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"[Science fiction is] anything that turns you and your social context, the social you, inside out."
- Gregory Benford
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| Steering Shot Pistol | ||
| The simplest way to move in space, where every action has an equal and opposite reaction. |
I don't know of an earlier use of this idea, which as you see below, has many appearances in science fiction stories.
| The ship looked like a gigantic winged egg, a strange gleaming monster, in its course through space. At the blunt end a brightly shining white trail of mist was coming out.
“How do we get back?” asked Sam, after he had satisfied himself as to the shortening of the Geryon. “In the pocket of your pneumatic suit you will find a small repeating pistol,” was the reply. “Shoot it, and the recoil will put you in motion. You could also pull yourself back by means of the wire.”
 (The Steering Shot Pistol from 'The Shot into Infinity' by Otto Willi Gail) Sam followed this advice, and in a short time he was back at the ship. Reassured by the success of the “steering shot”, he began to circle about... |
| Technovelgy from The Shot Into Infinity,
by Otto Willi Gail. Published by Science Wonder Quarterly in 1929 Additional resources -
|
Compare to the propulsion gun from Venus Mines, Incorporated (1931) by Nat Schachner (w. AL Zagat), the Reaction Pistol from Gordon A. Giles 1937 story Diamond Planetoid, the Personal Jet Thrust from Robert Heinlein's 1948 novel Space Cadet, the Pistol 'Rocket' (1931) from Buck Rogers: 2430 AD (1931) by Nowlan and Calkin and the very clever Electrical Tether from Garrett P. Serviss' 1898 story Edison's Conquest of Mars.
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Tech news articles related to works by Otto Willi Gail
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I'm hoping that this procedure becomes a normal part of medical practice!
'... nothing was perfected until M. Pantalon announced the completion of his automatic valet.'
'...its streets were of remarkable width, with few or no buildings so high as mosques, churches, State-offices, or palaces in Tellurian cities.'
'...it was all composed of tiny, identical cubes, carefully laid to form a tilelike surface.'
'He carried on his person a triggering mechanism sensitive to his heartbeat.'
'...Anything was possible in my imaginary environment.'
'Somewhere in space, a chrome and blue automobile raced the green light of Earth.'
'That explains how it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair...'
