<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10pt"><div><span>Totally. I'm not sure why, then, you would classify Urth as "driven by a scientific premise."<br></span></div><div><br><blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; margin-top: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"> <div style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> <div style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <div dir="ltr"> <font face="Arial" size="2"> <hr size="1"> <b><span style="font-weight:bold;">From:</span></b> Lee Berman <severiansola@hotmail.com><br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> "urth@urth.net" <urth@urth.net> <br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Thursday, November 29, 2012 11:35 AM<br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> (urth) Hard SF<br> </font> </div>
<br><br><br>>Andrew Mason: I think 'hard SF' is an essentially ambiguous term. It can mean what<br>>Antonio says - I think Asimov defined it that way, for instance - or<br>>it can mean SF which is scientifically accurate. It is widely used in<br>>the latter sense as well.<br><br>Thanks, Andrew. I think the recognition of both meanings is helpful. <br><br>I think Urth and its dying red sun qualify as hard SF in Antonio's/Asimov's sense<br>of being driven by a scientific premise but doesn't qualify as being scientifically<br>accurate. Would a sun that drastically diminished really still be able to support tropical<br>jungles on Urth? I'd question the liklihood of any major plant growth under those conditions.<br><br>I suppose you could make some sort of elaborate argument for how it could happen but I think<br>Wolfe's red sun was more of a literary choice than a scienfific one.
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