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
"I don't have an e-mail address. As much as I admire the Internet I suffer literally agoraphobia, which in it's original sense means a fear of the marketplace. I do not want to receive three hundred e-mail messages per week from strangers…"
- William Gibson
 |
| Asterite | ||
| A person who was born and lived amongst the asteroids. |
As far as I know, the first use of this interesting term in an sf story.
| She was a native asterite, accustomed to the annihilating threat of contraterrene matter. |
| Technovelgy from Collision Orbit,
by Jack Williamson. Published by Astounding in 1942 Additional resources -
|
Here are a couple of additional quotes:
...
All the phenomena of space were real and immediate, to the native asterite, as they had never been to his Earth-born forbears. Even a terraformed planetoid, such as Obania, had no safe hundreds of kilometers of insulating atmosphere, but only a thin gaseous envelope. Meteors falling here were something more than mysterious streaks of distant fire; here they were grim dice of life and death.
An earlier use of this word occurs in the Buck Rogers comic strips from 1929-1931:
...the quiet little asterite had a stubborn independence... he was waiting for better times to come - living aboard the little space tug to save the cost of lodgings.
(Buck Rogers asterites)
In a more jocular vein, fun-loving native Asterites are described in Juke Box Asteroid, a 1944 story by Joseph Farrell:
Burgess watched helplessly as the Venusians marched into his ship. He glowered at the guns held by their captors, and at the happy Asterites, who were leaping happily about the surface of the tiny planet, evidently overjoyed to be back in their natural habitat.They were puffy, boneless creatures, all muscles and powerful tendons that were designed to make mighty leaps to escape the gravity of a small asteroid. None were ever found on the larger bodies of the belt; they were space-going nomads who moved constantly from one planetoid to another.
The word "asterite" was also used in the 19th century (and possibly earlier) referring to a kind of opal that presented a star-like reflection.
Compare to belter from The Warriors (1966) by Larry Niven.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Collision Orbit
More Ideas
and Technology by Jack Williamson
Tech news articles related to Collision Orbit
Tech news articles related to works by Jack Williamson
| Instant Journalists: Ordinary People With Cell Phones |
| Meta's Horizon Studio's Unique Avatars From Text Prompts |
| Switzerland May Cap Population At Ten Million |
| California Governor Candidate Calls For Voting By Phone |
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 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
'Why, a clockwork dancer, or, better still, one that would go by electricity and never run down...'
'Maybe the individual intelligence of each Cubic pools into a group intelligence...'
'Looks like she has bought the Avatar Construction Set and put together her own...'
'Across the ground something small and metallic came, flashing in the dull sunlight of midday.'
'A broken circle with arrows pointing to a right-hand flow appeared in the chalf.'
'The object seemed melted together like wax — nothing was distinguishable.'
