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"...a few centuries of coherent humanist thought, set against a million odd years of evolved killer ape tendency. No-one's going to give you very good odds on humanism, are they?"
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This story appeared a long time ago; it's title survives as a nickname for a real invention (telefactoring devices - called "waldoes")which was first described in this story by the author. One of the most interesting subplots of the story involves what amounts to broadcast power, with cars and appliances no longer in need of engines or wired connections to power sources, respectively.
Heinlein didn't invent the idea of 'radiant power' (that is, wireless transmission of power), but he uses it to great effect in the story.
By the end of the story, the DeKalb power receptors were 'bewitched' to pull power right out of thin air (Heinlein makes it work in the story - really!) The interesting thing to me about this idea is that scientists are actually working on a similar idea - pulling power out of an alternate universe. If you think that both Heinlein and these scientists are guilty of 'magical thinking', you're not alone. Here's how Heinlein describes it:
"Not witch doctor - hex doctor..."
The skycar looked quite ordinary. Stevens examined the deKalbs and saw some faint chalk marks on their metal sides... "Watch while I cut in reception."
Stevens waited, heard the faint hum as the circuits became activized and looked.
The antennae of the deKalbs, each a rigid pencil or metal, were bending, flexing, writhing like a cluster of worms. They were reaching out, like fingers.
Don't miss Heinlein's description of the broomstick speedster, a minimalist craft that could whisk two people from the Earth's surface to a space station in low Earth orbit using the magic of broadcast power.
The first person to actually make wireless transmission of power possible was Nikola Tesla. He built a laboratory in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to develop his idea. The largest Tesla Coil ever built (the 'Magnifying Transmitter') could generate up to 300,000 watts of power, and produce a bolt of lightning 130 feet long. Tesla actually managed to successfully transmit about 30 to 50 thousand watts of power without wires using the coil.
The part of the Heinlein story that fascinates me is the character who links increased obesity and sedentary natures in children with an increase in radiation in the environment. He wears a lead-lined suit and lives in a lead-lined house, and finds that he is healthier than his peers.
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