Thread: Hg wells time machine

Just been watching this film (the origional) for the umpteenth time and got the urge to say what i have thought for ages about the principles of HG Wells principle of time travel and it is this.
the machine that George travels forward in time in does NOT merely "jump" from one time coordinate to another... it travels in a linear mode through time like we are doing now as we live our lives...its just that it travels faster through time than what we do..
so isn't it logical to assume that the machine occupies ALL moments in time between now and wherever he is travelling to?
SO. that means that the time machine will always be visible to the observer throughout its journey
If George travels 100 years into the future in 3 minutes. then he will be visible in that spot for the next 100 years..although the observers will age 100 years..george will not
If it takes George 3 minutes to travel that 100 years then he will only age 3 minutes whereas it will take the observer(s) 100 years to observe it taking generations in shifts to actually watch it happen

I think that the machine and the traveler are in some point of time for only a few nanoseconds. I do not know if you've seen the movie from 2002, but the journey that guy takes is just the best part of the movie. As he witnesses time, we as viewers can see flashes of what comes by. Like fashion changes in the storewindows. And I think that it would also be vice versa. Someone from a timemoment the traveler travels through would see a flash of the traveler, maybe that short he wouldn't even notice it.

The real problem would come when a traveler "hits" someone, what would that do to the traveler?

Actually the real problem is that if you take a 1 hour trip into the future or past, the earth will be 108.000 km away, and you will come back in the middle of empty space.

Because of the Earths rotation, the planet moves but the traveler does not. So the sequence in the Time machine from 2003 is incorrect.

His "landing" in the future might be correct, if he holds on to the exact years, and not using days. (But i cant remeber, it's to long ago.)

Haha, never thought about that.

It's not quite that simple. The earth's orbit does not exactly repeat. 360 degrees later (an actual year, not a calendar year) the earth is still not in exactly the same spot. Each orbit is slightly different. The eccentricity, inclination, argument of perihelion etc, all change with each orbit.

Not quite that simple? In fact, it's simpler. It is shown right here:

http://www.alien-ufos.com/conspiracy...ml#post9827831

Damn you, Round-Earthers and your "ideas"! Damn you!

You can get around the original problem by supposing that in order to travel through time faster we make jumps from one time to another. This would be equivalent to making a movie appear faster by removing all but every 100th frame, rather than by running it through the projection equipment at a faster rate. The time machine would then be in place for insufficient time to register on any sense.

As to Wayne's objection we simply have to have the time machine tied to the reference frame of the Earth.

The original novel is well worth a read and unlike most of the repetitions of the time machine theme, written or cinematic since, it is still a great story despite the passage of time since being written.

It's a rare author that gives consideration to such things as where is the time machine whilst travelling in time or whether it would naturally retain it's planet specific relative position. Too much attention to detail can kill the sense of wonder without adding much to a story's ability to suspend disbelief in the reader.

Similarly with relative velocities when writing about matter transfer, whether by technology or as a biological capability, there are some practicalities few authors take the effort to incorporate into their stories. I recall Vernor Vinge's "The Witling" as a notable exception, dealing with the practicalities of teleportation when you retain your initial velocity and momentum and your destination has different relative motion. He also has an interesting take on time travel forward via stasis fields - no going back of course - in The Peace War and Marooned in Real Time. Vernor Vinge is one of my all time favorite SF author's, always interesting and original.

have recently read the original story by HG wells and must admit I dont think it should be called the "time machine" it should be called "diary of my adventure in the future" because 99% of th story is just about that there is very little time travel in it... and the ending is crap !

That was one interesting discussion. The book itself is one of my favourites. I think Wells fancied the romantic notions of Time Travel rather than the scientific considerations that govern time.
Not only do we have to consider the rotation and revolution of the earth but the very movement of the whole solar system and the galaxy itself.
Leaving that aside, George simply accelerated his own time frame using that cool steampunk machine of his in both directions of the time axis.
But if were to give a scientific explanation to the way his machine worked, what would it be?

thanks everyone for responding to this post,,,it sat here for quite a while with no response but then it took off into quite an interesting discussion .. thanks for your input

do you know that in the original [written] story... the time traveler does not have a name... the events of that night are recalled by a second person who is present on the night that "he" returns from the future and tells his tale...he is referred to only as "the time traveler"

But if were to give a scientific explanation to the way his machine worked, what would it be?

well I think that the revolving disc behind the chair generates a magnetic field that envelopes the machine and passenger... in the same pattern that the field envelopes a bar magnet (we all need to recall the iron filings demo from school science lessons).. This is possibly amplified to such a degree that the field acts like a very strong gravitational force and therefore bends time (as gravity does) but to such an extent as to cause total external refraction so that time is actually deflected off it and in doing so, leaves the area inside the field free of the influence of normal time..
the faster it spins the more it deflects and this leaves the machine in a bubble that can literally accelerate in velocity within its own field but with no RELATIVITY to the percieved time of the time outside the field of the machine....

Originally Posted by pipster

But if were to give a scientific explanation to the way his machine worked, what would it be?

well I think that the revolving disc behind the chair generates a magnetic field that envelopes the machine and passenger... in the same pattern that the field envelopes a bar magnet (we all need to recall the iron filings demo from school science lessons).. This is possibly amplified to such a degree that the field acts like a very strong gravitational force and therefore bends time (as gravity does) but to such an extent as to cause total external refraction so that time is actually deflected off it and in doing so, leaves the area inside the field free of the influence of normal time..
the faster it spins the more it deflects and this leaves the machine in a bubble that can literally accelerate in velocity within its own field but with no RELATIVITY to the percieved time of the time outside the field of the machine....

Hmm, well if he’s sealed in a magnetic bubble of some kind then a possible oversight could be that he’s going to suffocate fast. Not sure if they had oxygen canisters in those days but then they didn’t have time machine either. Well maybe eventually the past will sometime in the future

hmmm I'm pretty sure oxygen can pass through magnetic fields !

Now that's another query!
if SUCH a powerful magnetic can bend space-time, or cause a rip in the space time fabric, then can it sustain air or will it cause the generation of vacuum?
An interesting point, as an object approaches the speed of light, its mass tends to infinity, which could probably exert the said high gravitational force causing space-time continuum to bend/break. Just saying!

to be honest I don't know I'm just chucking ideas around..! there's no answer to this ....so no point being pedantic....but you got to admit..it's fun and it makes you think doesn't it?

Could Hg Wells have been a real time traveller? That would explain his stories.

Originally Posted by TimeLord

Could Hg Wells have been a real time traveller? That would explain his stories.

That way mot of history's greatest visionaries could be time travelers. Leonardo Da Vinci! Galileo!

We should probably not overlook the potential problem of going back in time on the same spot where the Time Traveller had just gone forward in time. Both time machines will cross each other’s path at one point in time. So what’s to happen to the Time Traveller then? Would the fusion of his past and future matter create a bang like a nuclear reaction or will his ears just go pop?

I read the original novel, it is still a great story despite the passage of time since being written. I think i should watch movie too.
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