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"I would say 75% of the economy is now being run by ex-science-fiction fans."
- Greg Bear
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| Polaron Beam | ||
| A unique beam of energy that scatters some of its light at right angles to the direction of propagation. |
A classic battle between a stationary fort on the lunar surface versus a quick, mobile spacecraft is decided by this fort-based weapon.
Readers should note that Clarke alters the version of this weapon for use in the 1955 novelization of the story. See the stilletto beam from the novel Earthlight to see Clarke's final (and perhaps more elegant treatment) of this idea.
| For it was during a lull in the engagement that the polaron beam operated for the first time in history.
The two watchers saw it strike upward like an inverted lightning flash. It was clearly visible along its whole length not merely in patches where it passed through dust and gas. Even in that brief instant of time Wheeler noticed this staggering violation of the laws of optics and wondered at its implications. Not until many years later did he learn how a polaron beam radiates some of its energy at right angles to its direction of propagation so that it can be seen even in a vacuum. The beam went through the Phlegethon as if she did not exist. |
| Technovelgy from Earthlight (Novella),
by Arthur C. Clarke. Published by Wonder Stories in 1951 Additional resources -
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'If the biological robots were not living creatures, they were certainly very good imitations.'
"Everybody and his dog, it seemed, wanted to live out in the country; transportation and communication were no longer isolating factors."
'... the new typewriter that could be talked to, and which transposed the spoken sound into typed words.'
'... underneath they consisted of networks of cooling tubes against the skin.'
'My cars talk to one another. I have no doubt about it...'
'... the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell.'
