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"Conspiracy theories are big because they're comforting. Any conspiracy is infinitely less multiplex than the real deal, which is multiplex to the point of being unknowable."
- William Gibson
 |
| Planet-Busting Bomb | ||
| A munition with sufficient power to destroy an entire planet. |
This is a very early (maybe the first) fictional reference.
| Somebody had slipped when Marshall Wellington Smith selected Rigel IV for his planet-busting test. |
| Technovelgy from Testing,
by J.J. Ferrat. Published by Fantastic Universe in 1956 Additional resources -
|
In Frank Herbert's 1972 novel The Godmakers, Lewis Orne was sent to the planet Gienah to see if it was a safe planet for further development.
The term is not original with Ferrat; it was discussed briefly in "sf fact" articles as early as 1950.
Compare to the magnetic shell from The Great Stone of Shardis (1897) by Frank Stockton, the
atomic bomb from The World Set Free (1914) by HG Wells, the atomic shell from Buck Rogers: 2430 AD (1929) by Nowlan and Calkin, the roving bomb from Lost Rocket (1941) by Manly Wade Wellman, the
Wabbler from The Wabbler (1942) by Murray Leinster and the smart bullet from Runaway (1985) by Michael Crichton.
This one calls for one planet-buster bomb, buster. In five days. Unless you give them a white bill in the meantime. High Commissioner Bullone will have word of this planet by then. If Gienah still exists in five days, can you imagine the fun the politicians'll have with it? Oh Mamma! Orne, we want this planet cleared for contact or dead before then.
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'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...'
