Greg Egan is a mathematician, and has been a great favorite of mine over the years. He is also great on computing & physics, including quantum.
He's done several stories in a settings where the laws of physics are different. In this case, 8 different leptons with masses differing by powers of 2 create 8 kinds of matter - the heavier leptons create smaller atoms & denser everything. We have a civilization with people in 8 different sizes: let's say 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1, 0.5" tall. But they all weigh about the same. In addition to everything being denser, internal clocks including mental also run faster & lifespans are shorter the smaller you are.
A bit of a stretch. Some plot added on top, also somewhat far-fetched. I went back through this blog searching Greg Egan, he has been prominently featured & bragged on since inception, 2003. But, his days of edge may be over. He is 64 YO now, 10 years younger than me. This was his 2nd most recent novel, I have his latest on the iPad, it'll be a while before I get to it, but we'll see how it goes.
No comments:
Post a Comment