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
"it slowly dawned on me that the landscape of science is maybe what interests people a great deal in science fiction."
- Gregory Benford
 |
| Sun Plant (Solar Motor) | ||
| A huge system of mirrors collects light and focuses it on a boiler for energy. |
This is an early version of this idea. It turns out that there was a civilization in Io, a large moon of the planet Jupiter.
| The thousands of reflecting mirrors of that solar motor, mounted on their slanted, circular frame, were collecting the feeble rays of the tiny, far-distant sun, and concentrating them on the blackened boiler at the center of the frame. The boiler was made like a squatting image of one of those last natives. It had a great beard, carved out of iron, ruby eyes, long goblin nose and ears, and a strange, mocking, secret grin on its lips - a grin that was sinister in itself...
 ('The Lotus-Engine' by Raymond Z. Gallun) So, we'd polished the reflecting mirrors of the sun-plant. We'd patched and repairs the leaks and dents in the boiler, turbine, and other parts. We'd filled the dried-out boiler from our ship's precious supply of water. We'd applied oil liberally, where necessary. Just at evening we'd got that huge, tip-tilted reflector frame turned around on its pivot, so it would face the sun at dawn. And now, coming back from our ship in the early afternoon, we were flabbergasted to see that the world-old engine already in operation, its throttle evidently opened by an automatic device! ...As the hours went by, a gear-system became active on its pivot and gimbals, keeping the great, iron ring and its mirrors faced toward the sun, so as to collect all the heat possible for the boiler. |
| Technovelgy from The Lotus-Engine,
by Raymond Z. Gallun. Published by Super Science Stories in 1940 Additional resources -
|
Compare to the sun-engine from Valley of Lost Souls (1939) by Eando Binder.
See also the power planet from Power Planet (1931) by Murray Leinster, the near-space solar energy collector from Star Maker (1937) by Olaf Stapledon, the solar energy beam from Masquerade (1941) by Clifford Simak and the solar station from Isaac Asmov's 1941 story Reason.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Lotus-Engine
More Ideas
and Technology by Raymond Z. Gallun
Tech news articles related to The Lotus-Engine
Tech news articles related to works by Raymond Z. Gallun
Sun Plant (Solar Motor)-related
news articles:
- Nuclear Plant Restarted To Power AI To Feed Us Dreams
| Can 'Tactical Umbrellas' Shield One From Drones |
| Chinese Aircar Light And Airy, Not For Blade Runners |
| The Morphing Wheel And The Smartwheel |
| Transporting Antimatter |
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
'Then she looked up with a smile and moved closer to the camera.'
'... folios and tapes and playable discs of platinum alloy.'
'... another corner of his mind began to think about the shields.'
'Michel Ardan, as a Frenchman, was declared chief cook, an important function, which raised no rival.'
'Sapiro’s computer just kept dialing at random, hanging up on humans, until it got a fellow computer of the same type as itself.'
'I request that you feed the correlation between those dots and the levers of the panel into my memory banks.'
