The Historical Development of the Warp Drive

via GIPHY

Preface

This is another of my "Covid-Projects," consequent to my "Star Trek History of the Twenty-First Century" project (which is drafted but still needs a lot of work). Basically, I wanted to work out an overall rationalization of the development of the Warp Drive that best fits what has been shown on screen and explains certain oddities that manifested themselves along the way. It varies considerably from a lot of fan-created Treknological assumptions through the years as well as semi-official resources published  and statements made along the way, even by producers and technical advisers to the various series and films. 

In the process of writing the "History of the Twenty-First Century," this kind of went on the back burner until I came upon an article on the blog Occasional Enthusiast entitled "Alternative Star Trek Warp Speed Scale and Related Equations" (2016) [LINK] which takes a very different approach but has some really cool ideas. My comment on that post led to a very helpful exchange with the author (at least, helpful to me) and inspired me to pull this back out, polish it a bit, and go ahead and post it.

Take it for what it is -- one fan's interpretation. And remember that, "Dammit, Jim, I'm an historian, not a mathematician!"

Canon and History in the STAR TREK Universe

05 April 2063: Getting closer all the time....
(SOURCE: https://wall.alphacoders.com/big.php?i=498337]

One of the tasks with which any historian must grapple in constructing a narrative of the past is determination what source materials are available and how reliable are the facts they provide. Many different factors must be considered, including the proximity of the source to the event, whether it constitutes a “primary source” providing contemporary first-hand knowledge unfaded by the passage of time and unmediated by subsequent accounts and influences, or, alternatively, whether the evidence is to be considered “secondary,” providing a more distant perspective based on assessment of such primary sources. In both cases – primary as well as secondary – one must consider in what ways the recording of the account may have been motivated by an agenda – unconscious or acknowledged – which determined inclusion or emphasis of certain facts and deemphasis or even exclusion of other facts which may, objectively, be critical in creating an accurate reconstruction of the events as they happened.

Making History: Preliminary Considerations Toward Constructing a Near-Future STAR TREK Historical Narrative

See the Video here [LINK]

Little did I realize when I undertook the “Starships Comparison” project early in the 2020 COVID-19-enforced lockdown [LINK] that it would lead me into another, bigger project that will – assuming I do not lose interest, or, more likely, find some other obsession to divert my attention – probably result in a series of essays that are doubtless of no interest to anybody except myself, but which I will end up posting here and then, possibly, attempt to publish. It is no less than a complete reconsideration of the early history of human spaceflight, basically until the founding of the United Federation of Planets in 2161, including such things as the history of Earth from the present until that time, the stages in the development of the warp drive from the beginning until the late 24^th century when Star Trek: The Next Generation was set, and how much the later “prequel” series Star Trek: Enterprise (set between 2151 and 2155) and Star Trek: Discovery (set in the 2250s) should be considered – dare I say it? – fictional even “within universe” from the perspective of that later date. There will probably be other things as well. This newest obsession keeps leading me down the most unexpected rabbit-holes!