“Rapid transit is the world’s greatest humanizing influence”, says Banning to his assistant Bryan. “It wipes out boundaries of states and nations. It breaks down racial and religious prejudices. It clears up misunderstandings and cements friendships among all the people on earth. It is the only means through which the millennium of universal peace can be attained.” He announces that his latest plan is to build a machine capable of circumnavigating the globe in a single day, and also raises the possibility of space travel.
Discussing current attempts at space travel, Banning argues that shooting people into space via a projectile in the manner of Jules Verne would be impracticable (“To leap in a single instant from a position of rest to a speed greater than eight miles per second would hurl the bodies of the passengers against the rear wall of the rocket with such force that they would be instantly crushed to death.”) He then cites real-life engineers Andre Mas and Drouet – along with Gernsback’s *Science and Invention* magazine – as he outlines a more plausible means of getting into space.
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# “Four Dimensional Transit” by Bob Olsen
This is Bob Olsen’s fourth story for *Amazing* about four-dimensional technology, following on from [“The Four-Dimensional Roller Press”](https://amazingstories.com/2018/10/amazing-histories-november-1927-humanity-past-and-future/), [“Four Dimensional Surgery”](https://amazingstories.com/2019/01/amazing-histories-february-1928-rewriting-history-rethinking-physics/) and [“Four Dimensional Robberies”](https://amazingstories.com/2019/05/amazing-histories-may-1928-inventions-and-invertebrates/). This time around, Professor Banning expresses his passion for transport.
“Rapid transit is the world’s greatest humanizing influence”, says Banning to his assistant Bryan. “It wipes out boundaries of states and nations. It breaks down racial and religious prejudices. It clears up misunderstandings and cements friendships among all the people on earth. It is the only means through which the millennium of universal peace can be attained.” He announces that his latest plan is to build a machine capable of circumnavigating the globe in a single day, and also raises the possibility of space travel.
Discussing current attempts at space travel, Banning argues that shooting people into space via a projectile in the manner of Jules Verne would be impracticable (“To leap in a single instant from a position of rest to a speed greater than eight miles per second would hurl the bodies of the passengers against the rear wall of the rocket with such force that they would be instantly crushed to death.”) He then cites real-life engineers Andre Mas and Drouet – along with Gernsback’s *Science and Invention* magazine – as he outlines a more plausible means of getting into space.
[https://amazingstories.com/2020/11/amazing-histories-fall-1928-the-fourth-quarter/](https://amazingstories.com/2020/11/amazing-histories-fall-1928-the-fourth-quarter/)