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<div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Mar 20, 2009 at 1:53 PM, Jerry Friedman <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jerry_friedman@yahoo.com">jerry_friedman@yahoo.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
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<div class="im"><br>--- On Fri, 3/20/09, John Watkins <<a href="mailto:john.watkins04@gmail.com">john.watkins04@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>> Dorcas thinks that the Claw works by reversing time.<br>> I've always thought<br>
> that that was wrong-headed--that it just works because<br>> it's divine power--magic.<br>><br>> Now that I read this passage, however, I'm starting to<br>> come around to<br>> Dorcas's view. My knowledge of physics is pretty<br>
> minimal, but I have this<br>> vague idea that time slows down as one speeds up and would<br>> actually go<br>> backwards if one could exceed the speed of light, which of<br>> course is impossible.<br></div>
...<br><br>In Special Relativity, exceeding the speed of light would<br>not make time go backwards. Formally, it would make time<br>an imaginary number (one reason to think exceeding the speed<br>of light is impossible).<br>
<br>However, still in SR, if you could exceed the speed of light,<br>you could go backwards in time in a roundabout way. Like<br>the lady named Bright, you could go from point A at a<br>certain time to point B at a similar time (whether before<br>
or after depends on your reference frame) and back to<br>point A at an earlier time than when you set out (another<br>reason to think exceeding the speed of light is<br>impossible).<br></blockquote>
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<div>This may or may not be a crucial plot point in An Evil Guest.</div>
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<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid"><span id=""></span><br>As I recall, there are suggestions of SR in the Sun books,<br>but I don't see them as "hard science" based on it. They're<br>
much more speculative.<br><br>I too enjoy Jordon's idea that the goblet once held wine.<br><br>By the way, I annoyed Michael Andre-Driussi on this list<br>by arguing with him about relativity (I think) and not<br>mentioning till after he continued arguing that I teach<br>
physics. So to avoid that--trust me, I'm a physicist<br>(sort of).</blockquote>
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<div>Thanks...as I said, my understanding of the topic is vague at best. I appreciate the correction.</div>
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<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid"><span id=""></span><br><font color="#888888"><br>Jerry Friedman<br></font>
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