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"One can see the free software movement as a precusor for a "free hardware" or "free wetware" movement--one that will provide free libraries of designs for biological or nanotechnological products that replicators can be programmed to churn out."
- Charles Stross
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| Monowheel | ||
| A single-wheeled police car. |
Although this is perhaps the first (of very few) uses of this word in science fiction, it was probably used before (see below).
| He made himself fairly comfortable on the back seat of the darkgreen SIC car, a late model Hebster Monowheel.
 ('Monowheel' from 'Firewater' by William Tenn [Astounding])
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| Technovelgy from Firewater,
by William Tenn. Published by Astounding Science Fiction in 1952 Additional resources -
|
Several designs for single-wheel vehicles were introduced in the mid-19th century, which is the most likely time for this word to have been coined.
Compare to the gyrocar from Two Boys in a Gyrocar the story of a New York to Paris motor race (1911) by Kenneth Brown, the Gyro-Hat from An Experiment in Gyro-Hats (1926) by Ellis Parker Butler, the Two-Wheeled Ground Car from First Lensman (1950) by E.E. 'Doc' Smith, the Gyro Two-Wheeled Truck from The Sign of the Tiger (1958) by Alan Nourse (w/Meyer), the Gyrocar (Gyro) from The Ring (1969) by Piers Anthony (w/R. Margroff) and the smart bike from Distraction (1998) by Bruce Sterling.
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Additional
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More Ideas
and Technology from Firewater
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and Technology by William Tenn
Tech news articles related to Firewater
Tech news articles related to works by William Tenn
| Leader-Follower Autonomous Vehicle Technology |
| Inmotion Electric Unicycle In Combat |
| Congress Considers Automatic Emergency Braking, One Hundred Years Too Late |
| The 'Last Mile' In China Crowded With Delivery Robots |
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Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
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'...there's a narrow belt where the climate is moderate.'
'... with the Master-operator all you have to do is push one! A remarkable achievement!'
'Not like me. A T-1000, advanced prototype. A mimetic poly-alloy. Liquid metal.'
'It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'
'The massive feet working the pedals, arms and hands flashing and glinting...'
'There were cubic miles of it, and it glistened like a silvery Christmas tree...'
'Jason had been guiding the caravan of cars as usual...'
"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...'
