Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"What I have in my stories is ethics. Ethics and morality are very different cups of tea. I adhere to a very strict rigor of personal ethics and I demand it of those around me as well."
- Harlan Ellison
 |
| Undersea Restaurant | ||
| A restaurant located in its entirety under the sea. |
This is a very early (and prescient) description of what an undersea restaurant would look like.
| "She led him to a kiosk circled by large luminous green letters reading NAUTILUS. An escalator dropped them two hundred feet into a tall octagonal lobby paneled with rattan screens. A major domo escorted them along a glass-vaulted tunnel, out upon the floor of the sea. Dining rooms of various sizes opened off the passage, into one of which they were conducted, and seated at a table close beside the sloping glass dome. The sea lay beyond, with beacons illuminating the sand, rocks, seaweed, coral, the passing submarine creatures." |
| Technovelgy from The Star King,
by Jack Vance. Published by Berkeley in 1964 Additional resources -
|
As far as I know, the first true undersea restaurant was built at the Maldives Hilton in April of 2005:
You may recall the famous Coral Reef Restaurant at Disney World (I've eaten there - the food is great - sit in the second tier of seats to get a more panaramic view). I think this restaurant was built in the early 1980's (EPCOT opened in 1982); however, it is not a true undersea restaurant. The restaurant is on dry land; one large wall is shared with a (very impressive) aquarium.
As long as I'm obsessing on this topic, the earliest description of fine dining under the sea has got to be found in Jules Verne's 1875 classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea:
I think he saved the view of the sea from within the Nautilus for elsewhere in the book.
Thanks to an anonymous reader for contributing the quote for this item.
Ithaa is the only all glass undersea restaurant in the world. Set five metres underwater on a coral reef, Ithaa's innovative glass aquarium design gives diners 360-degree views of the surrounding reef life, while offering an exciting and novel fusion Maldivian-western menu. Ithaa, which means ''pearl'' in the local language, promises a unique dining experience, with humans inside the aquarium and the fish looking in.
I then entered a dining-room, decorated and furnished
in severe taste. High oaken sideboards, inlaid with ebony,
stood at the two extremities of the room, and upon their shelves glittered china, porcelain, and glass of inestimable value. The plate on the table sparkled in the rays which the luminous ceiling shed around, while the light was tempered and softened by exquisite paintings.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 1 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Star King
More Ideas
and Technology by Jack Vance
Tech news articles related to The Star King
Tech news articles related to works by Jack Vance
Undersea Restaurant-related
news articles:
- First Undersea Restaurant
- Ithaa Undersea Restaurant Review And Video
| Instant Journalists: Ordinary People With Cell Phones |
| Meta's Horizon Studio's Unique Avatars From Text Prompts |
| Switzerland May Cap Population At Ten Million |
| California Governor Candidate Calls For Voting By Phone |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'Why, a clockwork dancer, or, better still, one that would go by electricity and never run down...'
'Maybe the individual intelligence of each Cubic pools into a group intelligence...'
'Looks like she has bought the Avatar Construction Set and put together her own...'
'Across the ground something small and metallic came, flashing in the dull sunlight of midday.'
'A broken circle with arrows pointing to a right-hand flow appeared in the chalf.'
'The object seemed melted together like wax — nothing was distinguishable.'
