Julia Thompson wrote: > > Reggie Bautista wrote: > > > > Mark wrote: > > >... and there's no such thing as LeGuin's ansible. > > > > I've only read one short story and the three Earthsea novels by LeGuin, so > > I'm certainly not fully versed in her writings, but I though the ansible was > > an invention of Orson Scott Card in his Ender books. > > > > Or did LeGuin first talk about an FTL communication system called an > > ansible, and Card just used it instead of creating one of his own? > > LeGuin invented it and Card used it. I think he credits her (and thanks > her!) somewhere. Check whatever author's notes are at the beginning and > end of each of the Ender novels and see if you find anything there. > > If you don't get to it and want to ask me to do it sometime after > Monday, July 8, go ahead and ask then. > > Julia
Bear uses it as well, but, IIRC, he didn't call it an ansible. I don't know where he got the idea from, either. I remember that the concept that later became known as an ansible (having two linked particles which can travel some (interstellar) distance, and any changes by one is immediately realized by the other, regardless of distance) has been bandied about in science news for at least a few years. -- Matt
