# SF stories or series where the 'science' was basically magic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 15, 2025, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076 "2025-04-15T18:13:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076/81 "2025-04-17T21:11:15Z")
I feel obligated to mention that our own Doper @iiandyiiii wrote (in my opinion) a very entertaining and thoughtful Sci-Fi novel [Spindown](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45714323-spindown), which involved a station having to temporarily turn off gravity as a major plot point and all of the ramifications of doing so. (The title of the novel itself is a reference to that event.) ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076/82 "2025-04-17T21:36:45Z")
Wow, thank you very much for the kind mention! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076/83 "2025-04-17T21:47:47Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > Nice universe to live in, though Except that earth has 15 trillion people, and an oppressive government that’s a cross between the (literally!) Illuminati and a totalitarian state. I think I’d just put myself in a stasis field and set it for 10K years or so… ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076/84 "2025-04-17T21:57:06Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > To which I say what a crap scientist he must be. One works and the other doesn’t? Therefore there is some difference between the two. This reminds me of a story I read, probably back in the 80s. The protagonist meets a “sorcist”, who is a member of a secret society of sorcists. He’s told that sorcists are to sorcerers as chemists are to alchemists. They had discovered the rational, repeatable rules behind sorcery, and so were able to actually control it, and predict the outcomes of new spells, as compared to just mixing random stuff together and seeing what happens. Of course, being greedy bastards, they kept the secrets to themselves. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076/85 "2025-04-17T21:59:27Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Except that earth has 15 trillion people, and an oppressive government that’s a cross between the (literally!) Illuminati and a totalitarian state. Googling it looks like they only have 18 billion. The only reference I can find to 15 trillion people on Earth is an old theoretical comment by Isaac Asimov. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076/86 "2025-04-17T22:01:44Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Googling it looks like they only have 18 billion. Shit, I was going by memory. I knew it was a lot. I guess not _that_ a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076/87 "2025-04-17T22:10:43Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Has any SF series ever mentioned their artificial gravity? Lois McMaster Bujold’s “Falling Free” is based at the time that they discover artificial gravity, and this becomes a major plot point in the book. The book is mostly about a genetically engineered group of humans, designed to live and work in zero Gee. They’re essentially slaves owned by a corporation, although they don’t really realize that until later in the book. At some point, artificial gravity is announced in the news, making these people obsolete overnight. The rest of the story is them fighting for their survival against corporate Evil People who decide to just pull the plug on their losses with this program. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076/88 "2025-04-17T22:14:39Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > In _Protector_ for example Brennan’s home base [Kobold](https://larryniven.fandom.com/wiki/Kobold) made heavy use of it. And there’s the Sleeping Plates that create zero g fields for people to float & sleep in And in one story set on high-G Jinx, the main characters mostly move around in wheelchairs, until they go to a high-end restaurant that has lowered the gravity to make its customers feel more at home. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076/89 "2025-04-17T23:00:01Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Googling it looks like they only have 18 billion. Even Hearth has only 1 trillion. > **[Hearth](https://larryniven.fandom.com/wiki/Hearth)** > > Hearth is the Puppeteer homeworld and one of the planets of Fleet of Worlds. It has a population of around one trillion and is covered by arcologies, most over one mile tall. It generates so much waste heat it no longer requires a star for warmth.\[1\]... ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076/90 "2025-04-17T23:55:20Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Except that earth has 15 trillion people, and an oppressive government that’s a cross between the (literally!) Illuminati and a totalitarian state. Including autodocs (AI-controlled medical treatment devices) that are programmed to regard anyone who wonders if the autodocs are secretly being used to control the minds of the populace as suffering from paranoia and drugging them. > [@Horatius](#): > > This reminds me of a story I read, probably back in the 80s. The protagonist meets a “sorcist”, who is a member of a secret society of sorcists. He’s told that sorcists are to sorcerers as chemists are to alchemists. They had discovered the rational, repeatable rules behind sorcery, and so were able to actually control it, and predict the outcomes of new spells, as compared to just mixing random stuff together and seeing what happens. Since chemists ultimately based their science on atomic theory (and later quantum mechanics), do the sorcists have an overarching theory of how what they do works? ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076/91 "2025-04-18T00:00:56Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > do the sorcists have an overarching theory of how what they do works? It was long enough ago that I don’t remember the details, but that was the general idea. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076/92 "2025-04-18T03:03:37Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Has any SF series ever mentioned their artificial gravity? Having it malfunction could have made a good plot point. Another Star Trek reference includes multiple mentions in Enterprise, including turning it off for various fun (get your mind out of the gutter!), and finding “dead spots” aboard a ship where the gravity orientation was out of the normal alignment to hang out in. And of course, a semi-realistic options for the Earth Forces ships in Babylon 5 (many alien races DO have antigrav tech), which have rotating sections and the Babylon 5 habitat has a rotating structure with low/no grav center for docking, and yes, it does come into play. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076/93 "2025-04-18T03:09:50Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > Another Star Trek reference includes multiple mentions in Enterprise Also a season 5 episode of _Lower Decks_. And, Trek-_ish_, on _The Orville_. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076/94 "2025-04-18T06:17:31Z")
Artificial gravity comes up a fair amount in the Sector General series about a multi-species hospital, because the ability to adjust it places a big part in life support. It’s an important technology in the Schlock Mercenary webcomic. And very powerful, they can crush matter into neutronium, shred matter at range, create gravity “shields” and all sorts of other things. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076/95 "2025-04-18T07:50:35Z")
Gravity manipulation is also a major factor in the Honor Harrington series. Artificially created gravity fields are both the primary way to make ships move, and their major defensive means. In the first few books, not much changes, but as the main character’s nation gets involved in a major war, they start putting a lot of research money into things, and find a few key improvements that gives them an advantage in the war. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076/96 "2025-04-18T16:05:24Z")
To name just one example: Capital ships run on fusion reactors which cannot practically be miniaturized beyond certain limits. Then someone gets the bright idea of applying gravity field technology to update an ancient and long-abandoned power source: fission. This makes the equivalent of torpedo boats launched from carriers practical, revolutionizing fleet tactics in a quasi-replay of the Pacific theater of WW2. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076/97 "2025-04-18T17:47:52Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Gravity manipulation is also a major factor in the Honor Harrington series. There’s a short story set in that universe, where a head of state is assassinated by sabotaging his ship’s inertial dampeners. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076/98 "2025-04-18T19:12:57Z")
Back to the OP- The Stars My Destination. Teleportation, explosives detonated by thought, lethal mental suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2025, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076/99 "2025-04-19T17:26:46Z")
Going way back Jules Verne lambasted HG Wells for going to the moon using a magic substance the did away with gravity. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2025, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076/100 "2025-04-19T17:34:05Z")
While using a supergun in his own story. Which perhaps is more consistent with actual physics but would reduce the crew to a thin paste. I _still_ want a spindizzy… 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sf-stories-or-series-where-the-science-was-basically-magic/1017076.md?page=6)