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"The SF approach: an awareness that things could have been different, that this is one of many possible worlds, that if you came to this world from some other planet, this would be a science fiction world."
- Neal Stephenson
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| Planetary Globe | ||
| A craftsman's model of a planet. |
| He took the globe down and set it on the table before him. It had been begun in the early days of the voyage, seven subjective years past in time and one hundred and ninety light years back in space, to compensate the first bitter pain of loss. It was made of green chromastite, with the refraction planes of the mineral subtly altered to simulate the varying depths of the sea. An overlay of rich, brown jade had been partially carved into a relief of continents and islands. It was to have been his masterpiece - a tiny model of Eiollyra.
He turned the globe slowly in his hands. The north continent was still blank and the poles wanted frosting. There was a lot of work to be done - delicate, painstaking carving with an energy needle - before it would be a perfect replica of the real world, the first world, the world whose warming sun, the astrophysicists said, would explode into a nova.. The First Commander slowly set up the magnifier and arranged the three-dimensional patterns. He pulled a transparent shield over his eyes and began to carve a tiny mountain chain... |
| Technovelgy from Star of Wonder,
by Julian May. Published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1953 Additional resources -
|
Most science fiction fans recall the imperial handicraft globe of Arrakis from Dune (1965) by Frank Herbert.
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'The crawling, exploring object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
'It radiates outward in a cone which, by the time it has reached our section of space, is many lightyears across.'
'Drake was the young spatial engineer he employed to terraform the little rock.'
'... with a weird simulation of life, the ten forked ends of each arm commenced a rattling pressing of the buttons.'
'Each of the four areas is enclosed by a sonic wall...'
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
'If you surf over a bump... If you surf over a pothole...'
