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"For the sciences, the way to change science's perception of things is to wait until all the old farts have died off."
- Larry Niven
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| Suspensor Chair | ||
| A chair that suspends itself above the floor. |
In Dune, the suspensor technology contrasted oddly with the feudal politics and mentality of the people. The science of suspensors is not explained, but that is typical of the novel, and was typical of the mentality of the characters. They distrusted science.
| An ellipsoid desk with a top of jade-pink petrified elacca wood stood at the center of the room. Veriform suspensor chairs ringed it, two of them occupied. |
| Technovelgy from Dune,
by Frank Herbert. Published by Putnam in 1965 Additional resources -
|
This scene takes place in Baron Vladimir Harkonnen's meeting room, or apartment area. The Baron owned entire planets. The luxury was in the materials and veneers, not the technology; suspensor technology was widely used.
This sort of invention seems impossible; how can it be possible to generate a field that nullifies (or opposes) gravity? And how big would the generator have to be?
However, there are different approaches to problems; see the entry for gravity web also by Frank Herbert, for a slightly different approach than a generator.
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'The observation vehicle was of that peculiar variety used in conveying a large number of people across rough terrain.'
'The real border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.'
'I ... set my automatic astronomical instruments to searching for a habitable planet.'
'...haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?'
'... oblongs were all over the floor and surfaces.'
