My favorite story was the one where the researchers waited until the
thiotimoline dissolved, then placed it in a waterproof container and watched to
see what would happen.  A rainstorm started, then became an intense storm
followed by flooding.  Someone finally figured out that Nature was going to make
certain the laws of causality weren't violated, even if it took a tidal wave
crashing over the lab to do it.  So he smashed the container and dumped water on
the thiotimoline, at which point the rain stopped immediately.

Another good fantasy-presented-as-fact story by Asimov was about a farmer who
discovered that one of his geese was laying golden eggs.  He called the local
county agriculture agent, who brought in biochemists and eventually nuclear
physicists.  It turned out that the goose somehow was transmuting iron from its
diet into gold.  If the secret could be learned, then it might be possible to
breed geese that could supply any element needed.  However, none of the
government scientists could figure out the mechanism that made a goose into a
living nuclear reactor.  In desperation, they (supposedly) asked Asimov to write
it up as a science fiction story, in hopes that the SF fans (a notoriously
imaginative lot) might come up with the answer.

Wayne




"Emerson, Tom # El Monte" <[log in to unmask]> on 07/20/2000 02:14:41
PM

Please respond to "Emerson, Tom # El Monte" <[log in to unmask]>

To:   [log in to unmask]
cc:    (bcc: Wayne Brown/Corporate/Altec)

Subject:  Re: [HP3000-L] OT: Faster Than Light?



In later years (?) this was also written up in his "Astounding" magazine
[and/or one of his other SF endeavors]  The stories I remember in particular
centered around "Anti-thiotimoline" and one where thiotimoline was used as
the basis of a computer chip [thus creating a computer that could predict
the future, since it would have the answer to your query ready before you
entered it...]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Barry Lake [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2000 11:51 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] OT: Faster Than Light?
>
>
> At 11:33 AM -0700 7/20/00, [log in to unmask] wrote:
> >While not related to the experiment described here, there
> was a classic
> >paper in the late 1950s called _The Endochronic Properties of
> >Resublimated Thiotimoline_, which describes a chemical so soluble in
> >water that under certain circumstances, it dissolves just before the
> >water is added.
>
>
> I believe this paper was written by Isaac Asimov (who wrote more
> non-fiction than he did fiction) as a deliberate spoof on the
> scientific
> community. Many took it seriously for a long time, as it was
> written with
> rigor and erudition.
>
>
> Barry Lake                                 [log in to unmask]
> Allegro Consultants, Inc.                  www.allegro.com
> (408)252-2330
>