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 feel like I've been very fortunate in that I've stuck like a burr to the dog-leg of the next generation of nerdism. I've been carried into the XXIth century on Bill Gates' pants-cuff."
- William Gibson

Mother World  
  One's home planet, or the origin world of one's species.  

Very early use of this phrase.

Leaving the wrecked Earth, explorers discover an ancient civilization on the Moon. One enormous artifact depicts an ancient Earth.

A series of horizontal wavy lines was taken by the Earthians to represent water, and an arch, surmounting perpendicular wavy streaks, looked like a rain picture drawn by a prehistoric artist of the mother planet. And there was the likeness of the mother world itself — two circles in which the outlines of Earth's continents had been carved. The hemispheres were not readily distinguishable, however. The eastern continents were not quite in keeping with those known to the Earthians, the western hemisphere showed that North America was joined to Asia by a narrow neck of land, and between the Americas and Europe, nearer the latter continent and embraced in the circle showing the western half of the globe, lay a vast body of land which the Earthians had never seen, but which they knew to be Atlantis. The outlines of nearly all the continents were slightly different from those with which they were familiar. It was clear that great geologic changes had taken place since the maps were drawn.
Technovelgy from The Moon of Doom, by Earl L. Bell.
Published by Amazing Stories Quarterly in 1928
Additional resources -

Also seen in Asteroids of Death (1931) by Neil R. Jones:

I was weak and exhausted when like a huge, rotating ball, the mother world loomed before me. I slackened the speed of the ship to a minimum as I raced into the upper reaches of the atmosphere.


(The Mother World from 'The Asteroid of Death' by Neil R. Jones)

As I recall, the first time I encountered this phrase was in Arthur C. Clarke's wonderful 1955 novel Earthlight:

History, it has been said, never repeats itself but historical situations recur. Inevitably the new worlds began to loosen their ties with Earth. Their populations were still very small compared with those of the mother world but they contained the most brilliant and active minds the race possessed. Free at last from the crushing burden of tradition they planned to build civilizations which would avoid the mistakes of the past. The aim was a noble one — it might yet succeed.

Compare to home-world from A Honeymoon In Space (1901) by George Griffith.

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

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from The Moon of Doom
  More Ideas and Technology by Earl L. Bell
  Tech news articles related to The Moon of Doom
  Tech news articles related to works by Earl L. Bell

Articles related to Culture
Has Elon Musk Given Up On Mars?
'They Erased My Memory' Says Ariana Grande
'Spikeless' Brand Swizzle Stick Detects Spiked Drinks
Musk Proposes Sites For Martian Cities

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

LLM 'Cognitive Core' Now Evolving
'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.'

Has Elon Musk Given Up On Mars?
'There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.'

Bacteria Turns Plastic Into Pain Relief? That Gives Me An Idea.
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'

When Your Child's Best Friend Is An AI
'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'

China's Drone Mothership Can Carry 100 Drones
'So the parent drone carries a spotter that it launches...'

Drones Recharge In Mid-Air Like Jets Refuel!
'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.'

Australian Authors Reject AI Training Of Llama
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'

Is China Mining Helium-3 On The Moon's Farside?
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'

Maybe It's Too Soon To Require Autonomous Mode
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.

Is Agentic AI The Wrong Kind Of Smartness?
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'

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.