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"We were essentially being shell-shocked by rapid change. That was one of the things you needed science-fiction writers for back in the Sixties, because we could cope with the future."
- Peter Watts
 |
| Normal Space | ||
| As opposed to hyperspace. |
As far as I know, this is the first use of this phrase, at least in science fiction.
| "You go into hyperspace and move at any speed you please. But how will you see where you're going?"
"We won't, as far as I know. I don't expect to see a thing while we're in that hyperspace. We'll simply aim the ship in the direction we want to go and then go into hyperspace. The only thing we have to avoid is stars; their gravitational fields would drain the energy out of the apparatus and we'd end up in the center of a white-hot star. Meteors and such, we don't have to worry about; their fields aren't strong enough to drain the coils, and since we won't be in normal space, we can't hit them. |
| From Islands of Space,
by John W. Campbell. Published by Amazing Stories in 1931 Additional resources -
|
In a way, this term is similar to phrases like groundcar or flat photo or static house or inert-wear. It comes back from science fiction to refer to something in our ordinary experience.
Compare to hyper-space from The Invisible Bubble (1928), by Kirk Mead.
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'I filled your bullet hole with flesh putty and the lattice.'
'... it will be easy to form an alphabet which shall enable us to converse with the inhabitants of the moon.'
'From the tower's huge octagonal base radiate wide silvery strips...'
'It was about five feet long... a black bullet head and red camera eyes.'
'The Law Society has strict rules on the use of pseudo-intelligent software...'
