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"Looking back through history, I see no evidence for humanity making the best of things, and I think it's a pretty safe bet that's an on-going trend."
- Richard Morgan

Magnetic Coil Slippers  
  Maintain your footing in zero gravity.  

Mrs. Blaiskell brought forward service shoes, worn to some extent by everyone at the station: slippers with magnetic coils in the soles. Wires ted to a power bank at the belt. By adjusting a rheostat, any degree of magnetism could be achieved.

"When a person works, she needs a footing," Mrs. Blaiskell explained. “Of course there’s not much to do, once you get on to it. 'Cleaning is easy, with our good filters ; still there’s sometimes a stir of dust and always a little film of oil that settles from the air."

Technovelgy from Abercrombie Station, by Jack Vance.
Published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1952
Additional resources -

Compare to space-boots from The Passing of Ku Sui (1932) by Anthony Gilmore, magnetic boots from Atomic Fire (1931) by Raymond Z. Gallun, antigrav boots from The Day We Celebrate (1941) by Nelson S. Bond, Steel-Lined Space Boots from Roamer of the Stars (1938) by Clyde Wilson, the neutronium slippers from Revolt on the Tenth World (1940) by Edmond Hamilton, space socks from Lost Rocket (1941) by Manly Wade Wellman, the weight shoes from The World With A Thousand Moons (1942) by Edmond Hamilton, magnetic sandals from The Warriors (1966) by Larry Niven, magnetic-soled shoes from Space Tug (1953) by Murray Leinster, the grip shoes from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) by Arthur C. Clarke and the flexible sprung boots from Inherit the Stars (1977) by James P. Hogan.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Abercrombie Station
  More Ideas and Technology by Jack Vance
  Tech news articles related to Abercrombie Station
  Tech news articles related to works by Jack Vance

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