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
"Cyberspace is a metaphor that allows us to grasp this place where since about the time of the second world war we've increasingly done so many of the things that we think of as civilization."
- William Gibson
 |
| Proton Pistol (Proton Beam) | ||
| A device that unleashed a 'protonic storm' of energy. |
In this story, the two survivors of an expedition to a mysterious fragment of a world fight an invisibly small enemy. Better safe then sorry...
| Nothing could appear more harmless than those eddying [dust] motes; yet at sight of them both Rolf and Kerny were gripped by a vague, cold suspicion that among those specks might drift the instruments of sudden, ghastly extinction...
The two men, possessed of the same thought... acted in an identical manner. Their proton beams flared out, lashing the subtle particles into violent motion, and reducing them to fragments too fine to be visible, even if magnified a thousand diameters. The entire atmosphere within the war turret was submitted to the sterilizing action of the beams. Any living thing in the paths of the protonic storms from the pistols, must surely have been destroyed. |
| Technovelgy from A Menace in Miniature,
by Raymond Z. Gallun. Published by Astounding Stories in 1937 Additional resources -
|
Here's a bit more detail, in pulp classic style:
By the time Gallun wrote this in 1937, research into cosmic rays (the largest single constituent of which are protons) was just starting. By the turn of the century, physicists were puzzled by radiation in the environment, which seemed to be higher than would be expected from terrestrial sources.
To settle the debate, a daring German scientist, Victor Hess, ascended to more than 17,000 feet in a balloon (without oxygen!) in 1912. His gold leaf electroscope showed that the higher he got, the more the radiation level increased. Scientists became convinced that the radiation did indeed come from outer space and coined the phrase "cosmic radiation" to describe it.
By 1929, Russian physicist Dmitry Skobelzyn observed cosmic ray tracks in the newly invented cloud chambers. Further research demonstrated that cosmic "rays" were primarily composed of particles. Subatomic particles were finally seen in 1937, giving birth to the field of particle physics. Particle physicists used cosmic rays for their research until particle accelerators were developed in the 1950's.
He yanked a proton pistol fom the belt around his bulky attire, and sent a blue cone of flame belching from its maw.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 3 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from A Menace in Miniature
More Ideas
and Technology by Raymond Z. Gallun
Tech news articles related to A Menace in Miniature
Tech news articles related to works by Raymond Z. Gallun
Proton Pistol (Proton Beam)-related
news articles:
- 'Protonic Storms' Unleashed On DNA In Space
| Bunker Busters and Bore-Pellets |
| Can A Swarm Of Deadly Drones Take Out An Aircraft Carrier? |
| Has Turkey Been Stealing Rain From Iran? |
| We Need To Build Anti-Drone Systems For Civilian Spaces |
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
'He found a barber shop which, he thought, would be good for an idle hour.'
'Thirty rounds of fighting is tough work. Even for machines.'
'...the excavations were already in progress, for he saw gray slopes of rubble.'
'...the walking mills of Puffy Products began to tread delicately on their centipede legs across the wheat fields of Kansas.'
'Here is a Clerk that would work incessantly, and neither eat, sleep, want payment, or grumble.'
'ZARNAK, YOU'RE TO COMMAND A SCOUTING EXPEDITION --- FIND OUT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT!'
'These are your rudimentary seed packages... Some will combine in place to form more complicated structures.'
