Saturday 13 June 2015

Two Ways To The End Of The Universe

In Tau Zero by Poul Anderson, a spaceship accelerates relativistically between groups of groups of groups of galaxies while the universe collapses and re-expands. By entering the new universe, the ship becomes able to decelerate so that its crew can colonize a planet.

In The Triumph Of Time by James Blish, a planet flies at many times light speed to the place from which the monobloc exploded to become the groups of metagalaxies that still spiral back toward that center. By occupying the Metagalactic Center, the planet will temporarily survive a collision between this universe and its anti-matter counterpart and a specially prepared group of "Survivors" will each be able to create a new universe from his or her own body.

Would you prefer to be in Anderson's spaceship or on Blish's planet?

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I would prefer to be in the "Eleonora Christine" because I find the scenario in TAU ZERO far more scientifically plausible than in Blish's novel THE TRIUMPH OF TIME.

Sean