Theoretical fourth-dimensional space that allows space travelers to circumvent the absolute speed of light. In 1887, U.S. scholars Albert A. Michael- son (1852-1931) and Edward Morley (1838-1923) showed that the speed of light in a vacuum was a constant. In 1905, Albert Einstein (1879-1955) further demonstrated that the speed of light was an absolute in terms of the three-dimensional Newtonian universe in which we live. According to Einstein’s general theory of relativity, space and time are curved, and their curvature is directly related to the amount of energy and matter in the vicinity. In 1908, the mathematical physicist Hermann Minkowski (1864-1909) theorized that, under certain conditions, it should be possible to take “short-cuts” through a fourth-dimensional “wormhole” that would quickly cross what would be huge distances in four dimensional space-time.
Early science fiction writers seized on the concept of fourth-dimensional space travel as a means to move their heroes around the universe. Einstein’s general theory of relativity declares that nothing can move faster than the speed of light in the universe we know; furthermore, objects traveling near the speed of light become extremely massive. Time also changes for the fast-moving objects: Hyperspace allows science fiction writers to maneuver around the problems involved in manipulating space-time. On the television series Star Trek, for instance, the “warp drive” used by starships gives the Enterprise the power to move between star systems and to return to its home base in a single lifetime without approaching infinite mass.