Nicholas ([info]nhw) wrote,
@ 2005-02-08 06:55:00
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Entry tags:cold equations, cool links, work

A few random things
Our office in Jakarta is going to be closed tomorrow, for Chinese New Year, and the day after, for Muslim New Year. Somehow I find that pleasing; I suppose it's only a few times each century that the two fall so close together.

(And yes, my colleagues who were expelled from Jakarta last year are still expelled; but they are expats, and the local Indonesian staff are still there.)

Mysterious streak in the sky over Hawaii.

Michael Underwood on Tom Godwin's "The Cold Equations" (thanks, [info]yhlee).


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[info]sammywol
2005-02-08 09:03 am UTC (link)
Damn! You have caught me in gearing-up-to-teach-SF mode and have unleashed the prepared rant about 'the Cold Equations'. Underwood's essay is interesting and points to the heart of why this story is an important one canonically but a loud voice in my head still howls about the fact the central premise is total cobblers! This is like the 'all Cretans are liars' paradox. If you can't accept this story then you can't accept Hard SF because nature is physics and physics know no compromise. Except the physics is wrong - either the ship does have extra fuel or the ship is already not going to make it to its destination and in any case no amount of physics requires the girl to die by exposure to vaccuum. (Myles is now kibbtitzing other physics objections over my shoulder.) So although this is a story about Hard SF it is not an actual Hard SF story; it plays fast and loose with well understood physical laws to make a point about how you cannot play fast and loose with physical laws. ... sorry .. retires muttering ... mumble, grouse, give out ...........

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[info]wwhyte
2005-02-08 02:14 pm UTC (link)
Except the physics is wrong - either the ship does have extra fuel or the ship is already not going to make it to its destination

Hah, that's a good point.

I think, although it's not necessarily what the author intended, that a somewhat Marxist reading of the story makes sense: why does the corporation deliberately set things up so that the journey is so risky? What if something went wrong, even without extra weight? How has the corporation persuaded its pilots to accept this insanely risky method of transportation? In this case, by appealing to their sense of manliness, but isn't it pathetic that it works?

When you teach The Cold Equations, I hope you show the Blake's Seven episode "Orbit", which is BRILLIANT, at least in my memory. It's The Cold Equations without the sexism and with a brilliant homoerotic overtone.

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[info]sammywol
2005-02-08 03:29 pm UTC (link)
OK it is definitely time to dig out the Blakes 7 videos. I read your comment and said "'Orbit' yeah! that's one of my favourites - errr, which one is that again?" I haven't watched any B7 since being horribly traumatized by realizing that lovely Paul Darrow - he of the brilliant homoerotic overtones - is advertizing motorized invalid chairs. He'll be doing Cornhill Insurance next - whimpers.

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[info]wwhyte
2005-02-08 04:14 pm UTC (link)
It's the one where they're escaping something, and the baddie has put something on the ship so it's too heavy to reach orbit, and Avon throws everything off, and Orac says "The ship is too heavy by 65 kilograms", and Avon says "But I've thrown everything off", and Orac says "Vila weighs 70 kilograms", and there's a sudden terrible pause. It's the BEST ONE EVER.

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[info]nhw
2005-02-08 04:17 pm UTC (link)
See further discussion here.

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[info]sammywol
2005-02-08 09:12 pm UTC (link)
Yes! That's one of my favourite ones! I knew I was right about that much.

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