Novel where the speed of light is comparable to the speed of sound
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I am trying to discover the name of a book recommended to me by my school physics teacher some 48 years ago. The premise of the book is that the proponents visit a world where the speed of light is comparable to the speed of sound and how this affects all aspects of life.
story-identification novel speed-of-light
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up vote
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I am trying to discover the name of a book recommended to me by my school physics teacher some 48 years ago. The premise of the book is that the proponents visit a world where the speed of light is comparable to the speed of sound and how this affects all aspects of life.
story-identification novel speed-of-light
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c021752c is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Do you remember anything else about this you can edit in like how it affects life or did you just get told a basic overview?
– TheLethalCarrot
59 mins ago
I am fairly sure they only calculated the speed of speed much later. Thunder and lightning would not have been different entities.
– Raptor
58 mins ago
More detail is needed; I can think of at least two potential answers to this, one of which was written as an accessible explanation to young people, the other a SF novel where the slow speed of light was an important plot point, but the story not intended as educational.
– Jeff Zeitlin
53 mins ago
2
George Gamow's Mr Tompkins in Wonderland (1939) immediately comes to mind, though the speed of light there is a mere 10 mph.
– Klaus Æ. Mogensen
43 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
6
down vote
favorite
up vote
6
down vote
favorite
I am trying to discover the name of a book recommended to me by my school physics teacher some 48 years ago. The premise of the book is that the proponents visit a world where the speed of light is comparable to the speed of sound and how this affects all aspects of life.
story-identification novel speed-of-light
New contributor
c021752c is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I am trying to discover the name of a book recommended to me by my school physics teacher some 48 years ago. The premise of the book is that the proponents visit a world where the speed of light is comparable to the speed of sound and how this affects all aspects of life.
story-identification novel speed-of-light
story-identification novel speed-of-light
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c021752c is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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edited 59 mins ago


TheLethalCarrot
34.2k14189232
34.2k14189232
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asked 1 hour ago
c021752c
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Do you remember anything else about this you can edit in like how it affects life or did you just get told a basic overview?
– TheLethalCarrot
59 mins ago
I am fairly sure they only calculated the speed of speed much later. Thunder and lightning would not have been different entities.
– Raptor
58 mins ago
More detail is needed; I can think of at least two potential answers to this, one of which was written as an accessible explanation to young people, the other a SF novel where the slow speed of light was an important plot point, but the story not intended as educational.
– Jeff Zeitlin
53 mins ago
2
George Gamow's Mr Tompkins in Wonderland (1939) immediately comes to mind, though the speed of light there is a mere 10 mph.
– Klaus Æ. Mogensen
43 mins ago
add a comment |Â
Do you remember anything else about this you can edit in like how it affects life or did you just get told a basic overview?
– TheLethalCarrot
59 mins ago
I am fairly sure they only calculated the speed of speed much later. Thunder and lightning would not have been different entities.
– Raptor
58 mins ago
More detail is needed; I can think of at least two potential answers to this, one of which was written as an accessible explanation to young people, the other a SF novel where the slow speed of light was an important plot point, but the story not intended as educational.
– Jeff Zeitlin
53 mins ago
2
George Gamow's Mr Tompkins in Wonderland (1939) immediately comes to mind, though the speed of light there is a mere 10 mph.
– Klaus Æ. Mogensen
43 mins ago
Do you remember anything else about this you can edit in like how it affects life or did you just get told a basic overview?
– TheLethalCarrot
59 mins ago
Do you remember anything else about this you can edit in like how it affects life or did you just get told a basic overview?
– TheLethalCarrot
59 mins ago
I am fairly sure they only calculated the speed of speed much later. Thunder and lightning would not have been different entities.
– Raptor
58 mins ago
I am fairly sure they only calculated the speed of speed much later. Thunder and lightning would not have been different entities.
– Raptor
58 mins ago
More detail is needed; I can think of at least two potential answers to this, one of which was written as an accessible explanation to young people, the other a SF novel where the slow speed of light was an important plot point, but the story not intended as educational.
– Jeff Zeitlin
53 mins ago
More detail is needed; I can think of at least two potential answers to this, one of which was written as an accessible explanation to young people, the other a SF novel where the slow speed of light was an important plot point, but the story not intended as educational.
– Jeff Zeitlin
53 mins ago
2
2
George Gamow's Mr Tompkins in Wonderland (1939) immediately comes to mind, though the speed of light there is a mere 10 mph.
– Klaus Æ. Mogensen
43 mins ago
George Gamow's Mr Tompkins in Wonderland (1939) immediately comes to mind, though the speed of light there is a mere 10 mph.
– Klaus Æ. Mogensen
43 mins ago
add a comment |Â
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
up vote
6
down vote
accepted
Could this be Mr. Tompkins in Wonderland from 1939? After attending a lecture on relativity the protagonist dreams that he enters a fantastical world where light moves at fraction of the speed of sound.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself sitting not on a
lecture room bench but on one of the benches installed by the city
for the convenience of passengers waiting for a bus. It was a
beautiful old city with medieval college buildings lining the street.
He suspected that he must be dreaming but to his surprise there was
nothing unusual happening around him; even a policeman standing on
the opposite corner looked as policemen usually do. The hands of the
big clock on the tower down the street were pointing to five o’clock
and the streets were nearly empty. A single cyclist was coming slowly
down the street and, as he approached, Mr Tompkins’s eyes opened wide
with astonishment. For the bicycle and the young man on it were
unbelievably shortened in the direction of the motion, as if seen
through a cylindrical lens. The clock on the tower struck five, and
the cyclist, evidently in a hurry, stepped harder on the pedals. Mr
Tompkins did not notice that he gained much in speed, but, as the
result of his effort, he shortened still more and went down the
street looking exactly like a picture cut out of cardboard.
Archive.Org - Full Text available here
That was my first thought, too, but the speed of light in the book is only 10 mph - far less than the speed of sound. Even bicycling introduces noticeable relativistic effects.
– Klaus Æ. Mogensen
39 mins ago
@KlausÆ.Mogensen - Sound is mentioned on multiple occasions in the story though. "Also, if you move, say in a car, to meet the sound propagating through the air, the velocity of the sound as measured in the car will be larger by the amount of your driving speed, or it will be correspondingly small if the sound is overtaking you. We call it the theorem of addition of velocities and it was always held to be self- evident.", etc. Certainly it's mentioned enough that OP may have forgotten the difference in the intervening five decades
– Valorum
37 mins ago
This sounds exactly like I remember, indeed the example given of the cyclist is one I remember him quoting. Thank you very much, now I just need to find a copy!
– c021752c
32 mins ago
1
@c021752c since you've confirmed this is the right answer, you can accept it by clicking on the checkmark button on the left :)
– Jenayah
30 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
This could be Redshift Rendezvous by John E. Stith. When the titular starship Redshift is in hyperspace, the artificial black hole at its core, combined with the reduction of lightspeed in hyperspace, means the speed of sound is a quick run, while the speed of light is only several times that figure. Time dilation effects can vary noticeably between your head and your feet, you must wear a lifebelt to keep your nerve impulses fast enough to sustain life, and your watch will never agree with any other clock until you reset it after leaving hyperspace.
And in this bizarre environment, someone or something is killing people...
add a comment |Â
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
6
down vote
accepted
Could this be Mr. Tompkins in Wonderland from 1939? After attending a lecture on relativity the protagonist dreams that he enters a fantastical world where light moves at fraction of the speed of sound.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself sitting not on a
lecture room bench but on one of the benches installed by the city
for the convenience of passengers waiting for a bus. It was a
beautiful old city with medieval college buildings lining the street.
He suspected that he must be dreaming but to his surprise there was
nothing unusual happening around him; even a policeman standing on
the opposite corner looked as policemen usually do. The hands of the
big clock on the tower down the street were pointing to five o’clock
and the streets were nearly empty. A single cyclist was coming slowly
down the street and, as he approached, Mr Tompkins’s eyes opened wide
with astonishment. For the bicycle and the young man on it were
unbelievably shortened in the direction of the motion, as if seen
through a cylindrical lens. The clock on the tower struck five, and
the cyclist, evidently in a hurry, stepped harder on the pedals. Mr
Tompkins did not notice that he gained much in speed, but, as the
result of his effort, he shortened still more and went down the
street looking exactly like a picture cut out of cardboard.
Archive.Org - Full Text available here
That was my first thought, too, but the speed of light in the book is only 10 mph - far less than the speed of sound. Even bicycling introduces noticeable relativistic effects.
– Klaus Æ. Mogensen
39 mins ago
@KlausÆ.Mogensen - Sound is mentioned on multiple occasions in the story though. "Also, if you move, say in a car, to meet the sound propagating through the air, the velocity of the sound as measured in the car will be larger by the amount of your driving speed, or it will be correspondingly small if the sound is overtaking you. We call it the theorem of addition of velocities and it was always held to be self- evident.", etc. Certainly it's mentioned enough that OP may have forgotten the difference in the intervening five decades
– Valorum
37 mins ago
This sounds exactly like I remember, indeed the example given of the cyclist is one I remember him quoting. Thank you very much, now I just need to find a copy!
– c021752c
32 mins ago
1
@c021752c since you've confirmed this is the right answer, you can accept it by clicking on the checkmark button on the left :)
– Jenayah
30 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
6
down vote
accepted
Could this be Mr. Tompkins in Wonderland from 1939? After attending a lecture on relativity the protagonist dreams that he enters a fantastical world where light moves at fraction of the speed of sound.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself sitting not on a
lecture room bench but on one of the benches installed by the city
for the convenience of passengers waiting for a bus. It was a
beautiful old city with medieval college buildings lining the street.
He suspected that he must be dreaming but to his surprise there was
nothing unusual happening around him; even a policeman standing on
the opposite corner looked as policemen usually do. The hands of the
big clock on the tower down the street were pointing to five o’clock
and the streets were nearly empty. A single cyclist was coming slowly
down the street and, as he approached, Mr Tompkins’s eyes opened wide
with astonishment. For the bicycle and the young man on it were
unbelievably shortened in the direction of the motion, as if seen
through a cylindrical lens. The clock on the tower struck five, and
the cyclist, evidently in a hurry, stepped harder on the pedals. Mr
Tompkins did not notice that he gained much in speed, but, as the
result of his effort, he shortened still more and went down the
street looking exactly like a picture cut out of cardboard.
Archive.Org - Full Text available here
That was my first thought, too, but the speed of light in the book is only 10 mph - far less than the speed of sound. Even bicycling introduces noticeable relativistic effects.
– Klaus Æ. Mogensen
39 mins ago
@KlausÆ.Mogensen - Sound is mentioned on multiple occasions in the story though. "Also, if you move, say in a car, to meet the sound propagating through the air, the velocity of the sound as measured in the car will be larger by the amount of your driving speed, or it will be correspondingly small if the sound is overtaking you. We call it the theorem of addition of velocities and it was always held to be self- evident.", etc. Certainly it's mentioned enough that OP may have forgotten the difference in the intervening five decades
– Valorum
37 mins ago
This sounds exactly like I remember, indeed the example given of the cyclist is one I remember him quoting. Thank you very much, now I just need to find a copy!
– c021752c
32 mins ago
1
@c021752c since you've confirmed this is the right answer, you can accept it by clicking on the checkmark button on the left :)
– Jenayah
30 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
6
down vote
accepted
up vote
6
down vote
accepted
Could this be Mr. Tompkins in Wonderland from 1939? After attending a lecture on relativity the protagonist dreams that he enters a fantastical world where light moves at fraction of the speed of sound.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself sitting not on a
lecture room bench but on one of the benches installed by the city
for the convenience of passengers waiting for a bus. It was a
beautiful old city with medieval college buildings lining the street.
He suspected that he must be dreaming but to his surprise there was
nothing unusual happening around him; even a policeman standing on
the opposite corner looked as policemen usually do. The hands of the
big clock on the tower down the street were pointing to five o’clock
and the streets were nearly empty. A single cyclist was coming slowly
down the street and, as he approached, Mr Tompkins’s eyes opened wide
with astonishment. For the bicycle and the young man on it were
unbelievably shortened in the direction of the motion, as if seen
through a cylindrical lens. The clock on the tower struck five, and
the cyclist, evidently in a hurry, stepped harder on the pedals. Mr
Tompkins did not notice that he gained much in speed, but, as the
result of his effort, he shortened still more and went down the
street looking exactly like a picture cut out of cardboard.
Archive.Org - Full Text available here
Could this be Mr. Tompkins in Wonderland from 1939? After attending a lecture on relativity the protagonist dreams that he enters a fantastical world where light moves at fraction of the speed of sound.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself sitting not on a
lecture room bench but on one of the benches installed by the city
for the convenience of passengers waiting for a bus. It was a
beautiful old city with medieval college buildings lining the street.
He suspected that he must be dreaming but to his surprise there was
nothing unusual happening around him; even a policeman standing on
the opposite corner looked as policemen usually do. The hands of the
big clock on the tower down the street were pointing to five o’clock
and the streets were nearly empty. A single cyclist was coming slowly
down the street and, as he approached, Mr Tompkins’s eyes opened wide
with astonishment. For the bicycle and the young man on it were
unbelievably shortened in the direction of the motion, as if seen
through a cylindrical lens. The clock on the tower struck five, and
the cyclist, evidently in a hurry, stepped harder on the pedals. Mr
Tompkins did not notice that he gained much in speed, but, as the
result of his effort, he shortened still more and went down the
street looking exactly like a picture cut out of cardboard.
Archive.Org - Full Text available here
answered 43 mins ago


Valorum
381k10027783013
381k10027783013
That was my first thought, too, but the speed of light in the book is only 10 mph - far less than the speed of sound. Even bicycling introduces noticeable relativistic effects.
– Klaus Æ. Mogensen
39 mins ago
@KlausÆ.Mogensen - Sound is mentioned on multiple occasions in the story though. "Also, if you move, say in a car, to meet the sound propagating through the air, the velocity of the sound as measured in the car will be larger by the amount of your driving speed, or it will be correspondingly small if the sound is overtaking you. We call it the theorem of addition of velocities and it was always held to be self- evident.", etc. Certainly it's mentioned enough that OP may have forgotten the difference in the intervening five decades
– Valorum
37 mins ago
This sounds exactly like I remember, indeed the example given of the cyclist is one I remember him quoting. Thank you very much, now I just need to find a copy!
– c021752c
32 mins ago
1
@c021752c since you've confirmed this is the right answer, you can accept it by clicking on the checkmark button on the left :)
– Jenayah
30 mins ago
add a comment |Â
That was my first thought, too, but the speed of light in the book is only 10 mph - far less than the speed of sound. Even bicycling introduces noticeable relativistic effects.
– Klaus Æ. Mogensen
39 mins ago
@KlausÆ.Mogensen - Sound is mentioned on multiple occasions in the story though. "Also, if you move, say in a car, to meet the sound propagating through the air, the velocity of the sound as measured in the car will be larger by the amount of your driving speed, or it will be correspondingly small if the sound is overtaking you. We call it the theorem of addition of velocities and it was always held to be self- evident.", etc. Certainly it's mentioned enough that OP may have forgotten the difference in the intervening five decades
– Valorum
37 mins ago
This sounds exactly like I remember, indeed the example given of the cyclist is one I remember him quoting. Thank you very much, now I just need to find a copy!
– c021752c
32 mins ago
1
@c021752c since you've confirmed this is the right answer, you can accept it by clicking on the checkmark button on the left :)
– Jenayah
30 mins ago
That was my first thought, too, but the speed of light in the book is only 10 mph - far less than the speed of sound. Even bicycling introduces noticeable relativistic effects.
– Klaus Æ. Mogensen
39 mins ago
That was my first thought, too, but the speed of light in the book is only 10 mph - far less than the speed of sound. Even bicycling introduces noticeable relativistic effects.
– Klaus Æ. Mogensen
39 mins ago
@KlausÆ.Mogensen - Sound is mentioned on multiple occasions in the story though. "Also, if you move, say in a car, to meet the sound propagating through the air, the velocity of the sound as measured in the car will be larger by the amount of your driving speed, or it will be correspondingly small if the sound is overtaking you. We call it the theorem of addition of velocities and it was always held to be self- evident.", etc. Certainly it's mentioned enough that OP may have forgotten the difference in the intervening five decades
– Valorum
37 mins ago
@KlausÆ.Mogensen - Sound is mentioned on multiple occasions in the story though. "Also, if you move, say in a car, to meet the sound propagating through the air, the velocity of the sound as measured in the car will be larger by the amount of your driving speed, or it will be correspondingly small if the sound is overtaking you. We call it the theorem of addition of velocities and it was always held to be self- evident.", etc. Certainly it's mentioned enough that OP may have forgotten the difference in the intervening five decades
– Valorum
37 mins ago
This sounds exactly like I remember, indeed the example given of the cyclist is one I remember him quoting. Thank you very much, now I just need to find a copy!
– c021752c
32 mins ago
This sounds exactly like I remember, indeed the example given of the cyclist is one I remember him quoting. Thank you very much, now I just need to find a copy!
– c021752c
32 mins ago
1
1
@c021752c since you've confirmed this is the right answer, you can accept it by clicking on the checkmark button on the left :)
– Jenayah
30 mins ago
@c021752c since you've confirmed this is the right answer, you can accept it by clicking on the checkmark button on the left :)
– Jenayah
30 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
This could be Redshift Rendezvous by John E. Stith. When the titular starship Redshift is in hyperspace, the artificial black hole at its core, combined with the reduction of lightspeed in hyperspace, means the speed of sound is a quick run, while the speed of light is only several times that figure. Time dilation effects can vary noticeably between your head and your feet, you must wear a lifebelt to keep your nerve impulses fast enough to sustain life, and your watch will never agree with any other clock until you reset it after leaving hyperspace.
And in this bizarre environment, someone or something is killing people...
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
This could be Redshift Rendezvous by John E. Stith. When the titular starship Redshift is in hyperspace, the artificial black hole at its core, combined with the reduction of lightspeed in hyperspace, means the speed of sound is a quick run, while the speed of light is only several times that figure. Time dilation effects can vary noticeably between your head and your feet, you must wear a lifebelt to keep your nerve impulses fast enough to sustain life, and your watch will never agree with any other clock until you reset it after leaving hyperspace.
And in this bizarre environment, someone or something is killing people...
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
up vote
2
down vote
This could be Redshift Rendezvous by John E. Stith. When the titular starship Redshift is in hyperspace, the artificial black hole at its core, combined with the reduction of lightspeed in hyperspace, means the speed of sound is a quick run, while the speed of light is only several times that figure. Time dilation effects can vary noticeably between your head and your feet, you must wear a lifebelt to keep your nerve impulses fast enough to sustain life, and your watch will never agree with any other clock until you reset it after leaving hyperspace.
And in this bizarre environment, someone or something is killing people...
This could be Redshift Rendezvous by John E. Stith. When the titular starship Redshift is in hyperspace, the artificial black hole at its core, combined with the reduction of lightspeed in hyperspace, means the speed of sound is a quick run, while the speed of light is only several times that figure. Time dilation effects can vary noticeably between your head and your feet, you must wear a lifebelt to keep your nerve impulses fast enough to sustain life, and your watch will never agree with any other clock until you reset it after leaving hyperspace.
And in this bizarre environment, someone or something is killing people...
answered 33 mins ago


Zeiss Ikon
7,91111445
7,91111445
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
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Do you remember anything else about this you can edit in like how it affects life or did you just get told a basic overview?
– TheLethalCarrot
59 mins ago
I am fairly sure they only calculated the speed of speed much later. Thunder and lightning would not have been different entities.
– Raptor
58 mins ago
More detail is needed; I can think of at least two potential answers to this, one of which was written as an accessible explanation to young people, the other a SF novel where the slow speed of light was an important plot point, but the story not intended as educational.
– Jeff Zeitlin
53 mins ago
2
George Gamow's Mr Tompkins in Wonderland (1939) immediately comes to mind, though the speed of light there is a mere 10 mph.
– Klaus Æ. Mogensen
43 mins ago