Artistic License Physics: Difference between revisions

* In George R.R. Martin's ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', the Wall is stated to be 700 feet high, yet people on the ground can fire arrows from ''wooden bows'' at defenders on top of the Wall and hit with enough force to kill. Not even modern compound bows could accomplish this feat. For reference, the average skyscraper is between 500 and 900 feet. This might be a good time to mention that the difficulty of accurately firing a bow 700 feet is nothing compared to the issue of not possibly having the strength to propel an arrow 700 feet ''upwards'' (think back to elementary school science—onescience — one word,: gravity).

* In [[Iain M Banks]]' ''[[Consider Phlebas]]'', a crew are about to land on a ringworld, and the Captain tells them not to use their antigravity units: "Anti-gravity works against mass, not spin." Never mind what new physics they have to accomodateaccommodate warpdrive and antigravity, acceleration by gravity and acceleration by movement are still functionally identical, and what works on one must work on the other.

* Averted in [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress]]''. Soldiers brought from Earth to repress the rebellion on the Luna penal colony resent being there because it is nearly impossible for anyone to return to the Earth after more than a few months on the Moon because their body has acclimatised to 1/6 Earth gravity. The soldiers are also disadvantaged because their normal walking gait learned on Earth causes them to fly into the air. Also, a delegation sent from Luna to Earth must take long and very inconvenient acclimatisation measures just to ''not die'' when they arrive Earthside, and every step is an enormous strain.