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
"It was [H.G. Wells'] adolescent fiction, his imaginative stories, that live forever - and yet are not acknowledged in literature classes as being great literature. So to hell with the academics!"
- Greg Bear
 |
| Barrier (Force Field) | ||
| Force-field fence. |
In this story, Heinlein explores the idea of a just society; what does that society do with people who refuse to follow the rules? People who refuse to abide by the Covenant are placed (willingly or not) in Coventry, a large area of the U.S. about the size of Montana to fend for themselves. Coventry is surrounded by an impenetrable force field called the Barrier.
| MacKinnon peered out of a forward port of the big transport helicopter with repressed excitement in his heart. There! That must be it- that black band in the distance. The helicopter drew closer, and he became certain that he was seeing the Barrier- the mysterious, impenetrable wall that divided the United States from the reservation known as Coventry... A tiny, bright dot appeared in the foot of the barrier opposite where they waited. It spread into a half circle across the lampblack nothingness. Now it was large enough for MacKinnon to see the countryside beyond through the arch it had formed. He peered eagerly. |
| From Coventry,
by Robert Heinlein. Published by Not Known in 1940 Additional resources -
|
Another character adds:
This story is classic Heinlein; read it to get some of the basis for the socio-political climate in his future history series.
Compare to the Langston field from Mote in God's Eye, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.
'...I'm not a mathematical physicist, but I was always told that it was
theoretically impossible to break the Barrier-that it was just a nothingness that there was no way to
touch. Of course, you can fly over it, but even that is supposed to be deadly to life.'
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Coventry
More Ideas
and Technology by Robert Heinlein
Tech news articles related to Coventry
Tech news articles related to works by Robert Heinlein
Barrier (Force Field)-related
news articles:
- Virtual Fence To Be Tested This Month
| Is There A Subterranean Ocean? |
| The Robotic Shopping Cart Of The Future |
| Arctic Resource Jackpot An Old Wish |
| Marie Curie's Papers Still Radioactive |
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.
|
'But that barrier was going to melt away someday soon. The transhumanists had promised...'
'Clothes are no longer made from dead fibers of fixed color and texture...'
'... in some departments their power is absolute.'
'...he sipped the cognac that the robot bartender handed him.'
Convincing video shows progress (and limitations).
'The speech patterns you actually hear decode the brainwave matrix which has been fed into your mind by your Babel fish.'
'Against Death doth no simple grow.'
