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
"The bottom line in the Dune trilogy is: beware of heroes. Much better to rely on your own judgment, and your own mistakes."
- Frank Herbert
 |
| Chardion Field | ||
| Electronic 'envelope' that retained atmosphere on tiny worldlets. |
The field can contain an atmosphere, but doesn't provide gravity.
| The Starbrand stood upright on a small field — and this worldlet was so tiny that every edge of the field was a horizon. The sky was a pale bowl of shimmering violet. That strange light was the fluorescence of the Chardion field — the envelope of electronic vibration that contained the artificial atmosphere, that the feeble gravity of Veron was too weak to hold. |
| Technovelgy from Star of Dreams,
by Jack Williamson. Published by Comet in 1941 Additional resources -
|
It allows for the tiniest of habitable "planets":
Blue water turned hollows into
crystal lakes. Terrace-gardens were
luminous with blooms. Every sharp
cliff was softened with its blanket of
blue-flowering crimson Martian moss.
"The Chardion field is tuned to
serve as an energy-trip,” Kellon commented. “That keeps up the temperature. Also, the light-absorption makes
Veron almost invisible.” Again, warning rang hard in his voice. “Any passing ship would be far within the range
of the guns, long before we could be
discovered.”
Compare to paragravity from Collision Orbit (1941) also by Williamson and to planetoid with earth gravity from The Soul Eaters (1944) by William Conover.
Once, Haldane knew, Veron must
have been stark and bare and ugly.
A mere half-mile rock, it was too tiny
for gravitation to have rounded any
harsh jutting pinnacle. But science
had cloaked it with the Chardion field,
and clothed it with pure loveliness.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Star of Dreams
More Ideas
and Technology by Jack Williamson
Tech news articles related to Star of Dreams
Tech news articles related to works by Jack Williamson
| Is China Mining Helium-3 On The Moon's Farside? |
| Solitary Black Hole Wanders In Space |
| Spaceplane From Virgin Atlantic |
| Taikonauts Exercise In China's Tiangong Space Station |
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
'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'
'So the parent drone carries a spotter that it launches...'
'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.'
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
