4 ms·
Agreed. It popped up in The Martian, but some of the early 'hard sci-fi' I read - Stephen Donaldson's The Gap series - described similar designs. Rendezvous w
by Jedd 8y ago
Agreed.
It popped up in The Martian, but some of the early 'hard sci-fi' I read - Stephen Donaldson's The Gap series - described similar designs. Rendezvous with Rama would be an earlier, more famous example. I've been surprised that it doesn't show up way more often.
- mirimir 8y agoIt's just cooler to assume non-rotational artificial gravity, I guess. Edit: And I do love Watts' design, because it handles the acceleration to coast transition so well.
- spurcell93 8y agoAdditionally, the implications of non rotational artificial gravity are more significant in a science fiction context. In foundation, Asimov regards "gravitics" as the pinnacle technological achievement of man (psychohistory notwithstanding).
- mirimir 8y agoTrue. And inertia management, which allows arbitrarily high acceleration, with no internal effects. Reynolds and Banks, for example. And they're an interesting juxtaposition, in that Reynolds tended to paint AIs as evil, while Banks' Minds are overall decent.