ech@pyuxll.UUCP (Ned Horvath) (08/12/83)
I like the first numbering scheme - 0 for "our" universe. Shucks, all you have to do is construct the vector of all the quantum numbers for all the particles in the universe (sounds ambitious), then one can simply name another universe by the difference in the vectors. Makes return addresses easy to compute, too... =Ned=
Martin@YALE.ARPA@sri-unix.UUCP (08/15/83)
From: Charles Martin <Martin@YALE.ARPA>
In reply to...
I like the first numbering scheme - 0 for "our" universe.
Shucks, all you have to do is construct the vector of all the quantum
numbers for all the particles in the universe (sounds ambitious), then
one can simply name another universe by the difference in the vectors.
...this implicitly assumes a finite number of particles in the universe, oui?
To the list of parallel world stories, add Poul Anderson's "A Midsummer
Night's Tempest." The more interesting of the parallel world stories,
in my opinion, involve some kind of transfers across the boundaries of
the universes, where the existence of such transfers plays an important
role in the plot. Thus, THE STORY OF A 20TH CENTURY MAN WHO (SOMEHOW)
IS ZAPPED TO ALTERNATE UNIVERSE #A45ZX2C AND WHAT HE FOUND THERE does not
get points for being about "parallel worlds," but one involving planned
shipments of technology from one universe to the other so as to achieve
some goal (usually nefarious, but not invariably) scores double. Examples
might be "The Guns of Avalon" (though actually about sub-universes, or a
"tree" (if you will) with Amber at the root node), Poul Anderson's book, or
"The Gods Themselves." Stories like "What A Mad Universe" (Fred Brown)
score one half. This is not meant as criticism of other stories which use
the parallel world idea as a kind of deus ex machina to get the plot going.
(Fred Brown's probably falls into this category.)
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