Inspec...The final frontier. When science fiction becomes fact

Arthur C, Clarke, the author of such prophetic sci-fi novels as "The Space Elevator" and "2001: A Space Odyssey", was an Inspec (then known as Science Abstracts) indexer in the years immediately after the second world war. Thus, it can be of interest to the sci-fi fanatic to see what is contained within the INSPEC database.

Aliens are an excellent place to start. Searches for aliens are carried out via the SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) projects. Having found our aliens, we need a mechanism to reach them. Nuclear rockets are adequate for local trips around our own solar system, but to meet intelligent life we would need to travel interstellar distances, where the problem exists of journeys taking several lifetimes to complete under normal methods of propulsion.

To overcome this, the science fiction writer has the luxury of using exotic methods, such as distorting space-time locally, via the "warp drive" in Star Trek or by taking "short-cuts" in space through hyperspace, as seen in another popular US sci-fi show, Star Gate. Although these methods do seem far-fetched, papers by theorists, covered in the Inspec database have proved the mathematical possibility, but not yet the mechanisms by which these can be achieved.

A similar story applies to the theory of time travel, but as Professor Stephen Hawking postulates, if it were to be discovered, then we would all be aware of it by now! One short story has crowds of visitors from the future, crowding out the crucifixion until the future authorities can take action...there is also the famous paradox of what would happen if you killed one of your parents and thus prevented your own birth.

Quantum theory allows all possible outcomes to exist at the same time, but returning to your own timeline may prove difficult with so many possible futures. Again, these theories are contained within the Inspec database. Useful Inspec classification codes include: