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"I kind of take it for granted that our great-grandchildren will regard us as a sort of precursor species. That they won't think of us as human and if we could see them, we probably wouldn't think of them as human either."
- William Gibson
 |
| Earth Normal | ||
| Using the earth standard. |
Although this is not the usual sf meaning, it is the first use of this phrase that I know about.
| As he waited, he noticed a curious little dial, in a lower corner of the instrument board, which he had not seen at first. One end of its graduated scale was marked, "Earth Normal," the other, "Pygmy Planet Normal." A tiny black needle was creeping slowly across the scale, toward "Pygmy Planet Normal." "That's how we tell what size we are, without having to look at a bottle," he muttered. |
| Technovelgy from The Pygmy Planet,
by Jack Williamson. Published by Astounding Science Fiction in 1932 Additional resources -
|
A more typical use can be seen in Derelict, a 1935 story by Raymond Z. Gallun published in Astounding Science Fiction.
He climbed through the airlock, and for a minute stood quietly, viewing his surroundings. Somewhere gravity plates continued to function in this ancient wreck, for he had weight here— perhaps one third Earth-normal. Junk was everywhere in the cavernous interior, distorted and crumpled grotesquely.
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| SpaceX Wants A Moonbase Alpha |
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'The pitiless M rays pierced Earth and steel and densest concrete as if they were so much transparent glass...'
'Pina2bo would have to operate full blast for many years to put as much SO2 into the stratosphere as its namesake had done in a few minutes.'
'Nanny is different,' Tom Fields murmured... 'she's not like a machine. She's like a person.'
'We made a crude , small cell and were delighted - and, I admit, somewhat surprised - to find it worked.'
'...we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties.'
'The clothes and jewelery drew their tiny power requirements from her movements.'
'At the end of each appendage's eight fingers there are tinier appendages...'
'We want to do something to help those who are suffering from tooth loss or absence,' said lead researcher Katsu Takahashi.
