h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

At a guess, I'd say Childhood's End.

its not easy being a sf writer

Startide Rising by David Brin.

Thanks to the discovery of Buckminster Fullerine (C60),
Clarke's space elevator (see Fountains of Paradise)may be
feasable........

Also, watch this space for the 'RAMA' series...............!!!

'G'

I didn´t think that even Bucky would have been strong enough for that. But making one would really be a revolution. Though I´m sure many religious groups would feel we were building a Bables Tower.

Speaking of space travel, does anybody know of a good way to make artificial gravity? I mean as in a spaceship. Rotating it is one way, but wouldn´t the gyroscope effect make it really hard to turn the ship?

One of the later Foundation books by Asimov had a ship that manipulated gravity for both inside the ship and used it as a means of moving the ship. I think it was Foundation and Earth.

Robert L. Forward's book Indistinguishable from Magic talks about a lot of the ways for doing things that they have in science fiction.

Artificial gravity could be made (i think) using a centrifuge. But the best way would probably be to accelerate (at a rate of about 9 per second per second if you wanted to make earth-like gravity) or to decelerate at the same rate.

that's 9 feet per second per second!

Well, I was thinking of realistic methods of making artificial gravity. "Manipulating gravity" would require enourmous amounts of energy and I don´t think using it for those purposes will be possible for some millenia. The centrifuge thing would give the problem of turning the spaceship, as I talked about earlier. And keeping that particular acceleration wouldn´t be much of an idea either, having a spaceship that can only travel at certain velocities. And what if you turned a spaceship, after it had accelerate at that rate for some time, wouldn´t the g-force just tear everybody apart?

Circular cross section craft. Spin on the long axis and you have acceleration towards the edges. If the craft is large enough then you wouldn't notice the spin (ie the wheel style of space station as in 2001).
The other option is to not bother with introducing an artificial gravity and have all the work done in 0g - magnetic soled shoes etc could be used...

The wheel shape would probably be the only useable one for spinning. Having a cross-like one wouldn´t be that clever. Because going from one end to the other you would go through many shifts in gravity. But magnetic shoes is no good, you would stick to the floor, but your body would still face the effect of microgravity. Magnetic shoes is more something that should be used in the port where spaceships would land.

Iain M Banks. Stephen baxter.

Suggestions from each author:

Timelike Infinity (Baxter)

Excession
Use of Weapons
Consider Phlebas (IM Banks)

If you like Iain M Banks, also try Walking on Glass by Iain (no M) Banks. About Iain Banks's only book (Walking on Glass is very very very good).

Hello? Iain Banks' only book? What about Espedair Street - one of my favourites about an aging rock musician, or The Bridge - which borders on SF, or Complicity - a rather gory, but clever, murder mystery, or The Crow Road, a not so gory but quite fun murder mystery? Or Is? or Song of Stone?

Blew a synapse there I think:
Message ends: Or Whit? or Song of Stone?

The only one that's in the least bit readable is Song of Stone, and that's really really twisted (but a very good book, nonetheless). I've read Whit, the Crow Road, the Busines (Or whatever it's called), and a few others, and I liked them about as much as I liked Feersumm Enjinn, IMB's only bad book.

Aren't Iain M Banks and Iain Banks the same guy, anyway?

The magnetic soled boots might be ok for holding you on to things, but they wouldn't help with problems like blood accumulating in your head, and the other gravity-dependent physiological effects.

Iain Banks (middle name Murray isn't it) adds the M initial for his Sf work to distinguish it from his other works.

*nods*... although it has to be noted that some of IMB's books are very un-sf like. (eg. Inversions)

Well i still like Espedair Street. call me soppy if you like...

soppy if you like. :-p