far less interesting if it included such obvious cases.

John Savard

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Subject: Re: (ReacTor) Five SF Novels Inspired by Disproven Scientific Theories

This doesn't qualify...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jdBiz_vwe0

a YouTube video telling us silly people who believe in other planets
and the stars being other suns that the Bible clearly states we live
on a flat Earth with the dome of the firmament over it, and therefore
that must be the truth, and the globe Earth must be a lie.

If somebody in 1960 predicted advanced cheap computers making the
Internet possible, and that someone would use it in 2024 to promulgate
videos like this, would anyone have believed a story based on such a far-fetched premise?

John Savard

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