The Skylark Of Space And John Campbell's Island Of Space

Since 1905 when Einstein established that light speed, c, is the speed limit of the universe, people have wondered whether it may be possible to break this speed limit. In 1915 Einstein provided a possible solution to this problem with his theory of general relativity.

Faster than light travel has been referenced in many science fiction pieces, which have actually inspired possible technology to do so. Some early instances of faster than light travel are seen in Edward Smith’s, The Skylark of Space and John Campbell’s, Island of Space. In The Skylark of Space from 1928, there is a spaceship with an “atomic motor” that accelerates and “[traverses] space with a velocity thousands of times greater than that of light” [10]. John Campbell’s 1931

Obviously there is no current technology that can do so. The universe is expanding, and as a result space itself stretches [5]. From this we can see that other galaxies in the universe are actually travelling faster than light, relative to us [5]. But they are not actually moving faster than light. The space between them and us is actually expanding and stretching faster than c. This is the theory that the hypothetical technology inspired by Star Trek, called Warp Drive, is based upon, which could possibly be an answer to travel faster than light. A Warp Drive propelled type ship would not classically travel through space like our everyday movement. The space in front of the ship would be compressed, while the space behind it would be stretched. This in turn would propel the ship forward and because there is no limit to the speed of the stretching space, it can travel faster than light [1]. To cause this kind of space warp however, a type of exotic matter would be needed, negative energy

When two, uncharged plates are brought a very small distance apart, there is an attractive force between them due to more virtual particles on the outside of the plates and less in-between. Between the plates, there is a lower energy density because there are less virtual particles. The energy density in empty space, very distant from the plates must be zero. Hence, between the plates the energy density must be negative [4]. This is called the Casimir effect and it shows that negative energy exists. To power a Warp Drive, large amounts of the negative energy are needed, but in the Casimir effect, only small amounts have been