phileas fogg
Active Member
I'm looking for Science fiction with realistic descriptions like it was written by an engineer.
Realistic Engineering?
- Thread starter phileas fogg
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How realistic? Probably Andy Weir has some of the best descriptions of actual practical engineering I've encountered. Stephen Baxter, Arthur C Clarke and their like are very good with the physics, but they tend to go for huge physics 'concepts' and be less interested in the detailed engineering. Weir will go into things like what the filler is between the inner and outer hulls of lunar bases, what the mix of atmospheric gasses is, etc, and makes them plots points.
"I'm looking for Science fiction with realistic descriptions like it was written by an engineer".
Oh, Dear God. I'm an Engineer. I promise you, you don't want to read anything written by me.
On the other hand, Robert Heinlein was a Mechanical Engineer, and he did good stuff.
So did Sprague DeCamp.
Oh, Dear God. I'm an Engineer. I promise you, you don't want to read anything written by me.
On the other hand, Robert Heinlein was a Mechanical Engineer, and he did good stuff.
So did Sprague DeCamp.
From the 'old school' shelf Arthur C. Clarke is pretty robust on science and realistic possibilities.
www.cnet.com
I haven't completely written off his "elevator to space" either, That is mainly a materials issue.
8 predictions Arthur C. Clarke got right decades ago (pictures)
"2001" author Arthur C. Clarke brought us some frightening visions of the future that have yet to come to pass. But he also nailed an awful lot about 21st-century life.
www.cnet.com
Serendipity
A Traditional Eccentric!
Realistic engineering in science fiction? I haven't seen much in the way of engineering in science fiction being published lately. It's as if it is being pushed out of the publishing markets.
The serious worry I have I that there is a humungous amount of new technology being discovered and invented these days, which is not being pulled through into the genre. A lot of what is left of realistic technological science fiction these days is being extrapolated from old technology and not from the newer inventions. This has all sorts of detrimental implications, which if I started on them, would make this post sound like a rant (even if it is justified).
As for Mars - I personally think authors have missed a significant trick in how to terraform the planet. It makes a massive difference in how to go about it.
The serious worry I have I that there is a humungous amount of new technology being discovered and invented these days, which is not being pulled through into the genre. A lot of what is left of realistic technological science fiction these days is being extrapolated from old technology and not from the newer inventions. This has all sorts of detrimental implications, which if I started on them, would make this post sound like a rant (even if it is justified).
As for Mars - I personally think authors have missed a significant trick in how to terraform the planet. It makes a massive difference in how to go about it.
That's legit criticism - I arrived at 'The Martian' via an interview with Weir where he admitted he'd hugely fudged the possible amount of momentum the Martian wind could transfer to an object, for the sake of a dramatic start to the story, so I was prepared for liberties to be taken in that regard.
I think there's good ground for debate there on where & when it is OK to take liberties, for the sake of story, in a work of fiction deliberately aiming for realism. I've read The Martian and Artemis, and found that Weir was pretty good on the whole - there are a few other places where he's stretched the truth, but the big storm at the start of The Martian is the only one that really flew in the face of suspension-of-disbelief for me.
Cards on the table: Despite being a big hard sci-fi fan I'm the type of person who is quite capable of enjoying something like Star Wars despite it resembling a fever dream scripted by a ten year old, when held next to something like The Expanse. But I'll note that - although The Expanse is pretty good in terms of its depiction of Newtonian physics - a lot of specifics of that, like its treatment of fusion engines, take some liberties for the sake of moving the story along.
It's all relative, and for me Weir got a lot more right than wrong, and where he got it wrong he appears to have at least done so on purpose for story's sake - and so, being prepared for it, I was willing to forgive him.
Cards on the table: Despite being a big hard sci-fi fan I'm the type of person who is quite capable of enjoying something like Star Wars despite it resembling a fever dream scripted by a ten year old, when held next to something like The Expanse. But I'll note that - although The Expanse is pretty good in terms of its depiction of Newtonian physics - a lot of specifics of that, like its treatment of fusion engines, take some liberties for the sake of moving the story along.
It's all relative, and for me Weir got a lot more right than wrong, and where he got it wrong he appears to have at least done so on purpose for story's sake - and so, being prepared for it, I was willing to forgive him.
I've never read anything of his, though I'm aware of his story 'Into The Wet' , and that he had his own aeronautical company IIRC? If I get some time I'll check him out.
I read “A Town like Alice” years ago, had no idea same author wrote science fiction.
Many of his books were science fiction at the time he wrote them ('Rainbow' and 'Alice' were exeptions). He was so good at predicting the future that they now read like historical fiction.
'In the Wet' is an example; it was written in the 1950s but described events in the 1980s. He accurately depicted the performance of small business jets 25 years before their time. But that's not surprising - he was one of the world's best aircraft designers.
'Kindling' was written before WWII about the early days of that war. The only thing it got wrong was gas attacks.
'On the Beach' is about the aftermath of a nuclear war. It is absolutely horrifying in a low key way.
'No Highway' was the first novel to describe fatigue failures in commercial aircraft. It was published 18 months before the BOAC Comet fatigue failure crashes.
'An Old Captivity' is one of my two favorite books, the other being 'The Moon is a Harsh Mistress'. 'Captivity' isn't exactly science fiction - but it is close.
'Round the Bend' (1951) loosely reminds me in some ways of a more technical and less sexy version of 'Stranger in a Strange Land' (1961). Ginny too - she didn't like it for that reason. And no, Robert didn't copy anything from 'Bend'.
'In the Wet' is an example; it was written in the 1950s but described events in the 1980s. He accurately depicted the performance of small business jets 25 years before their time. But that's not surprising - he was one of the world's best aircraft designers.
'Kindling' was written before WWII about the early days of that war. The only thing it got wrong was gas attacks.
'On the Beach' is about the aftermath of a nuclear war. It is absolutely horrifying in a low key way.
'No Highway' was the first novel to describe fatigue failures in commercial aircraft. It was published 18 months before the BOAC Comet fatigue failure crashes.
'An Old Captivity' is one of my two favorite books, the other being 'The Moon is a Harsh Mistress'. 'Captivity' isn't exactly science fiction - but it is close.
'Round the Bend' (1951) loosely reminds me in some ways of a more technical and less sexy version of 'Stranger in a Strange Land' (1961). Ginny too - she didn't like it for that reason. And no, Robert didn't copy anything from 'Bend'.
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It means I posted something, and then realised it had already been said, but you cannot delete posts for some reason, so didn't know what to leave in place. Maybe writing "ignore" would have been better.
For what its worth Heinlein's work doesn't strike me as being obviously from a solid engineering perspective. Clarke did (well, more so).
For what its worth Heinlein's work doesn't strike me as being obviously from a solid engineering perspective. Clarke did (well, more so).
I've always liked The Trustee from the Toolroom and looking at the list realise I've not read 1, 2 and 4. Must do that. I love a Town Like Alice and The Far Country. Requiem for a Wren is very sad. Must try re-reading it sometime to see my view of it thirty years on.
What you might really enjoy, are his memoirs "Slide Rule" which includes the building of the airship during the depression. Some amazing information in there. Before he was on the airship, he was working on designing aircraft in a company based in a disused bus station, and when an aircraft was built, they had to take it on a road trip to get it to the airfield to fly. It counted as a large load and there was a very complicated journey in the middle of the night to get it to where it was going.
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