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"It wasn't until I was past forty that it bacame clear that I was going to be quote, successful, unquote."
- Isaac Asimov
 |
| Air Blast | ||
| An air dryer for personal use. |
I wonder if he invented this one; another failure to file patent. You can see how you might think of it; anyone familiar with machine shops or labs with compressed air know that compressed air is often used to dry materials.
| It was not Dave's idea of a refreshing chamber, but he managed to take a sketchy shower in spite of the slimy floor. Then he discovered that there was no air blast installed, and he was forced to dry himself unsatisfactorily with his handkerchief. He had no choice in clothes. He must put back on the ones he had taken off, or go naked. He recalled that he had seen no nudity anywhere in Coventry, even at sports- a difference in customs, no doubt. |
| Technovelgy from Coventry,
by Robert Heinlein. Published by Astounding Science Fiction in 1940 Additional resources -
|
According to Denis Gagnon, president of Exel Dryer, "the basic hand dryer was invented in 1948 and has gone virtually unchanged ever since." It may have been patented by someone in 1948, but Robert Heinlein wrote about it in 1940.
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Air Blast-related
news articles:
- High Speed Hand Dryer
- Airblade From Dyson Airblast From Heinlein
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'The suit stands up and starts walking, gripping me round the calves and waist, taking the bulk of my weight off my throbbing feet.'
't came out into plain view. Darkington glimpsed a slim body and six short legs of articulated dull metal.'
'Internally it’s made up of millions of components, but the most important ones are the thinking and memory parts of the Mind proper.'
'I could look down at that face of carefully molded synthetic rubber, tinted the exact shade of the doctor's living flesh.'
'Chris, the City Fathers are not interested in your welfare; I suppose you know that. They're interested in only one thing: the survival of the city.'
'Drake was the young spatial engineer he employed to terraform the little rock...'
