4 ms·
I wrote about this fellow back in 2007[1]. In 1935 he was asked to make predictions about what chemistry/science will accomplish by 2035. Some are pretty wild,
by DamnInteresting 4y ago
I wrote about this fellow back in 2007[1]. In 1935 he was asked to make predictions about what chemistry/science will accomplish by 2035. Some are pretty wild, but others are spot-on, such as:
• Interplanetary travel, involving the production of a substance that will produce more energy per pound than is required to lift that pound out of the Earth’s gravitational field.
• The end of visiting; people will stay at home and call on their friends by television.
[1] https://www.damninteresting.com/the-ethyl-poisoned-earth/ https://www.damninteresting.com/the-ethyl-poisoned-earth/
- whatshisface 4y agoThat substance: ordinary methane.
- Kim_Bruning 4y ago> Interplanetary travel, involving the production of a substance that will produce more energy per pound than is required to lift that pound out of the Earth’s gravitational field. Arthur C. Clarke had some words to say about this persistent idea in The Promise Of Space. You don't actually want to lift your pound of fuel <out of earth's gravitational field>, that would be useless. You actually want to burn it as early as possible to lift a pound of something else (preferably cargo). Every second you burn it sooner, the less high you need to lift it. Ideally you'd burn all your fuel on the ground in second 0. Sadly, releasing that much energy all at once tends to lead to Rapid Undesired Disassembly. Hence space rockets burn for a little longer (but still as quickly as possible).