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The Infinite Improbability Drive is the Spaceship drive for the Starship '' Heart Of Gold '' in the Science Fiction story '' The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy '' by Douglas Adams . It is apparently based on a particular perception of Quantum Theory , namely that although a particle may be most probably found in a particular place, such as close to the nucleus of an atom, there is a fantastically small probability of it being found a long way away, such as near another star. Thus if a body could be caused to become located at one of its improbable locations, it could travel from place to place without passing through the intervening space (or Hyperspace , for that matter). The ''Guide'' itself explains that generating finite levels of Improbability using an electronic brain and a strong Brownian Motion producer (say, a cup of hot Tea ) was very well understood, but that scientists lacked the means to create a drive that could produce the infinite improbability field required to allow a ship to travel anywhere instantaneously. At the end most of them announced that the machine was virtually impossible. At the time, the only use of improbability drives was to break the ice at parties, by making all the molecules in the hostess' undergarnments leap one foot to the left simultaneously, in accordance to the theory of indeterminancey. many other scientists decided that they wouldn't stand such a thing, partly because it was a debasement of science, but mostly because they didn't get invited to those sorts of parties. Eventually a student reasoned that the infinite improbability drive had to be a finite improbability to be a virtual imposibility. After working out exactly how improbable, he fed that value into the finite improbability generator, gave it a really hot cup of tea, and managed to generate the infinite improbability generator out of thin air. After winning the Galactic Institute's prize for extreme cleverness, he was later lynched by other scientists who had been trying to make the generator for years, who finally worked out that what they really couldn't stand was a smart-ass. In describing the invention of the drive, Douglas Adams exemplifies the principle of Bootstrapping . The ''Heart of Gold'' was the prototype ship for infinitely improbable travel. The principle is that as its drive reaches infinite improbability, the ship passes simultaneously through every point in the universe. It is then possible to decide at which point you actually want to be at when improbability levels decrease. Unfortunately human beings are accustomed to travelling at normality ( Probability 1:1), and can be fairly distressed by events around them whilst the improbability drive is working: losing limbs, turning into penguins, planets spontaneously becoming fruitcakes, nuclear missiles metamorphosing into sperm whales and bowls of petunias, and so forth. The starship ''Heart of Gold'' was somewhat insulated against this by having an improbability-proof drive room, allowing the pilots to remain more or less normal during the flight. It is the infinite improbability drive in '' The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy '' which saves Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect from certain death by Asphyxiation in deep space after being thrown out of the Vogon ship. The most important side effects of infinite improbability travel were that hyperspace express routes became largely obsolete, and that the History department of the university of Maximegalon finally gave up trying to figure out the universe, as completely impossible things were increasingly commonplace. The infinite improbability drive has been superseded by the Bistromathic Drive , based on the alternate math used by Waiter s in Restaurant s, which has the advantage of not having improbable side effects or improbable things going wrong. The ''Starship Bistromath'' is more maneuverable than the ''Heart of Gold'', but it seems that the ''Heart of Gold'' is still the faster of the two. An earlier attempt at using the improbability drive, Starship Titanic , was also mentioned. In theory, the infinite improbability drive would make it infinitely improbable that anything would go wrong. It was not successful, however, ending in Spontaneous Massive Existence Failure. This was due to the fact that, in these earlier times when the nature of improbability was less well understood, it wasn't appreciated that any event that is infinitely improbable will, by definition, occur almost immediately. Adams developed the notion of the improbability drive having greater causal (and narrative) effects in later books. For example: when Zaphod's grandfather discusses his great-great-great-great grandson's career-to-date he explains that he (Zaphod) cannot escape his destiny now the improbability field "controls you". This could be an early nod to the reverse-temporal abilities of the guide in the last book - although this may be good luck on DNA's part. Here's the guide entry on it: "''The Infinite Improbability Drive is a wonderful new method of crossing interstellar distances in a few seconds; without all that tedious mucking about in hyperspace. As the Improbability Drive reaches infinate improbability, it passes through every conceivable point in every conceivable universe almost simutaneously. In other words, you're never sure where you'll end up or even what species you'll be when you get there. It's therefore important to dress accordingly. The Infinite Improbability Drive was invented following research into finite improbability which was often used to break the ice at parties by making all the molecules in the hostess' undergarments leap one foot simultaneously to the left in accordance with the theory of indeterminancy. Many respectful physicists said they wouldn't go to stand for that sort of thing, partly because it was a debasement of science, but mostly, they didn't get invited to those sort of parties''" IMPROBABILITY PHYSICS IN OTHER LITERATURE The Infinite Improbability Drive is sometimes compared with a similar concept in the fiction of Stanisław Lem . {Link without Title} Specifically, the "improbability automatic" from Lem's story, "The Third Sally, or The Dragons of Probability." IMPROBABILITY PHYSICS IN THE REAL WORLD Most scientists consider improbability physics to be completely ridiculous. However, a small minority have pointed out that improbability physics is by its very definition, improbable, which implies that it is possible. Dr. William Baker of Oxford has recently discussed the possibility of a finite improbability drive by affecting the uncertainty inherent in quantum mechanics. By amplifying and controlling the unpredicatability of Subatomic particles, larger Molecules and even objects can be encompassed in uncertainty Field . TRIVIA On the engineering console of the '''', there is a button marked "Infinite Improbability Drive." |
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