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From: mdm@ecn-pc.UUCP ( Mike D McEvoy)
Newsgroups: net.books,net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Man-in-the-Rubble ... more SF
Message-ID: <406@ecn-pc.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 18-Oct-85 14:52:40 EDT
Article-I.D.: ecn-pc.406
Posted: Fri Oct 18 14:52:40 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 24-Oct-85 00:39:35 EDT
References: <425@genie.UUCP> <2435@uvacs.UUCP> <431@scgvaxd.UUCP>
Reply-To: mdm@ecn-pc.UUCP ( Mike D McEvoy)
Organization: Electrical Engineering Department , Purdue University
Lines: 27
Xref: watmath net.books:2460 net.sf-lovers:10757
Summary: 

>
>Let's not forget Nevil Shutes book On the beach.  This was one of the first
>classics of the after the destruction type.  It deals with the situation
>as encountered by an American submarine on duty at the start of the War.
>Both the movie and the book are excellent.
>					Bob...

Arg...  Both the movie and the book may have been good from a literary
standpoint, but from a standpoint of technical accuracy they were a
disaster.  Typical doomie viewpoints that ignored little things like 
the short half life of fallout, etc. Even at that time, we had a fairly
good understanding of the true effects of a nuclear war (at least high level
effects of radiation).  

Literary license has never been a valid excuse for gross technical/scientific
errors.  No Flame intended to you Bob, it's just that authors who practice
their craft should keep their facts straight - it does a dis-service to 
write "hard" science fiction from a position of authority and call it 
science fiction.  Fantasy is a much better label.


				Big Mac