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"...being predictive, being right about the future, is not the point of any given story or novel. The point is about exploring as wide a range of possibilities as possible."
- Peter Watts
 |
| Ray Gun | ||
| A weapon shaped like a handgun that shoots rays of energy. |
This is probably the first occurence of the all-important science fiction phrase "ray gun."
| Soon they saw a hand reaching out with a ray gun; then another hand with a different ray gun, from behind the silent engine; a sudden crash of metal, a groan and quiet. |
| From The Black Star Passes,
by John W. Campbell. Published by Amazing Stories in 1930 Additional resources -
|
Compare to the equally useful blaster from When the Green Star Waned (1925) by Nictzin Dyalhis. See also the stationary automatic blaster from Red Planet (1949) by Robert Heinlein, the neutron disruption blaster from The Complete Paratime (1951) by H. Beam Piper and the meteor blasters from First Contact (1945), by Murray Leinster.
Compare also to the heat ray from War of the Worlds (1898) by HG Wells, the death-ray from The World Masters (1903) by George Griffiths, the
short-wave surgical knife from Boomerang (1953) by Eric Frank Russell, the
pencil heat ray from Brigands of the Moon (1930) by Ray Cummings and the
flesh gun from The Computer Connection (1974) by Alfred Bester.
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Tech news articles related to works by John W. Campbell
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Maybe not, but we're seeing definite progress.
'These people are pieces of software called avatars.'
'Lucky touched the leap knob and the hopper's leg retracted.'
'It was among these leviathans that the little gyrocar was daring to thrust its puny self...'
'That sail will be twenty thousand miles at the wide part.'
'Out in the New Moon, just ask for what you want...'
'For long-distance calls the ratio of commercial to conversation was as high as 10 to 1...'
