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I once read a statement by an author of SF to the effect that both magic and science were simply plot devices, two different buzzwords to allow your characters to do impossible things. I don't like that.
Alternately, I've seen SF described as postulating one or more significant changes in the way we believe the world works, and exploring their consequences. I like that somewhat better. However, most worlds with "magic" seem to either choose a world where technological development is significantly lower than ours, or to assume for some reason that use of magic will lead to neglect for science. That leaves me unimpressed.
My setting assumes that magic exists, and coexists with what we call modern science. Any good university will have some curriculum dealing with magic as a science, and most colleges will have coursework in the applications of magic within their fields.
My first task, then, is to establish the rules governing magic to a sufficient degree to permit their treatment as a serious academic pursuit. Now, if magic is to coexist with the other sciences, I must somehow explain its relationship with concepts like relativity, conservation of energy, and thermodynamics. And what about the arcane words, dramatic gestures, and sudden real physical effects? Do these exist in my world?
I want magic to be useful, but not to supplant sound engineering or medicine or any of the other useful applications of science. I also don't want it to make economic and social concerns irrelevant; these are important issues that deserve better than just being hand-waved away. However, if magic can't violate thermodynamics as we understand it, at least in certain defined ways, it's not really magic. Thus, I posit a "magical ether" that serves as an "entropy sink." Reactions and processes that involve the aether may proceed in direction of decreasing entropy in our perception; the energy flows through the aether, where the entropy increase is passed to some other reaction.
The aether, then, is a magical linkage between an energy source and an energy-using process. The study of magic is the study of how to create and apply these linkages, and how to control side effects and inefficiencies. The exact mechanism of this manipulation is my next task.
Alternately, I've seen SF described as postulating one or more significant changes in the way we believe the world works, and exploring their consequences. I like that somewhat better. However, most worlds with "magic" seem to either choose a world where technological development is significantly lower than ours, or to assume for some reason that use of magic will lead to neglect for science. That leaves me unimpressed.
My setting assumes that magic exists, and coexists with what we call modern science. Any good university will have some curriculum dealing with magic as a science, and most colleges will have coursework in the applications of magic within their fields.
My first task, then, is to establish the rules governing magic to a sufficient degree to permit their treatment as a serious academic pursuit. Now, if magic is to coexist with the other sciences, I must somehow explain its relationship with concepts like relativity, conservation of energy, and thermodynamics. And what about the arcane words, dramatic gestures, and sudden real physical effects? Do these exist in my world?
I want magic to be useful, but not to supplant sound engineering or medicine or any of the other useful applications of science. I also don't want it to make economic and social concerns irrelevant; these are important issues that deserve better than just being hand-waved away. However, if magic can't violate thermodynamics as we understand it, at least in certain defined ways, it's not really magic. Thus, I posit a "magical ether" that serves as an "entropy sink." Reactions and processes that involve the aether may proceed in direction of decreasing entropy in our perception; the energy flows through the aether, where the entropy increase is passed to some other reaction.
The aether, then, is a magical linkage between an energy source and an energy-using process. The study of magic is the study of how to create and apply these linkages, and how to control side effects and inefficiencies. The exact mechanism of this manipulation is my next task.
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