Re: Spin gravity and tangents (was Re: OFF-TOPIC mini review B5 Wars)

Christopher Weuve wrote:
> 
> Apologies in advance for the tangental topics below.
> 
> 1) On Wed, Jul 30, 1997 at 12:57:29 PM, "Phillip E. Pournelle" wrote:
> 
> 
> Another good example of this is Michael McCollum's _Antares_ series,
which
> includes ships with rings surrounding a cylindrical core. The ships
rotate
> when not accelerating or engaging in hangar bay ops.
> 
> I recommend McCollum's books, with one caveat -- if you haven't read
either
> _Mote_ nor the _Antares_ books, read the _Antares_ books *first*.  The
> technology is fundamentally similar in both (except McCollum doesn't
have
> force fields), and while MM does a better job of describing what the
ships
> look like, the mechanics of the jump drive, etc., JEP and LN are
better
> prosesmiths.	This should not be interpreted as a criticism of Mr.
McCollum --
> I am a _really_ big fan of his work, and own all of his novels.  (I
may own
> all of JEP's, as well -- he's more prolific, so there's more to keep
track
> of.)	See my sig below for info on McCollum.
> 
> 2) Has anyone attempted a gaming campaign based on either the _Mote_
or
> _Antares_ backgrounds?  I would expect that Pournelle's end of the
First
> Empire period (Sauron War) would provide some exciting campaigns, as
would the
> battle between the _MacArthur_ and the New Chicago cruiser in
_Reflex_.
> 
> 3) There was a long thread about rotating ships/sections on the
_2300ad_
> mailing list.  One of the members, a former naval aviator turned
physics PhD
> candidate, points out that for ship-size objects, there are some nasty
side
> effects of spin.  Basically, if your head is oriented in a particular
> direction, it feels like gravity, but if you turn your head sideways,
the
> coriolis effect does all sorts of nasty things to your inner ear.
> 
> 4) As an alternative to spin, Marshall Savage argues in his _The
Millennial
> Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in 8 Easy Steps_ (1992) that the latest
> research indicates that special skin-tight garments and
electro-stimulation of
> muscle groups (while sleeping) would provide the necessary tension and
> exercise to prevent loss of bone mass and muscle tone.  He also
postulates
> spacesuits of the skin-tight semi-permeable design used by JEP and LN
in
> _Mote_, with tungsten armor over the top of them for radiation
shielding.
> 
> I enjoyed the first thirty pages of this book so much that I called up
the
> First Millenial Foundation and ordered a second copy in hardcover. 
I'm not
> sure I buy all of Mr. Savage's calculations, but the man sure has
vision, and
> the book is definitely worth the $25 (hardcover) price tag.
> 
> http://www.millennial.org
> http://www.millennial.org/~pzack/FMFStore/Store.html

Yes it is VERY interesting! 8) Lots of info to build an imaginary future
around.

My freind picked his copy up at an "overuns/discontinued" bookstore for
only $4....It does pay to keep your eyes open! 

> 
> 5) Has anyone else:
> 
> (a) seen the disappointing _Guide to Larry Niven's Ringworld_?;
> 
> (s) concluded that the publisher should have simply acquired the
rights to the
> _Ringworld_ rpg, stripped out the game-related stuff, and published it
as the
> _Guide_ instead?; and
> 
> (d) thought that a _Guide to Jerry Pournelle's CoDominium_ (complete
with lots
> of blueprints and tech data) would be something they would purchase?
> 
> I suggested the latter to JEP once; he responded that he didn't think
there
> was any market for it.  <sigh>
> 
> Well, enough tangents for one day.
> 
> -- Chris Weuve   [My opinions, not my employer's.]
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
> mailto:caw@wizard.net (h)	    Sci Fi-Arizona: books and essays by
> mailto:caw@intercon.com (w)	    Michael McCollum 
<http://www.scifi-az.com/>

Donald Hosford