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 science fiction method is dissection and reconstruction. You look at the world around you, and take it apart into its components. Then you take some of those components, throw them away, and plug in different ones, start it up and see what happens."
- Frederik Pohl

Food Pills  
  A substitute for ordinary nutrition.  

As far as I know, the first reference for "food pills" although there are earlier references to the idea (see below).

In Moonland the only food is pills. Every day the Official Feeders visit every house and every member of the household is put on the weighing machine. If the person is above the standard weight, he or she is left without food until reduced to the lawful standard. If the person is below the standard weight, he or she is stuffed with pills until he or she just turns the scale.

In Moonland everybody, with the exceptions I will mention, has to go to bed and get up at the same hour, to wear similar clothing, to walk the same distances, and to do precisely the same amount of work. In order that there may be mental as well as physical equality everybody has to read the same books, to hear the same music, to listen to the same speeches, and to talk precisely the same talk. There is a Conversation Gazette, and the people are not allowed to hold any conversation except that which is set forth in the official journal. The only musical instruments are barrel organs which play the same tunes.

The exceptions, those who are not bound to obey the laws for the enforcement of equality, are the President, the members of the Council, and the officials. They may be fat or thin; they do not swallow the food pills they prescribe for the people, but eat and drink what they like; and they are free to do as it pleases them with regard to reading, talking, and amusement. Yet when they speak to the people they always talk about the beauty and blessing of equality, and about the cruelty and wickedness of inequality. Perhaps the people are not aware of the neglect of the laws of equality by those who make and enforce them, for in the presence of the President, or of a member of the Council, or of an official, the people are ordered to shut their eyes and open their ears, and they do so. If now and then a citizen neglects the rule the leaders throw dust in his eyes. Sometimes indeed the people are allowed to open their eyes in the presence of leaders or officials, but on those occasions they are compelled to wear very thick rose-coloured spectacles.

Technovelgy from A Strange Trip, by John Baker Hopkins.
Published by Tinsley's Magazine in 1885
Additional resources -

Compare to the compact food pastilles from The Senator's Daughter (1879) by Edward Page Mitchell.

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

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from A Strange Trip
  More Ideas and Technology by John Baker Hopkins
  Tech news articles related to A Strange Trip
  Tech news articles related to works by John Baker Hopkins

Articles related to Food
A Beautiful Visualization Of Compact Food
Thermostabilized Wet Meat Product (NASA Prototype)
Edible Meat-Like Fungus Like Barbara Hambly's Slunch?
Holland Factory 3D Printing 500 Tons Of Steak Per Month

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

Golf Ball Test Robot Wears Them Out
"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...'

Boring Company Vegas Loop Like Asimov Said
'There was a wall ahead... It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'

Rigid Metallic Clothing From Science Fiction To You
'...support the interior human structure against Jupiter’s pull.'

Is The Seattle Ultrasonics C-200 A Heinlein Vibroblade?
'It ain't a vibroblade. It's steel. Messy.'

Roborock Saros Z70 Is A Robot Vacuum With An Arm
'Anything larger than a BB shot it picked up and placed in a tray...'

A Beautiful Visualization Of Compact Food
'The German chemists have discovered how to supply the needed elements in compact, undiluted form...'

Bone-Building Drug Evenity Approved
'Compounds devised by the biochemists for the rapid building of bone...'

Secret Kill Switch Found In Yutong Buses
'The car faltered as the external command came to brake...'

Inmotion Electric Unicycle In Combat
'It is about the size and shape of a kitchen stool, gyro-stabilized...'

Grok Scores Best In Psychological Tests
'Try to find out how he ticks...'

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.