Here are some comments of the speed of the Whorl:<div><br></div><div><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
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<p class="p1">1</p>
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<p class="p2">You have to travel very fast to get to any stars because of their great distance. To reach even the closest star in 300 years, you</p>
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<p class="p2">would need a speed of about 1.5% of light (10,000,000 MPH)</p>
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<p class="p1">2</p>
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<p class="p2">It would take an enormous amount of energy to accelerate as massive an object as the Whorl to even 1.5% light speed. </p>
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<p class="p2">We don't know where this energy would come from.</p>
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<p class="p1">3</p>
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<p class="p2">A travel speed close to the speed of light would explain why only 300 years have elapsed on the Whorl while 1000 to 2000 years (a chiliad or 2) have gone by on Urth</p>
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<p class="p2">At 95% of speed of light, Whorl time would be 300 years for 1000 Urth years.</p>
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<p class="p2">At 99% of speed of light, Whorl time would be 300 years for 2000 Urth years</p>
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<p class="p1">4</p>
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<p class="p2">Of course, it's more complicated than that. You have to accelerate the ship up to a high speed, and then decelerate to stop at Blue-Green system.</p>
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<p class="p2">The rate of acceleration has to be slow, or the cargo would be pressed against the back of the ship.</p>
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<p class="p2">Acceleration would have to be very low. At an acceleration of 1/100 G, it would take about 97 years to get up to about speed of light.</p>
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<p class="p2">You could then coast for 100 years, and then decelerate for 97 years, making a total time of about 300 years ship time.</p>
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<p class="p1">5</p>
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<p class="p2">I'm not at all sure that Gene Wolfe made any exact calculations. It seems to me more likely that he just relied on time slowing down at speeds close to the speed of light.</p>
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</table><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Jun 2, 2011 at 1:38 PM, Sergei SOLOVIEV <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:soloviev@irit.fr">soloviev@irit.fr</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
I made some computations (simplified) and it seems to me that indeed<br>
GW does not pay too much attention either to physics or to chronology. Very roughly,<br>
with constant acceleration of 1 m/sec^2 it is needed about 50 years to get<br>
to relativistic speed, and the same to slow down. But for the hollow<br>
asteroid such as Whorl where inside you have lakes etc, 1 m/sec^2<br>
is already too much - if its rotation imitates ordinary gravity near Viron,<br>
the effect will be as if the flatland near the city becomes inclined about 10%.<br>
What will become to all liquids? Buildings? What will happen near the poles?<br>
The point is, I think, that we should be not very critical to technical details<br>
because the "convention" (between the author and the reader) is not<br>
very rigorous.<br>
<br>
Sergei<br>
<br>
<br>
Gerry Quinn wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<br>
From: "Sergei SOLOVIEV" <<a href="mailto:soloviev@irit.fr" target="_blank">soloviev@irit.fr</a>><br>
<br>
<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Moses made Jews wander 40 years through Sinai. If you take the shortest way, it is<br>
at most a few hundred kilometres. What makes you think that the Whorl had<br>
taken the shortest path to its destination? It could very well go with relativistic<br>
speed and make a detour. It seems also that the plan might include that the Whorl<br>
will come back and repeople Urth (Ushas) after the floods etc. - in the end<br>
of the Short Sun cycle it is going to be repaired and travel again - to go where?<br>
Some hints are also in the end of "The Urth of the New Sun".<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
It's not easy to turn a relativistic asteroid! And it doesn't seem like they stopped anywhere en route, so why waste all that energy?<br>
<br>
If Typhon wanted to repopulate Urth at a later time (but he says nothing of any such plan when he meets Severian in BotNS) he could have put sleepers on Lune or something. But anyway he had no reason to make any such plan.<br>
<br>
My impression is that the Whorl is intended to be repaired and explore further among the stars. Perhaps that was the original plan, derailed by the death of Pas.<br>
<br>
- Gerry Quinn<br>
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</blockquote>
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</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Best wishes,<br>Jack<br>
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