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
"The trick is not becoming a writer. The trick is staying a writer. Day after month after year after story after book."
- Harlan Ellison
 |
| Gravitic Repulsion Elevator | ||
| The elevator was of the new sort that ran by gravitic repulsion. |
I love this kind of device. Let's take something that is so fantastic, and requires so much energy, that it would be impossible - and then apply it to something completely mundane. Who would ever think of this? This part of the novel relates the first moments of Gael Dornick's arrival on the planet Trantor - which is almost certainly the inspiration for Coruscant, the center of the galactic republic in the Star Wars universe.
| He added, conversationally, "I don't bother with the outside myself. The last time I was in the open was three years ago. You see it once, you know and that's all there is to it. Here's your ticket. Special elevator in the rear. It's marked 'To the Tower.' Just take it."
The elevator was of the new sort that ran by gravitic repulsion. Gaal entered and others flowed in behind him. The operator closed a contact. For a moment, Gaal felt suspended in space as gravity switched to zero, and then he had weight again in small measure as the elevator accelerated upward. Deceleration followed and his feet left the floor. He squawked against his will. The operator called out, "Tuck your feet under the railing. Can't you read the sign?" The others had done so. They were smiling at him as he madly and vainly tried to clamber back down the wall. Their shoes pressed upward against the chromium of the railings that stretched across the floor in parallels set two feet apart. He had noticed those railings on entering and had ignored them. Then a hand reached out and pulled him down. He gasped his thanks as the elevator came to a halt. |
| Technovelgy from Foundation,
by Isaac Asimov. Published by Doubleday in 1951 Additional resources -
|
Nobody does it better than Asimov, effortlessly building a field that nullifies gravity into an elevator. Mr. Otis would approve. And, of course, details like this help build your impression of Trantor; when that much money pools in one place, the most lavish expenditures seem ordinary and reasonable.
For another very creative look at what an elevator could be, see the entry for bubble from Saturn's Race by Larry Niven. For another take on anti-gravity, see the gravity web from the novel Whipping Star, by Frank Herbert; maybe it's not impossible.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Foundation
More Ideas
and Technology by Isaac Asimov
Tech news articles related to Foundation
Tech news articles related to works by Isaac Asimov
| CORLEO Robotic Horse Concept Looks Ready To Ride |
| Futuristic Transit Elevated Bus Never Really Worked |
| Japan Automated Cargo Transport |
| Tesla Electric 'Giga Train' Operational In Germany |
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
'The crawling... object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
'Joe got out the gravity-simulator harnesses...'
'You couldn't have the capstone without the pyramid to hold it up.'
'the unobtrusive inspections with tiny remote-cast snoopers...'
I'm hoping that this procedure becomes a normal part of medical practice!
'... nothing was perfected until M. Pantalon announced the completion of his automatic valet.'
'...its streets were of remarkable width, with few or no buildings so high as mosques, churches, State-offices, or palaces in Tellurian cities.'
