I mentioned in a previous newsletter that in the early 1950s, I lived next to the area used in the 1939 New York World's Fair. Here I found a stone column marking the position of a so-called Time Capsule. The capsule contained various items that would reveal what the world was like at the time of placement to the civilization of 6939. A duplicate of the Time Capsule was also on view at New York's Hayden Planetarium. As this was one of my favorite places to visit, I had many chances to see copies of the items contained in the capsule. I'm sure the future openers will be especially excited by the included packet of Camel cigarettes. Another Time Capsule was placed near the original during the 1964 World's Fair. Due to climate change, the region will probably be underwater long before 5000 years have passed. Science fiction is filled with stories of what may happen if peoples from different times meet. So let us examine what I feel are two of the best that appeared during the golden age.
The first, The End of Eternity, by Isaac Asimov, appeared in the early 1950s. It is genuinely original and, in my opinion, far better than much of his more famous works. The basic setup is revealed in the opening pages of the novel. The organization, known as Eternity, exists in a separate time stream and has access to any point in our normal time, which is called real-time in the novel. The Eternals are not immortal, and they live and die as time passes in the time stream of Eternity. They interact with the various regions of real-time and even serve as a business that controls the import and export of goods between areas of real-time. Unknown to those living in real-time, they frequently make changes to events. These changes propagate up-when (into the future) in real-time and change events. Thus their manipulations may remove individuals from existence altogether or wipe out large numbers of people. The Eternals justify these actions as it is felt they prevent significant disasters such as war or plague. Unlike much of Asimov's work, the personality and interactions of the characters are relatively deep. There are also many exciting plot twists as the very existence of Eternity is challenged.
The second book, October the First is too Late, is by the well-known Welsh astrophysicist Fred Hoyle. The book appeared in 1965 and was one of many of his science fiction novels. Hoyle was responsible for several important theories. One, the idea of the steady-state universe created many discussions but eventually lost out to the Big Bang theory. Hoyle coined the term Big Bang to deride this theory. Many of his novels were based on imaginative scientific speculations. The most famous, The Black Cloud, posed self-awareness being developed by an interstellar dust cloud.
His novel October the First is Too Late explores two ideas: the idea of space-time and the dynamics of population expansion. In his introduction to the book, he states that while, for the most part, the reader should take the story as pure fiction. However, he stresses that the discussion of these ideas should be taken seriously. The story does not encounter the usual paradoxes associated with time travel. In fact, in a way, it is not really about time travel. Yet, it seems very much like a time travel story leaving the reader with some interesting puzzles to ponder. The main character is not the usual scientist that figures everything out encountered in most of Hoyle's stories. Instead he is a composer and an accomplished pianist. Music plays a large part in the story, and musical terms are used as chapter headings. There was added interest for me in the descriptions of the scientific establishment of the 1960s, the period when I did my graduate work and entered the world of engineering and physics. If you wonder what time is and what the future holds for humanity, this book will certainly get you thinking.
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