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"In WWII, they had a saying that there are no atheists in foxholes. I think the modern equivalent of that is that there are no jaded, bored people in the high-tech industry, in the land of really good hardcore geeks."
- Neal Stephenson
 |
| Earth Normal | ||
| Using the earth standard. |
Although this is not the usual sf meaning, it is the first use of this phrase that I know about.
| As he waited, he noticed a curious little dial, in a lower corner of the instrument board, which he had not seen at first. One end of its graduated scale was marked, "Earth Normal," the other, "Pygmy Planet Normal." A tiny black needle was creeping slowly across the scale, toward "Pygmy Planet Normal." "That's how we tell what size we are, without having to look at a bottle," he muttered. |
| Technovelgy from The Pygmy Planet,
by Jack Williamson. Published by Astounding Science Fiction in 1932 Additional resources -
|
A more typical use can be seen in Derelict, a 1935 story by Raymond Z. Gallun published in Astounding Science Fiction.
He climbed through the airlock, and for a minute stood quietly, viewing his surroundings. Somewhere gravity plates continued to function in this ancient wreck, for he had weight here— perhaps one third Earth-normal. Junk was everywhere in the cavernous interior, distorted and crumpled grotesquely.
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Tech news articles related to works by Jack Williamson
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'...war-balloons, or, as it would be more correct to call them, navigable aerostats.'
'This robot is a creature... It is a manlike being. Therefore, like any other talking, thinking man, he is entitled to a court trial!'
'...small electric motors at the principal joints worked the prosthetic framework by means of steel cables...'
