From: jdnicoll@panix.com   
      
   In article <0001HW.2E55102F0049C4B5700008B5C38F@news.supernews.com>,   
   WolfFan   wrote:   
   >On Aug 19, 2025, Vincent Maycock wrote   
   >(in article<4ij9aklhcdektihdnr6k6ou9gpg3n1rm5b@4ax.com>):   
   >   
   snip   
      
   >> So because you want to travel through space, Newtonian mechanics   
   >> *must* be wrong?   
   >   
   >that’s it, right there.   
   >>   
      
   It's a classic motivation for magic space drives, going back at   
   least as far as John W. Campbell, jr.   
      
   (from Space for Industry, 1960, which ran in Astounding/Analog)   
      
   "In the first place, we're never going to get any engineering use of   
   space until we get something enormously better than rockets.   
      
   (...)   
      
   So: assume some form of true space-drive. A modified skyhook or an   
   antigravity gadget--anything. It's a space-truck--not a delicate and   
   hyper-expensive rocket. It can carry tons, and work for years."   
      
   The whole essay can be found in Collected Editorials from Analog,   
   which I once described as like "eating a whole box of bon-bons,   
   if said bon-bons were not in fact candy but deceptively-shaped   
   pieces of dog-shit."   
      
   The only real product of Campbell's relentless space drive advocacy   
   was a tendency of SF authors to write stories about magical space   
   drives because while Campbell was an unpleasant, racist, kook, he   
   paid well and he paid on time.   
      
   --   
   My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/   
   My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/   
   My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/   
   My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)