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

"We follow the scientists around and look over their shoulders."
- Larry Niven

Electric Brain Stimulator  
  A device that coordinated the waves of the brain with an external device to improve performance.  

Once the King of Speed himself, Ben Gleed has been fired for pushing people too far. Now, Ben is just employee SX333; he's determined to prove himself.

Lunch hour and midday check-up. "SX333, come into the wave room," said a supervisor. "You need more stimulant than coffee." In the designated room an absent-minded laboratory official made a test of Ben's brain waves under concentration, explaining, "This is one of the Speed King's Efficio devices for converting electrical energy into brain power."

He fitted an instrument over SX333's head. "Plug it in and work the rheostat to suit yourself. The electrical waves will synchronize with your own brain waves and reinforce them."

The King of Speed clamped the electric stimulator over his head, turned the rheostat on full, and poured forth words and sweat. He choked down black coffee, did not stop for lunch, tried not to hear the whisper of "Faster! Faster!" But late in the afternoon when the speed-up whisper bore down and one of the women workers screamed out, "For God's sakes, turn that thing off!" and then slumped over her desk in tears, he wasted five good minutes getting his mind back on his work. "Damn weaklings," he muttered to himself. "They can't take the pace! I'll show them."

Technovelgy from Ben Gleed, King of Speed, by Don Wilcox.
Published by Amazing Stories in 1939
Additional resources -

Compare to the control helmet from Easy Money (1938) by Edmond Hamilton and the cogitator from The Consolidator (1705) by Daniel Defoe.

Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Ben Gleed, King of Speed
  More Ideas and Technology by Don Wilcox
  Tech news articles related to Ben Gleed, King of Speed
  Tech news articles related to works by Don Wilcox

Articles related to Medical
MIT Computerized Bionic Leg Is Part Of The User
Bone-Building Drug Evenity Approved
BrainBridge Concept Transplant Of Human Head Proposed
Natural Gait With Prosthetic Connected To Nervous System

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>

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

 

 

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

Science Fiction in the News

Grok And The City Fathers From 'Cities In Flight' By James Blish
'Chris, the City Fathers are not interested in your welfare; I suppose you know that. They're interested in only one thing: the survival of the city.'

Why Not Move A Warehouse District?
'Did you never see a moving house before?'

Will An AI Found A New Religion?
'You must decide how you will worship Me.'

Terraformer Industries Make Methane
'Drake was the young spatial engineer he employed to terraform the little rock...'

I Need An Outdoor Spherical Display
'Usually a spherical display hovered in the centre...'

Worm Disrupts Physics Simulations Undetected For A Decade
'It diverts integers of the data, the fundamental message-units, so that they no longer agree.'

Muxcard Redditor's DIY Credit Card-Sized Computer
It's a computer, but just barely.

'Soft Assembly' Fashions That Fashion Themselves On The Wearer
'Clothes are no longer made from dead fibers of fixed color and texture that can approximate only crudely to the vagrant human figure...'

Orwell's Nightmare Of AI-Written Novels Comes To Pass
'Books were just a commodity that had to be produced, like jam or bootlaces.'

ISS Plagued By Leak - Again!
'There were perhaps a dozen bladder-like objects in the tunnel...'

More SF in the News

More Beyond Technovelgy

Home | Glossary | Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.