"Relativity distorted classical expectations in a way that Clavain still did not find entirely intuitive. Slam two objects towards each other, each with individual velocities just below light-speed, and the classical result for their closing velocity would be the sum of their individual speeds: just under twice the speed of light. Yet the true result, confirmed with numbing precision, was that the objects saw each other approach with a combined speed that was still just below the speed of light. Similarly, the relativistic closing velocity for two objects moving towards each other with individual speeds of one-half of light-speed was not light-speed itself, but eight-tenths of it. It was the way the universe was put together, and yet it was not something the human mind had evolved to accept."
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Science fiction authors from the United KingdomNovelists from WalesShort story writers from WalesPeople from Cardiff
Original Language: English
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Chapter 26 (p. 463)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alastair_Reynolds
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Alastair Reynolds
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