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"What has allowed so many Psychopathic Personalities to rise so high in corporations and government, is that they are so decisive. Unlike normal people, they are never filled with doubts, for the simple reason that they cannot care what happens next."
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Palm Key-Plate  
  A plate that accepts palms that have been verified.  

As far as I know, the first reference to the idea of a palm recognition device.

I put my palm on the key-plate. It tingled for a brief, moment and then the shining doors slid back. J rolled through, stopping just inside the launching court at Judson's startled yelp.

"Well, come on," I said.

He stood just inside the doors, straining mightily against nothing at ail. "Wh— wh— ?" .His arms were spread and his feet slipped as if he were trying to force his way through a steel wall.

Actually he was working on something a good deal stronger than that. "That's the answer to why uncertified people don't go Out," I told him. "The plate outside scanned the whorls and lines of my hand. The door opened and that Gillis-Menton field you're muscling passed me through. It'll pass anyone who's certified, too, but no one else. Now stop pushing or you'll suddenly fall on your face."

I stepped to the left bulkhead and palmed the plate there, then beckoned to Judson. He approached the invisible barrier timidly. It wasn't there. He came all the way through, and I took my hand off the scanner.

"That second plate," I explained, "works for me and certified people only. There's no way for an uncertified person to get into the launching court unless I bring him in personally.

Technovelgy from The Stars are The Styx, by Theodore Sturgeon.
Published by Galaxy SF in 1950
Additional resources -

Compare to the the palm plate from The Mechanical Monarch, a 1958 novel by E.C. Tubb. and the palm lock from Dune (1965) by Frank Herbert.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from The Stars are The Styx
  More Ideas and Technology by Theodore Sturgeon
  Tech news articles related to The Stars are The Styx
  Tech news articles related to works by Theodore Sturgeon

Palm Key-Plate-related news articles:
  - Philips Smart Palm Recognition Smart Deadbolt

Articles related to Security
Flimmer Navy Drone Flies And Swims
Indian Court Says Brain Scan Proves Murder
Background Draw-a-Secret (BDAS) Makes Graphical Passwords
ID-U Biometrics Eye Tracking Signature

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