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
"If you don't care about science enough to be interested in it on its own, you shouldn't try to write hard science fiction."
- Frederik Pohl
 |
| Fold Box | ||
| A chest that is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. |
In the novel, an ordinary guy becomes a hero, thanks to Star, Queen of the Universes, and Rufo, her "servant."
| Rufo's baggage turned out to be a little black box about the size and shape of a portable typewriter. He
opened it.
And opened it again. And kept on opening it--And kept right on unfolding its sides and letting them down until the durn thing was the size of a small moving van and even more packed. Since I was nicknamed "Truthful James" as soon as I learned to talk and am widely known to have won the hatchet every February 22nd all through school, you must now conclude that I was the victim of an illusion caused by hypnosis and/or drugs. Me, I'm not sure. Anyone who has studied math knows that the inside does not have to be smaller than the outside, in theory, and anyone who has had the doubtful privilege of seeing a fat woman get in or out of a tight girdle knows that this is true in practice, too. Rufo's baggage just carried the principle further. |
| From Glory Road,
by Robert Heinlein. Published by Gregg Press in 1963 Additional resources -
|
The box had other unlikely (physically impossible in this world) characteristics as well:
Rufo's little black box was now rigged as a knapsack and I did not stop to wonder how he could carry a couple of tons on his shoulders. An antigrav device like Buck Rogers, maybe. Chinese coolie blood. Black magic. Hell, that teakwood chest alone could not have fitted into that backpack by a factor of 30 to I, not to mention the arsenal and assorted oddments.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 5 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Glory Road
More Ideas
and Technology by Robert Heinlein
Tech news articles related to Glory Road
Tech news articles related to works by Robert Heinlein
| Computational Wood: Grow Circuits In Living Trees |
| Wasabi Smoke Alarm Now Available |
| Implantable Energy-Harvesting Rubber Sheets |
| Bose Ride System Smooths Your Ride |
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 Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
