XPost: alt.usage.english, rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.books   
   From: peter@pmoylan.org.invalid   
      
   On 12/09/13 16:36, Snidely wrote:   
   > on 7/25/2013, Steve Hayes supposed :   
   >> On Thu, 25 Jul 2013 07:37:58 +0800, Robert Bannister   
   >>    
   >> wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> I would have thought that most people who read SF&F are aware that   
   >>> FTL, time travel, telepathy, etc. do not work and cannot work. Back   
   >>> when I was twelve, these were all thought to be possibilities.   
   >>> Moreover, although only a few really knew the details of real science   
   >>> at the time, it was possible to understand the broad ideas, and   
   >>> Asimov and others spent a lot of time explaining them. Modern science   
   >>> is way beyond the imagination of those not involved.   
   >   
   > Hmmm.  I'm not sure that Stephen Hawking is that hard to read, at least   
   > in _A Brief History of Time_ and _The Universe in a Nutshell_.  I've   
   > only dabbled in George Gamow, but his books made an impression on the   
   > public, especially the public that was buying science fiction.   
      
   I've read Hawking, but I've also met many people who gave up on his   
   books, as being too difficult to understand.   
      
   When we understand something ourselves, we don't always appreciate why   
   other people can't follow it.   
      
   --   
   Peter Moylan, Newcastle, NSW, Australia.      http://www.pmoylan.org   
   For an e-mail address, see my web page.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)