![]() |
Science Fiction
Dictionary Latest By
"As opposed to illiteracy, where you can't read, aliteracy means that you can but you just can't be bothered. They say aliteracy is on the rise these days."
|
![]() |
![]() This is the earliest use of this word in a strictly science fiction magazine. See antigrav boots for the earliest use of the abbreviated version of that word, as far as I know.
An earlier use of "anti-gravity" can be found in a short story in a publication called The Scrap Book, published in 1906:
Hanging on a level with my eyes was a pair of feet in tan shoes... As I stared in wonder at the dangling feet, they gradually receded, in a gliding manner, until they had faded from view...
"...bending down he twisted the handles on two metal rods that were strapped to his legs, like pole-climbers' irons.
Immediately, to my consternation, he rose in the air until his head touched the ceiling...
It's ridiculously simple, this new force. A piece of platinum and a piece of copper coated with - but that's the real secret of it all. I'll say nothing of that just now. A disk of platinum coated with my new preparation, in which, I may say, radium plays some part, has a propelling power of immense force.
...For want of a better name I am temporarily referring to it by the ridiculous and wholly inadequate name of "Anti-Gravity". The power of this strange agenc y is the greater the larger the superficial area of the metal exposed. A cover of rubber-coated copper neutralizes the force. On the instep of my shoes I have a disk of the prepared platinum fastened, together with a cover of copper that can be turned on or off at will by means of these connecting rods...
(From The Man in the Air, by Frederick R. Keates)
Note also that the idea of a force that acts in opposition to gravity can be found in the description of "apergy" found in Percy Greg's 1880 novel Across the Zodiac:
The use of antigravity is also seen in the spindizzy from James Blish's 1957 novel Cities in Flight. Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This | Additional
resources:
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
|
![]() |
Science Fiction
Timeline
Hotels Turn To Robots As Human Workers Regroup
'Chain of hotels that specialized in non-human service.'
Changesite Mineral To Be Mined On Moon By China
'But then... not every bulldozer operator works on the Moon.'
Tongue-Controlled Tong Wearable Mouth Computer
'Griff found the white and pink map distracting and switched it off using his tongue mouse.'
Taikonaut Tai Chi Foot Loops
'Jimmy Cardigan and Harlowe, staring through the darkside port, had their feet in the foot-loops...'
Space Billboards Would Ruin Our View Of The Cosmos
'But the rising sign, as it had been designed to do, held his eyes. A vast circle of scarlet stars came up into the greenish desert dusk.'
Orion's 'Skip-to-M'Lou' Entry
'A lightning pilot possibly could land that tin toy without power and still walk away from it provided he had the skill to play Skip-to-M’Lou in and out of the atmosphere...'
MarsCat and MetaCat, Your Robot Cat Companions
'It was you who betrayed me — you and your robot cat.'
Mars Mission Using Nuclear Thermal Propulsion
'with its atomic engine as noiseless as a dancing sunbeam...'
|
![]() |
![]() |
Home | Glossary
| Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact
Us | FAQ | Advertise | ![]() Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™ Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved. |
![]() |