Difference between revisions of "Gravity's Rainbow"
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'''NOTE:''' You can view the many variations of ''Gravity's Rainbow'' cover art through the years at [http://thomaspynchon.com/pynchon-cover-art/gravitys-rainbow/ ThomasPynchon.com] | '''NOTE:''' You can view the many variations of ''Gravity's Rainbow'' cover art through the years at [http://thomaspynchon.com/pynchon-cover-art/gravitys-rainbow/ ThomasPynchon.com] | ||
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| + | ==Thoughts on the Title== | ||
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| + | Andrew Graham: | ||
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| + | A rocket takes off under rocket power, following a parabola only once the fuel cuts out - first carrying on upwards and then back down. Or at least an approximation of a parabola, friction necessarily deforming it. Thus a V2 would not follow a parabolic path, certainly not from the ground upwards. | ||
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| + | A rainbow is an arc of a circle which is a different shape to a parabola. | ||
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| + | Thus "Gravity's Rainbow," if we take it to be referring to a V2 flight path, is only approximate to a parabola and can only ever be a deformed arc, deformed and de-coloured rainbow. The difference cannot be overcome by wishful thinking nor physics. The other thing: rainbows are are prismatic-like opening outs of white light. Gravity bends light but not like a prism, as all frequencies are bent equally. But, going by some nice videos on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_lens this Wikipedia page], does create rainbow-like circles. | ||
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| + | Rainbows would also be circular if allowed the space to be, which you can in fact see at times in, for example, waterfall spray and aureoles around aircraft shadows cast onto clouds (both of which I have seen). So perhaps these lensing effects are Gravity's Rainbows, created when light objects pass behind massive ones. | ||
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| + | The other thing gravity can do is shift light moving out from gravity centres in the red direction - creating (at a stretch perhaps) a not very enticing rainbow-like effect, gravity's rainbow here being linear and tending to the more hellish parts of the spectrum | ||
Latest revision as of 12:47, 21 January 2026
Cover Art
NOTE: You can view the many variations of Gravity's Rainbow cover art through the years at ThomasPynchon.com
Thoughts on the Title
Andrew Graham:
A rocket takes off under rocket power, following a parabola only once the fuel cuts out - first carrying on upwards and then back down. Or at least an approximation of a parabola, friction necessarily deforming it. Thus a V2 would not follow a parabolic path, certainly not from the ground upwards.
A rainbow is an arc of a circle which is a different shape to a parabola.
Thus "Gravity's Rainbow," if we take it to be referring to a V2 flight path, is only approximate to a parabola and can only ever be a deformed arc, deformed and de-coloured rainbow. The difference cannot be overcome by wishful thinking nor physics. The other thing: rainbows are are prismatic-like opening outs of white light. Gravity bends light but not like a prism, as all frequencies are bent equally. But, going by some nice videos on this Wikipedia page, does create rainbow-like circles.
Rainbows would also be circular if allowed the space to be, which you can in fact see at times in, for example, waterfall spray and aureoles around aircraft shadows cast onto clouds (both of which I have seen). So perhaps these lensing effects are Gravity's Rainbows, created when light objects pass behind massive ones.
The other thing gravity can do is shift light moving out from gravity centres in the red direction - creating (at a stretch perhaps) a not very enticing rainbow-like effect, gravity's rainbow here being linear and tending to the more hellish parts of the spectrum
