14
votes
Accepted
Why is the Map of Earth on the Ringworld?
The Pak who built the Ringworld don't know about the initial expedition to Earth. To them, Earth is just another planet relatively close to the Ringworld with a primitive species on it (just like the ...
- 60.7k
11
votes
Accepted
Why couldn't Teela Brown make the same calculation that Louis Wu and Chmeee did?
Protectors are psychologically "hardwired" to protect all their offspring at all costs. They make this decision by smell (pheromones). The other inhabitants of the Ringworld would count for Teela's ...
- 5,319
9
votes
Why not build smaller Ringworlds?
The answer comes from physics.
A ringworld has to have the sun at its center (otherwise it would be vigorously unstable and you'd have strange lighting effects and no easy way for the sun shields to ...
- 42.4k
8
votes
Why not build smaller Ringworlds?
The Ringworld Engineers reveals that the Ringworld was built by Pak Protectors; by bringing in the Pak, TRE also brings in the events of Protector, which explains what happens when protectors compete ...
- 60.7k
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