# Disk World
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disk-world/123937
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [August 15, 2002, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disk-world/123937 "2002-08-15T01:16:20Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@owlofcreamcheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlofcreamcheese)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2002, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disk-world/123937/1 "2002-08-15T01:16:20Z")
alright I just read the book “strata” and I am now baffled. how does that book relate to the diskworld books? is it the same planet? or did he write that book first and then say “hmm… disk world… sounds like something I want to write more about”
is diskworld in the diskworld books set up the same way? to what extent?
weird…
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### Author:  [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2002, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disk-world/123937/2 "2002-08-15T02:36:37Z")
I believe “Strata” preceded, and was pretty much the inspiration for the _Discworld_ series, and in my untutored opinion, nothing like as good as them.
Back with a cite, if connection holds up!
🙂
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### Author:  [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2002, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disk-world/123937/3 "2002-08-15T02:40:06Z")
It’s not the same world. Strata came out in 1981 and The Colour of Magic in 1983, so, although I’ve never read it for sure, I wouldn’t be surprised if the ideas in Strata were inspirational for the Discworld. Discworld is a truly magic world that sits on the backs of 4 elephants which in turn stand on the back of Great A’tuin the World Turtle. The discworld in Strata was, as you now know, an artificial “planet” created by the builders of the universe as a cosmic joke, but it runs on mechanical principles (although it could be argued that keeping a world going for 70,000 years would seem like magic). The disc in Strata was a more or less flat projection of the earth, while the Discworld is more culturally familiar than topographically. XXXX is an island that is sort of Australia, and the Counterweight Continent is roughly asia (It’s also very high in gold content, which is what helps it balance the rest of the world and is why it’s referred to as the Aurient.
Basically the similarities between the two discs is that they’re flat and entertaining.
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### Author:  [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2002, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disk-world/123937/4 "2002-08-15T02:40:57Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Terry Pratchett’s Discworld is familiar to most of us through his wonderful Discworld books, of which there are now over 25 (at the time of writing). But where did Pratchett get the idea for such a world? And where did he first put it into print?
>
> The World Myth
>
> Most ancient peoples believed the world to be flat. It is a reasonable assumption if you have never gone very far from your own home. Philosophers then came across the problem, what is the flat world on top of? The ancient Hindus decided that the world was on the back of four elephants which themselves stood on the back of a giant turtle. The indigenous North Americans, too, believed that the world was on the back of a giant turtle. But what was the turtle standing on? Some said a snake, others said it swam in a giant ocean, and others said a snake swimming in an ocean. At this stage, the philosophers gave up.
>
> Larry Niven’s Ringworld
>
> The other main contributor to Pratchett’s Discworld was a ‘classic’ science fiction story by Larry Niven, Ringworld. Niven designed a giant world in the shape of a wedding ring with a radius of one astronomical unit. That is, the ring was the same diameter as the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. The ring spun fast enough to generate artificial gravity on the inner surface and was warmed by a sun similar to our own at the centre of the ring. The inner surface of the ring was an artificial world with mountains, seas and forests, and a habitable area one million times that of the Earth.
>
> In the book, four intrepid explorers of three different species travelled to this world to explore it: a type of extremely bad-tempered intelligent tiger, a two-headed three-legged alien and two Californian humans - a 200-year old man and an unnaturally lucky young woman. (All Larry Niven’s humans are Californians.)
>
> The world was explained in great detail with all the mathematics worked out so that the world would be consistent. In addition, Niven coined the terms ‘Spinward’ and ‘Antispinward’ to replace the directions of North and South.
>
> Strata
>
> The next stage in the evolution of the Discworld was Terry Pratchett’s book Strata. Published in 1981, this was a spoof science fiction story based on Ringworld. Pratchett himself described the book as a ‘p\*\*stake/homage/satire’ on Ringworld, and added that Larry Niven enjoyed it!
>
> The book starts in almost exactly the same way, with three intrepid explorers of different species heading off into space to investigate a newly discovered world. The world they are investigating is an apparent contradiction in a logical universe. It is a flat disc, where all other worlds are spheres. Crash-landing on the world, they find it apparently the home of magical creatures such as winged devils. Further investigation shows the entire world to be an artificial construct, with the magic simulated by advanced technology.
>
> This book is reasonably enjoyable in itself, but comes into its own when the reader has already read Ringworld. It lacks the laugh-out-loud jokes of Pratchett’s later work, but is amusing nonetheless. In all likelihood, Stata would never have been successful were it not for the reflected glory of Pratchett’s other works.
> …
> **[h2g2 - The Origin of Terry Pratchett's Discworld - Edited Entry](https://h2g2.com/edited_entry/A666119)**
>
> The Origin of Terry Pratchett's Discworld, from the edited h2g2, the Unconventional Guide to Life, the Universe and Everything