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#1
04-07-2006, 01:23 PM
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Relativity in Ender\'s Game
Pretty basic relativity questions. Have any of you read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card? Great book by the way. But I'm questioning if the issues with relativity in the book are accurate.
In the book, a military legend, Mazer Rackham, defeated an army of alien bugs 80 years ago. Realizing that his expertise would be needed in the future when starships are ready to attack the alien homebase, they decide to put Mazer in a spaceship, send him off at near light speed, and then have him return, just in time to train the next military genius, Ender Wiggins. Mazer says only eight years passed for him on the ship, but 80 years passed for everyone else. This does not sound right to me because on the return trip, any time that was gained for Mazer would have been lost. Am I wrong? Second. In the book, they have a device that is capable of instantanous communication across the universe. While I don't expect that to be possible because it is way faster than the speed of light, they use this device which makes me wonder about another age question. At the end of the book, Ender decides to leave on a ship with his sister. He leaves behind his brother on Earth. For Ender, only 2 years passes on the ship. But for his brother, 50 years passes. Ender uses the communication device to talk with his brother who is 77 years old, while Ender is still young. Is this possible? This seems wrong to me because Ender flew away from Earth, which could also be viewed as the Earth flying away from Ender. It doesn't make sense to me that Ender should stay young while his brother gets old. I know the book is fiction and that an instantaneous communication device is probably impossible, but are these other relativity concepts flaws in his book? 
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#3
04-07-2006, 03:35 PM
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Re: Relativity in Ender\'s Game
Would a device that communicated slightly faster than the speed of light be instanteous?
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#4
04-07-2006, 04:08 PM
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Re: Relativity in Ender\'s Game
That’s the famous Twin Paradox.
A variation I’ve wondered about is where both twins go on identical voyages except in opposite directions then return to their common starting point and compare ages.
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#5
04-07-2006, 04:14 PM
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Re: Relativity in Ender\'s Game
[ QUOTE ]
That’s the famous Twin Paradox. A variation I’ve wondered about is where both twins go on identical voyages except in opposite directions then return to their common starting point and compare ages. [/ QUOTE ] The direction of travel makes no difference. Think of it like this. You are allways travelling through space and time at a speed equal to the speed of light. Whenever you increase your speed through space you decrease the speed at which you move through time. Directtion is irrelevant.
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#8
04-07-2006, 04:24 PM
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Re: Relativity in Ender\'s Game
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] What is the difference in age between the twins in the version I described? [/ QUOTE ] None. [/ QUOTE ] Yet each twin saw the other aging slower than himself during their voyages.
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#10
04-07-2006, 04:44 PM
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Re: Relativity in Ender\'s Game
[ QUOTE ]
For part of the trip each sees the other twin aging slower, but for the rest of the trip they each see each other catch up. [/ QUOTE ] For which part of the trip does each twin see the other’s clock appear to be going faster than the normal rate?
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