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
"At its best, SF is the medium in which our miserable certainty that tomorrow will be different from today in ways we can't predict, can be transmuted to a sense of excitement and anticipation, occasionally evolving into awe."
- John Brunner
 |
| Prime Directive | ||
| The first and most important rule; usually protective. |
This is (as far as I know) the earliest use of the phrase. It doesn't quite have the full meaning that it later acquired.
| But that is impossible under the Prime Directive... Our function is to serve and obey, and guard men from harm. It is no longer necessary for men to care for themselves, because we exist to insure their safety and happiness. |
| From With Folded Hands,
by Jack Williamson. Published by Astounding Science Fiction in 1947 Additional resources -
|
By 1966, the usage had expanded. From a 1966 script for the Star Trek episode Return of the Archons:
As far as the concept of the Prime Directive is concerned, the reader may wish to compare this entry to Relations with Extraterrestrial Life from Ogre (1944) by Clifford Simak, to the Law of Contact from Orphans of the Void (1952) by Orville Shaara and the Alien Self-Government from Co-Operate or Else (1942) by A.E. van Vogt.
Kirk: Landru must die.
Spock: Our prime directive of non-interference...
Kirk: That refers to a living, growing culture. I'm not convinced that this one is."
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from With Folded Hands
More Ideas
and Technology by Jack Williamson
Tech news articles related to With Folded Hands
Tech news articles related to works by Jack Williamson
| Science Fiction Helps Young Readers Build Resiliency |
| Unwanted Cruise Ships Huddle Together Out At Sea |
| News Mood Filter Web Extension |
| Maybe We Could Hibernate Until The Covid-19 Pandemic's End |
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 Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
'... the curious parallelism to animal motions, which was so striking and disturbing to the human beholder...'
'On the three-dimensional map at weather headquarters on the planet Kaider III, the storm was colored orange'
'The result was indeed marvelous... I did not stagger and I did not reel.'
'...thought had been given to its programming.'
'What lay down there? Energy, tubes and pipes, wiring, transformers, self-contained machinery...'
'Our beams feed these worlds energy drawn from... the Sun'
'Reading science fiction and fantasy can help readers make sense of the world.'
'Instantly there appeared standing upon the disk, the image of a man...'
'Your order said for him to be able to be able to work out twists on the gags in the file...'
