Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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
"None of us, no matter what continent or island or ice cap, asked to be born in the first place, and that even somebody as old as I am, which is 80, only just got here."
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
 |
| Ray Pistol | ||
| A handheld device for projecting radiative force of some kind. |
| “Say — that’s some building material! Just look at that granite rock— smashed into sand ! Yet the window is scarcely scratched ! Look how the frame that held it is torn — just torn, not broken. I wonder if we can tear it loose altogether? I’ll take my ray pistol and try it from here, but if it comes loose we will have a shower of stones and dirt, so look out!” said Arcot, stepping forward. There was a thud as his metal bar crashed down when the ray was shut off. Then, as the others got out of the way, he stepped toward the window and turned his ray on it. More and more power was used, till suddenly there was a rending crash, and they saw only a leaping column of earth, and sand, and broken granite flying up through the hole in the steel shell. There was a sudden violent crash, then a moment later a second equally violent crash as the window, having flown up to the “ceiling” came thumping back to the floor. |
| Technovelgy from The Black Star Passes,
by John W. Campbell. Published by Amazing Stories in 1930 Additional resources -
|
Here's another excerpt:
“Certainly, Dr. Arcot. They are to be under your
commands.”
The party, increased to five now, returned to the ship,
where Arcot showed the men the details of the ray pis-
tols, and how to use them. The control for direction of
operation of the ray was rather intricate on these early
models, and required considerable explanation. The
range of even these small weapons was infinite in space,
according to theory, but in air the energy was rather
rapidly absorbed by ionization of the air, and the dispersion of the beam made it ineffective in space over a
range of more than thirty-five miles. However, the
larger ship projectors had a longer range, and these
were certainly sufficient for their purpose as hand
weapons.
compare 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.
“I believe these men are all armed with the standard
revolver, are they not?” replied Arcot. “I think we
will be considerably safer if I arm them with some of
the new director ray pistols. I have several in the tool
box of the machine. It will be all right, I suppose?”
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Black Star Passes
More Ideas
and Technology by John W. Campbell
Tech news articles related to The Black Star Passes
Tech news articles related to works by John W. Campbell
| Tumblin' Tumbleweed Rovers To Eplore Mars |
| Tentacled Robot Captures Space Debris |
| Reflect Orbital Sunlight On Demand |
| Elon Musk Wants Data Centers In Space |
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 Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'Looks like she has bought the Avatar Construction Set and put together her own...'
'Across the ground something small and metallic came, flashing in the dull sunlight of midday.'
'A broken circle with arrows pointing to a right-hand flow appeared in the chalf.'
'The object seemed melted together like wax — nothing was distinguishable.'
'Midges have many capabilities. To the untrained eye, they look like sparrows.'
'I made disks of my own voice to the number of five hundred very carefully chosen words.'
'His sensors out and working, and the whirring of the tape that sucked up sight and sound and shape and smell and form...'
