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
"The only real way to maintain privacy is to be uninteresting. It may be that privacy is a passing fad."
- Larry Niven
 |
| Skycar | ||
| A personal means of transportation that flies. |
As far as I know, this is the first use of this term.
| “Red Hades,” murmured the doctor. “I’ve always been afraid it would happen. I must get there quickly.” Twenty minutes later his private skycar, bearing the blazing-fire cross of the medical profession, was piercing the atmosphere at a thousand miles an hour, on its way to Los Angeles, where the mighty studios of World Teletainments, Inc., were situated. |
| Technovelgy from Prima Donna 1980,
by Bernard Brown. Published by Amazing Stories in 1931 Additional resources -
|
Another detail:
Robert Heinlein liked this term enough that he used it in his classic 1941 novel Methuselah's Children:
This term also appears in The Swordsman of Sarvon (1932) by Charles Cloukey:
Read more about the Camden speedster, the car referred to the above quote..
...it was well past five o’clock when Doctor Heiberg climbed into the tiny saloon of his private skycar and adjusted the pneumatic side grips.
Had there been a bystander, he would have been startled to observe what appeared to be a standard Camden rise up off the ground as easily as a skycar. He would not have long to wonder - the car moved out over the lake, dropped down to the water and sank beneath it. Seventeen minutes later, the car rose up to the surface of a small pool of water, a pool that occupied much of the floor of an artificial cavern.
The little skycar maintained its headlong rush for almost two hours. Then it circled down to land upon the wide ledge half-way up the cliff-side, the ledge upon which the cave opened.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Prima Donna 1980
More Ideas
and Technology by Bernard Brown
Tech news articles related to Prima Donna 1980
Tech news articles related to works by Bernard Brown
Skycar-related
news articles:
- Moller M400 SkyCar Taking Too Long
| Waymo And Tesla 'Autonomous Cabs' Are Piloted By Remote Drivers |
| Maybe It's Too Soon To Require Autonomous Mode |
| Caterpillar Electric Mining Loader Not Yet Ready For Moon |
| Engineer Creates Crazy Motorized Track Hospital Bed |
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
'The peculiar quality of this light, which gave it its great preeminence over all other penetrating rays...'
'The overworked leg motor would have to cool down before he could work on it...'
‘Where to, sport?’ the starter at cab relay asked.
This is nothing new for science fiction fans!
'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'
