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"If I had to get a new Ph.D. now, I'd get it in polymer engineering - the manipulation of matter."
- Bart Kosko

Metal Desk Car  
  A combination work desk and vehicle for librarians and researchers; part desk part carnival ride.  

No area is too small - make it more efficient!

The research workers rode up and down among the walls of books and filing cabinets in little metal desk cars, like marbles chasing through an upright maze.

The eager King of Speed donned a brain stimulator, glanced at his assignments, mounted a car, sailed up the wall, and delved into the cases.

Charged with hope, he zipped from stack to stack...

...Although the wall-scaling mechanisms were replete with safety devices, Ben, in a burst of energy following his exercise, found the weak link. Sliding into his desk car, he jammed at a lever, snapped it off clean. With a whiz he rocketed up toward the lofty ceiling too fast, flew the vertical tracks, and plummeted to the floor, car and all.

Technovelgy from Ben Gleed, King of Speed, by Don Wilcox.
Published by Amazing Stories in 1939
Additional resources -

Read about the desk personal computer from Ender's Game (1985) by Orson Scott Card and the desk secretary from The Long Result (1963) by John Brunner.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Ben Gleed, King of Speed
  More Ideas and Technology by Don Wilcox
  Tech news articles related to Ben Gleed, King of Speed
  Tech news articles related to works by Don Wilcox

Metal Desk Car-related news articles:
  - Moving Desks Not SciFi After All

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