Tau Zero at 50

[Al Jackson]

Not only is this the 50th anniversary of Tau Zero but also Niven's Ringworld was published in 1970.
Interesting that two 'hard SF; novels were up for a Hugo in 1971.
Ringworld won.
One also notes the Bussard Interstellar Ram Jet is 60 years old this year. Published in 1960.

 

[Vince W]

I love Ringworld, but I think it's fairly low on the SF hardness scale. Tau Zero is certainly harder to my way of thinking. Regardless, it was a difficult year for Hugo voters.

 

[BAYLOR]

I love Ringworld, but I think it's fairly low on the SF hardness scale. Tau Zero is certainly harder to my way of thinking. Regardless, it was a difficult year for Hugo voters.

I've heard of Tau Zero , but have never read it.

 

[Vince W]

You should read it @BAYLOR, it's one of Anderson's best and that's saying something.

 

[Al Jackson]

I love Ringworld, but I think it's fairly low on the SF hardness scale. Tau Zero is certainly harder to my way of thinking. Regardless, it was a difficult year for Hugo voters.

Ringworld had a lot of Hand-Wave super science in it, Niven was aware of all the physics problems … maybe there ought to be a category of quasi-hard-SF ? Stories that contain plausible sounding super science .... but is really way out in the tail of the distribution.

 

[Vince W]

We really ought to develop a science fiction Mohs scale.

 

[Pyan]

We really ought to develop a science fiction Mohs scale.

If there's ever been a more debate-inducing suggestion, I've yet to hear it...

 

[Ashley R]

Well, how about this link to TV Tropes, MOHS scale of hardness?

Mohs Scale Of Science Fiction Hardness - TV Tropes

Note: This page was cut for reason: Moved to SlidingScale.Mohs Scale Of Science Fiction Hardness Creating red links in 4 articles.Abandoning 91648 inbound links.You may want to ask in Ask The Tropers about whether it's safe to recreate.Inexact …

tvtropes.org

 

[Parson]

Well, how about this link to TV Tropes, MOHS scale of hardness?

Mohs Scale Of Science Fiction Hardness - TV Tropes

Note: This page was cut for reason: Moved to SlidingScale.Mohs Scale Of Science Fiction Hardness Creating red links in 4 articles.Abandoning 91648 inbound links.You may want to ask in Ask The Tropers about whether it's safe to recreate.Inexact …

tvtropes.org

Interesting. As a concept without drawing hard lines it is true. As soon as you try to apply it specifically to works you're likely to get into difficulty.