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"I do think there is a link in that in both cases, writing fiction or writing a computer program, at any given moment you're focusing on a very specific and particular thing—one word, one line of code, whatever."
- Neal Stephenson
 |
| Motor Torpedo | ||
| A terrestrial torpedo, driven by ion beams. |
| "This little tube along the top of the torpedo is a
telescope sight. You will peer through, get the cross
hairs squarely upon your target, and hold them there.
Then press this nickeled lever. That starts the projectile
inside the case to spinning so that inertia will hold it
true. Then, being certain that the aim is correct, press
the red button. The torpedo is thrown from the case by
compressed air, and a positive ray mechanism drives it true to the target. When it strikes, about fifty pounds of Dr. Trainor's new explosive, trainite, will be set off...
Bill balanced his torpedo, peered through the telescope, and pressed the lever. The hum of a motor came from the heavy tube. "All ready?" the Prince inquired. "Ready," each man returned. "Fire !" Bill pressed the red button. The tube drove heavily backward in his hands, and then was but a light, sheetmetal shell. He saw a little gleam of white light before him, against the right blue globe, a diminishing point. It was the motor ray that drove the torpedo speeding toward its mark. |
| Technovelgy from The Prince of Space,
by Jack Williamson. Published by Amazing Stories in 1931 Additional resources -
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'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.'
