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"I've come across more and more people who've actually tried reading science fiction and can't make it make sense."
- Samuel R. Delany
 |
| Planet Buster | ||
| A bomb so powerful it could destroy a planet. |
This is the earliest reference I know about.
| "One of our largest space bombers was over the planet. The commander warned the Aldebarans that unless they agreed to surrender the diamonds at once, he would drop a planet buster - that’s a Class-A oxygen bomb. The Aldebaran’s return message, expressed in the crudest possible language, told the commander what he could do with the bomb.” |
| From Assignment to Aldebaran,
by Kendall Foster Crossen. Published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1953 Additional resources -
|
The reference to a "oxygen bomb" is a satiric reference to the hydrogen bomb.
I first encountered this term in Frank Herbert's quirky but excellent 1972 novel The Godmakers:
We'll take up a tight orbit. Out beyond us will be five transports full of I-A marines plus a Class IX Monitor with one planet-buster. You're calling the shots, God help you! First, we have to know if they've taken the Delphinus , and if so, where it is. Next, we want to know how warlike these goons are. Can we deal with them? Are they too bloodthirsty? What's their potential?
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Assignment to Aldebaran
More Ideas
and Technology by Kendall Foster Crossen
Tech news articles related to Assignment to Aldebaran
Tech news articles related to works by Kendall Foster Crossen
Planet Buster-related
news articles:
- Planet Buster Dead Star Vaporizes Mini-Planet
| HEL TVD Laser System To Be Built By Dynetics Lockheed Martin |
| ZKZM-500 LASER Assault Rifle |
| Drone Assassin Fails To Kill Venezuelan President |
| Musk's Boring Flamethrower |
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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 Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
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SF writers popularized and elaborated on this idea a generation before the first patents were filed.
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