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"Science fiction writers, I am sorry to say, really do not know anything. We can't talk about science, because our knowledge of it is limited and unofficial, and usually our fiction is dreadful."
- Philip K. Dick
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| Solar Engine | ||
| A space ship that gets it motive power from the rays of the sun. |
| That the ship had the necessary starting power was already proved by the fact that She had lifted and her acceleration was being maintained. She was of the more recent type that utilized solar rays in transit, and there was therefore no concern over energy once she had got out into the airless void where the sun’s rays shone always burning hot...
 (Ship controls from A Matter of Size) ... the solar motors of the ship were whining faintly but evenly. |
| Technovelgy from A Matter of Size,
by Harry Bates. Published by Astounding Science Fiction in 1934 Additional resources -
|
Compare to the solar-powered aircraft from The Black Star Passes (1930) by John W. Campbell.
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Tech news articles related to A Matter of Size
Tech news articles related to works by Harry Bates
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| Solitary Black Hole Wanders In Space |
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'This was their world, their planet — this swift-traveling, yet seemingly moveless vessel.'
'Gaines and Harvey mounted tumblebugs, and kept abreast of the Cadet Captain...'
Accompanied by a small selection of similar ideas from science fiction.
'...war-balloons, or, as it would be more correct to call them, navigable aerostats.'
