4th of December 1930
Dear Radioactive Ladies and Gentlemen,
As the bearer of these lines, to whom I graciously ask you to listen, will explain to you in more detail, how because of the "wrong" statistics of the N and Li6 nuclei and the continuous beta spectrum, I have hit upon a deseperate remedy to save the "exchange theorem" of statistics and the law of conservation of energy. Namely, the possibility that there could exist in the nuclei electrically neutral particles, that I wish to call neutrons, which have spin 1/2 and obey the exclusion principle and which further differ from light quanta in that they do not travel with the velocity of light. The mass of the neutrons should be of the same order of magnitude as the electron mass and in any event not larger than 0.01 proton masses> The continuous beta spectrum would then become understandable by the assumption that in beta decay a neutron is emitted in addition to the electron such that the sum of the energies of the neutron and the electron is constant...
I agree that my remedy could seem incredible because one should have seen those neutrons very earlier if they really exist. But only the one who dare can win and the difficult situation, due to the continuous structure of the beta spectrum, is lighted by a remark of my honoured predecessor, Mr Debye, who told me recently in Bruxelles: "Oh, It's well better not to think to this at all, like new taxes". From now on, every solution to the issue must be discussed. Thus, dear radioactive people, look and judge. Unfortunately, I cannot appear in Tubingen personally since I am indispensable here in Zurich because of a ball on the night of 6/7 December. With my best regards to you, and also to Mr Back.
Your humble servant
. W. Pauli
Part One - "May Old Acquaintance's Be Forgot"
Paragon City, Independence Port - Present Day.
"Mr.Back." David laughed to himself as he read the yellowed, wrinkled letter. He remembered giving out the name to the
police in London when he had first arrived in England and it had stuck. He hadn't known what else to tell them, except that he was a brewer of fine beers, and so was a refugee from the 20's era "dry" America. He wanted to emigrate to England, he
told them, so he could continue his investigation of Zymurgy 3000 miles from Carrie Nation. The English were only too happy to oblige, after all, the Brits did consider Beer sacred. The name "Mr. Back" had come from a mid 20th century movie called "Back to the Future", and it seemed appropriate. After all, the future was all that David cared about.
His Given name Was Kallo Staven, and the future was his past, Currently at least. But in this world, and at this time, he
was known as Mr. David Back, a Brewmeister and an amatuer chemist.
But He was, in fact, an Astronaut.
And he was a darn good one.
In essence, he was so darn good, or so darn expendable, that he had been chosen to became the first human to travel through Space *and* time. The occasion of his launch on his latest journey had been celebrated through-out the solar-system. It was trumpeted as a triumph of Physics and Engineering, showcasing the magnificence of the Scientific Arm of the Inner Ring Hamarchy. Never mind that the Inner Ring Hamarchy never did anything without trumpeting it, it was still an amazing feat.
They had Constructed a Kerr Ring, and they were just dying to try it out, even though the other Arms were not convinced that building a Kerr Ring, let alone using it, was a good thing. But that is the thing about a Hamarchy, no one part of the
Government could over-rule the other, which made everyone happy. So the other Arms representatives eventually shrugged it off; after all, the Scientific Arm was always doing crazy things, and if they could pay for it, they could have it.
And so the Scientic Arm completed the Ring in the year 2227.
The first time Kallo had heard of a "Kerr Ring", was years earlier, in 2216, during his 3rd application of Genetic Learning
Modifications. The standard Physics sets were included, and he remembered the entry about Kerr Rings like he remembered everything else. Although Remembered was not a very good word, because what Kallo did was not so much remember, as recall.
In truth, No one ever remembered facts they acquired through G.L.M., because the knowledge became a part of them. Memory was taken out of the equation, once you had the application, you just "knew" what was applied, and, barring physical damage, you would never forget it. Kallo Wished he could forget; especially the name of Karl Schwarzschild.
Kallo put the letter down and moved accross the room, taking a seat at his desk. He, as a habit, recalled the general
information About Karl Schwarzschild as he had so many times, and went over it again in his mind: When Karl Schwarzschild solved Einstein's equations in 1916, he found that stars can collapse into infinitesimally small points in space - black holes. Four decades later, A physicist in the United States named Roy Kerr, discovered that some stars are saved from total collapse and become rotating rings. Kerr didn't regard these rings as time machines. However, because their intense gravity distorts space-time, and because they permit large objects to enter on one side and exit on the other in one piece, Kerr-type black holes can serve as portals to the past or the future. But Finding one the right size is next to impossible, so the Scientific Arm of the Hamarchy decided to build their own.
The Arm had taken possesion of a planet just outside the Sol solar system and set about their task. The planet was equal to Jupiter's mass, and using an Electromagnetic Field, Arm Scientists had compressed it into a ring about 5 feet in diameter. As they compressed it, they set it spinning, increasing its velocity to nearly the speed of light. This produced a Black-hole at its center just the right size. Anything or anybody entering through this hole would be instantly transported to another time (so the theory went), and, although they would still be in space, could conceivably then return to earth in another epoch. But there was some fine print: The Kerr Ring is a one-way ticket. The black hole's gravity is so great that, once something enters it, there is no way to return.
But the Scientific Arm had already considered that, and so they called Kallo.
Next time---
Part Two "Homeless"
Part One - "May Old Acquaintance's Be Forgot"
Paragon City, Independence Port - Present Day.
"Mr. Back." David laughed to himself as he read the yellowed, wrinkled letter. He remembered giving out the name to the police in London when he had first arrived in England and it had stuck. He hadn't known what else to tell them, except that he was a brewer of fine beers, and so was a refugee from the 20's era "dry" America. He wanted to immigrate to England, he told them, so he could continue his investigation of Zymurgy 3000 miles from Carrie Nation. The English were only too happy to oblige, after all, the Brits did consider Beer sacred. The name "Mr. Back" had come from a mid 20th century movie called "Back to the Future", and it seemed appropriate. After all, the future was all that David cared about.
His Given name Was Kallo Staven, and the future was his past, currently at least. But in this world, and at this time, he was known as Mr. David Back, a Brewmeister and an amateur chemist.
But He was, in fact, an Astronaut.
And he was a darn good one.
In essence, he was so darn good, or so darn expendable, that he had been chosen to became the first human to travel through Space *and* time. The occasion of his launch on his latest journey had been celebrated through-out the solar-system. It was trumpeted as a triumph of Physics and Engineering, showcasing the magnificence of the Scientific Arm of the Inner Ring Hamarchy. Never mind that the Inner Ring Hamarchy never did anything without trumpeting it, it was still an amazing feat.
They had constructed a Kerr Ring, and they were just dying to try it out, even though the other Arms were not convinced that building a Kerr Ring, let alone using it, was a good thing. But that is the thing about a Hamarchy, no one part of the Government could over-rule the other, which made everyone happy. So the other Arms representatives eventually shrugged it off; after all, the Scientific Arm was always doing crazy things, and if they could pay for it, they could have it.
And so the Scientic Arm completed the Ring in the year 2227.
The first time Kallo had heard of a "Kerr Ring", was years earlier, in 2216, during his 3rd application of Genetic Learning Modifications. The standard Physics sets were included, and he remembered the entry about Kerr Rings like he remembered everything else. Although Remembered was not a very good word, because what Kallo did was not so much remember, as recall.
In truth, No one ever remembered facts they acquired through G.L.M., because the knowledge became a part of them. Memory was taken out of the equation, once you had the application, you just "knew" what was applied, and, barring physical damage, you would never forget it. Kallo Wished he could forget; especially the name of Karl Schwarzschild.
Kallo put the letter down and moved across the room, taking a seat at his desk. He, as a habit, recalled the general information About Karl Schwarzschild as he had so many times, and went over it again in his mind: When Karl Schwarzschild solved Einstein's equations in 1916, he found that stars can collapse into infinitesimally small points in space - black holes. Four decades later, a physicist in the United States named Roy Kerr, discovered that some stars are saved from total collapse and become rotating rings. Kerr didn't regard these rings as time machines. However, because their intense gravity distorts space-time, and because they permit large objects to enter on one side and exit on the other in one piece, Kerr-type black holes can serve as portals to the past or the future. But Finding one the right size is next to impossible, so the Scientific Arm of the Hamarchy decided to build their own.
The Arm had taken possession of a planet just outside the Sol solar system and set about their task. The planet was equal to Jupiter's mass, and using an Electromagnetic Field, Arm Scientists had compressed it into a ring about 5 feet in diameter. As they compressed it, they set it spinning, increasing its velocity to nearly the speed of light. This produced a Black-hole at its center just the right size. Anything or anybody entering through this hole would be instantly transported to another time (so the theory went), and, although they would still be in space, could conceivably then return to earth in another epoch. But there was some fine print: The Kerr Ring is a one-way ticket. The black hole's gravity is so great that, once something enters it, there is no way to return.
But the Scientific Arm had already considered that, and so they called Kallo.
Next time---
Part Two "Homeless"
I am a victim of the Science Age
A child of the storm.
I can't remember when I was your age
For me, Times no more.
Nobody rules these streets at night but me,
The Atomic Punk.
I am the ruler of these netherworlds,
The underground.
On every wall and place my fearsome name is found,
Just look around.
Nobody rules these streets at night but me,
The Atomic Punk.