Hugh Howey

Bestselling author of Wool and other books. Currently sailing around the world.

The Visualization of Extra Dimensions

I meant no offense in correcting you today in front of my fellow cadets. As per your request, I’m writing up my argument for submission tomorrow morning. Excuse the typographical errors and sloppy diagrams, I’m having to put this together under my bunk as we spent all afternoon in the simulators and it’s now Lights Out. Lt. Carter M301: Linear Algebra 14/02/2409 The Visualization of Extra Dimensions The difficulty we have in visualizing extra dimensions lies not with our familiarity of the three dimensions that make up R3 space. Rather,…

The Universe isn’t Flat

Long before Thomas L. Friedman argued that the world was metaphorically flat thanks to the globalization of economics, there was a brilliant piece of English satire written as if the world was literally flat. Edwin Abbott Abbott wrote FLATLAND in 1884 to make fun of a rigid social hierarchy (in the book, the number of sides you’re born with dictates what you can and can’t be within Flatland culture), but as a young child, I didn’t care about this commentary. My mind was too busy being blown away by something…

Understanding Hyperspace

There’s quite a lot of material on hyperspace in The Reader. And as a medium for travel, hyperspace plays a pretty big role in Molly’s adventures. A massive role, frankly. Some of the secrets of hyperspace are what turn her story into something with universe-wide implications. That’s why it’s important that I understand the principles fully (if not the exact science). One of the documents that has helped me the most is a paper Molly wrote for her math instructor. It isn’t on hyperspace at all, but rather on the…