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"If I can make you see the world the way I see it, then you will automatically think the way I think."
- Philip K. Dick
 |
| Grip Shoes | ||
| Shoes with velcro soles used to walk in weightless environments. |
The stewardess came walking up the narrow corridor to the right of the closely spaced seats. There was a slight buoyancy about her steps, and her feet came away from the floor reluctantly as if entangled in glue. She was keeping to the bright yellow band of Velcro carpeting that ran the full length of the floor - and of the ceiling... This trick of walking in free fall was immensely reassuring to disoriented passengers. |
| Technovelgy from 2001: A Space Odyssey ,
by Arthur C. Clarke. Published by Del Rey in 1968 Additional resources -
|
This lets the stewardess walk "upside down." These are, of course, the Pan Am Grip Shoes (TM).
Thanks to Winchell Chung at Project Rho for the photo.
Compare to space-boots from The Passing of Ku Sui (1932) by Anthony Gilmore, magnetic boots from Salvage in Space (1933) by Jack Williamson, antigrav boots from The Day We Celebrate (1941) by Nelson S. Bond, magnetic shoes from The Dual World (1938) by Arthur K. Barnes,
Steel-Lined Space Boots from Roamer of the Stars (1938) by Clyde Wilson, the neutronium slippers from Revolt on the Tenth World (1940) by Edmond Hamilton, space socks from Lost Rocket (1941) by Manly Wade Wellman, the weight shoes from The World With A Thousand Moons (1942) by Edmond Hamilton, magnetic sandals from The Warriors (1966) by Larry Niven, magnetic-soled shoes from Space Tug (1953) by Murray Leinster and the flexible sprung boots from Inherit the Stars (1977) by James P. Hogan.
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| Sunbird Pulsar Fusion Like Leinster's Space Tug |
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'It sounds to me as though you had invented a kind of metal earthworm.'
'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors that circulate around the satellite, making it habitable.'
'The steel tortoise gave MacKinnon a feeling of Crusoe- like independence.'
'...then back to their work, though little enough it was on these automatic cultivators.'
't came out into plain view. Darkington glimpsed a slim body and six short legs of articulated dull metal.'
'The suit stands up and starts walking, gripping me round the calves and waist, taking the bulk of my weight off my throbbing feet.'
'Internally it’s made up of millions of components, but the most important ones are the thinking and memory parts of the Mind proper.'
