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"[Science fiction] is the only kind of writing that allows you to look at the world we live in and change one piece at a time."
- Frederik Pohl
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| Superluminal | ||
| Faster than the speed of light. |
As far as I know, the first use in a science fiction story.
| Slowly across the micro-universe they were weaving the copper webs which would define the positions of entry and termination of their superluminal jump through tachyon space. |
| Technovelgy from Patterns of Chaos,
by Colin Kapp. Published by Worlds of IF in 1972 Additional resources -
|
No less a science fiction luminary than Isaac Asimov used this word in a gritty 1969 article The Luxon Wall in Fantasy and Science Fiction:
The earliest mention I can find is in Seeing Things. The Scientist and Spiritualism by Rupert Hall in Pearson’s Magazine (US) February 1909.
Of interest (to me, anyway) is the fact that the word derives from "lumen" which is the unit of luminous flux, but can also be derived from a latin word meaning "opening" into a central cavity or interior space.
It turns out, as you can see for yourself if you try a few random examples, that for any object traveling at superluminal velocities, the proper-mass is imaginary.
He finds that the manifestations of the mediums are not progressive, but devolutionary, infra- and not super-normal, sub- and never super-luminal.
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More Ideas
and Technology from Patterns of Chaos
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and Technology by Colin Kapp
Tech news articles related to Patterns of Chaos
Tech news articles related to works by Colin Kapp
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| Will Space Stations Have Large Interior Spaces Again? |
| Reflect Orbital Offers 'Sunlight on Demand' And Light Pollution |
| Chrysalis Generation Ship to Alpha Centauri |
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'...there's a narrow belt where the climate is moderate.'
'... with the Master-operator all you have to do is push one! A remarkable achievement!'
'Not like me. A T-1000, advanced prototype. A mimetic poly-alloy. Liquid metal.'
'It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'
'The massive feet working the pedals, arms and hands flashing and glinting...'
'There were cubic miles of it, and it glistened like a silvery Christmas tree...'
'Jason had been guiding the caravan of cars as usual...'
"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...'
