Beyond the zero

Doc Sportello coolwithdoc at gmail.com
Fri Feb 28 01:17:21 CST 2014


I was just thinking of an upside down parabola that comes from negative inf
on x and y whose vertex has a pos y value and therefore 2 roots so "beyond
the zero" is infinity. You could also say negative infinity. In real life
rockets go up and down in a parabola but they start and end at the surface
of the earth. If you fire a rocket with a sufficient angle and speed then,
like pirate and the gang from the beginning of the book, you won't hear an
explosion because it would be falling indefinitely. Not that that's what's
going on in the book.

I should probably finish it first then think about all this
On Feb 27, 2014 8:57 PM, "David Morris" <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:

> You already knew the answer, of course. But remember the graph as it
> continues on and on beyond the zero, over and over.
>
> On Thursday, February 27, 2014, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> If the zero is the x horizon, and the trajectory starts at zero, when the
>> path returns to zero, where does the math take it next?  The answer should
>> be obvious.
>>
>> David Morris
>>
>> On Thursday, February 27, 2014, Doc Sportello <coolwithdoc at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I'm only 20 pages in but I wanted to let it be known that I've begun,
>>> which is not to say I'll finish, GR. I've been told that the title, among
>>> countless other things, alludes to the trajectory of a rocket and the novel
>>> itself. The "Beyond the Zero" epigraph to me invokes a graph of a negative
>>> parabola that has two roots or zeros (I have a bachelors in Applied Math
>>> but you don't need one to solve a polynomial). Anyway the von Braun quote
>>> brings up the fact that the parabola doesn't end at the zeros but goes on
>>> to infinity and it reminded me of Saturn via Keats "There is no death in
>>> all the universe"
>>>
>>> Anyhooz I'm sure you all have discussed it to death (there is no
>>> death...) but to keep myself motivated I'll update you as I move along
>>>
>>
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