Science Fiction
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"Science fiction operates a little bit like science itself, in principle. You've got thousands of people exploring ideas, putting forth their own hypotheses. Most of them are dead wrong; a few stand the test of time; everything looks kind of quaint in hind"
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The earliest mention in science fiction that I know about; in common use on Earth.
John W. Campbell used it in The Derelicts of Ganymede:
Duke Stetson pulled the releasing lever. Automatic doors opened, and a powerful spring gear drove the little twenty-foot ship clear of the gleaming monster.
Eando Binder used this phrase in Murder on the Asteroid in 1933:
Due to the constant dangers of meteors in space
which might at any moment crash through an ether
boat, each space vehicle carried one or more of the
life boats. They were simply little one-man ether
boats, miniature models of the larger craft, equipped
with small but efficient rocket motors. If for any reason the larger boat became unmanageable, damaged,
or useless as a vehicle, the passenger could then embark in the life boat and propel himself within reach
of rescue. Each life boat was equipped with a radio.
They also carried food, oxygen, and heating apparatus.
Hanson, holding the little man in his arms, smirked
as he saw the dull metal ellipsoid boat, for it entered
his plans of the moment. On its side was emblazoned
the same number as was on the outside hull of the
bigger boat — P-322-M-505.
Doc Smith used this phrase just a year later in Triplanetary:
Compare this very early use of the concept with a more famous descendant, the escape pod from George Lucas' 1976 story Star Wars. Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This | Additional
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Science Fiction
Timeline
Is Your Autonomous Tractor Safe?
'The field-minder finished turning the top-soil of a two-thousand-acre field.'
Smart TVs Are Listening!
'You had to live -- did live, from habit that became instinct -- in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard...'
Police Drones In China Would Like To Have A Word With You
''OVERRIDE,' the City Fathers said suddenly, without being asked anything at all.'
Are The Thought Police Listening To Everyone All The Time?
'... they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to.'
RoboShiko! Sumo Exercises Still Good For Robots
'... the expressionless face before me was therefore that of the golem-wrestler, Rolem, a creature that could be set for five times the strength of a human being.'
Giant Robotic Hands At Gundam Next Future Science
'Waldo put his arms into the primary pair before him; all three pairs, including the secondary pair mounted before the machine, came to life.'
JWST Finds Bucking Centaur 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1
'... the glittering little rocket bolted to the black iron behind him.'
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