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
"I wrote many novels which … contained the element of the projected collective unconscious, which made them simply incomprehensible to anyone who read them, because they required the reader to accept my premise that each of us lives in a unique world."
- Philip K. Dick
 |
| Stiletto Beam | ||
| A beam of molten metal, projected electromagnetically. |
Several ships are attacking a stationary installation on the Moon. The ships have the benefit of mobility in attacking a fixed target; what advantage could the defenders of the installation have that could turn the tide of battle?
Note: this is a different version of the weapon from that used in Clarke's original version of the story. See the article describing the polaron beam from Clarke's original 1951 novella Earthlight, published in Wonder Stories.
| Wheeler never knew why the fortress waited so long before it used its main weapon. Perhaps Stephanson, or whoever was in charge, was waiting for the attack to slacken so that he could risk lowering the defenses of the dome for the millisecond that he needed to launch his stiletto.
Wheeler saw it strike upward, a solid bar of light stabbing at the stars. He remembered the rumors that had gone around the Observatory. So this was what had been seen, flashing above the mountains. He did not have time to reflect on the staggering violation of the laws of optics which this phenomenon implied, for he was staring at the ruined ship above his head. The beam had gone through Lethe as if she did not exist; the fortress had speared her as an entomologist pierces a butterfly with a pin. |
| Technovelgy from Earthlight,
by Arthur C. Clarke. Published by Del Rey in 1955 Additional resources -
|
I love this story, and I avoided putting this item on the site for a long time. However, now that DARPA is working on it, I'll put it up. **SPOILER ALERT**
Clarke puts the problem this way:
The answer, of course, is that it only looked like a beam of light.
The answer is provided to the reader:
Here's an early Earthlight cover detail.
"...It looked like a beam of some kind, but of course that's impossible. No beam can be visible in a vacuum."
He could well appreciate why a jet of molten metal, hurled through space at several hundred kilometers a second by the most powerful electromagnets ever built, might have looked like a beam of light flashing on for an instant.
(Earthlight cover)
Compare to the daisy projector from The Derelicts of Ganymede (1932) by John W. Campbell and the Cyclotronic Ore-Hurler from Exit From Asteroid 60 (1940) by D.L. James.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Earthlight
More Ideas
and Technology by Arthur C. Clarke
Tech news articles related to Earthlight
Tech news articles related to works by Arthur C. Clarke
Stiletto Beam-related
news articles:
- MAHEM Metal Jets Like Clarke's Stiletto Beam
| Can A Swarm Of Deadly Drones Take Out An Aircraft Carrier? |
| Has Turkey Been Stealing Rain From Iran? |
| We Need To Build Anti-Drone Systems For Civilian Spaces |
| Bullet Steers Itself! The Advanced Low-Cost Munitions Ordnance ALaMO |
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
'Alex did not find it surprising that people... were electronically minting their own cash.'
'I had determined that my first attempt should be a visit to Mars.'
To follow the user like a pet while carrying their cargo!
'Deveet unhooked his catch and laid it on the bank beside him. It was a metal fish.'
'...waldoes in the screen followed in exact, simultaneous parallelism.'
'Seen close it was not completely flexible, but made instead of pivoted and smoothly finished segments.'
