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 have been a soreheaded occupant of a file drawer labeled 'Science Fiction' and I would like out, particularly since so many serious critics regularly mistake the drawer for a urinal."
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Green Bullet  
  A very compact (for 1950) radio transceiver, worn in the ear like a hearing aid.  

In the near future presented in this famous novel, no one reads anymore; everyone gets their ideas and news from clowns and good-looking news morons on huge television screens in their homes. Obviously a very far-fetched scenario.

In addition, books are illegal and "firemen" exist to set fire to homes with books in them. Guy Montag is one such fireman, who loses his faith in the system and wants to know more about the world of ideas that he is missing. He meets Faber, who offers to go with Montag via a small transceiver hidden in his ear.

"My cowardice is of such a passion, complementing the revolutionary spirit that lives in its shadow, I was forced to design this."

He picked up a small green object no larger than a .22 bullet.

"It looks like a seashell radio."

"And something more! It listens! If you put it in your ear, Montag, I can sit comfortably home, warming my frightened bones, and hear and analyze the firemen's world, find its weaknesses, without danger. I'm the queen bee, safe in the hive. You will be the drone, the traveling ear..."

Montag placed the green bullet in his ear

Technovelgy from Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury.
Published by Doubleday in 1953
Additional resources -

You might want to compare a very similar treatment (in a literary sense) in Nanotime, by Bart Kosko (see Raisin). Both of these devices carry on the tradition of the wise companion, found in all of the world's literary traditions.

An interesting contrast can be made to the seashell radio from the same novel.

Comment/Join this discussion ( 4 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Fahrenheit 451
  More Ideas and Technology by Ray Bradbury
  Tech news articles related to Fahrenheit 451
  Tech news articles related to works by Ray Bradbury

Green Bullet-related news articles:
  - Bradbury's Green Bullet Made Possible With Bluetooth

Articles related to Communication
Polish Turns Your Nail Into A Stylus
Huawei Pura X Folding Phattie Phone
Positioned Cybertrucks With Free Starlinks WiFi In LA
Will Whales Be Our First Contact?

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

Amazing Photonic Crystal Light Sail
'That sail will be twenty thousand miles at the wide part.'

Rogue AI Replicated Itself
'Sapiro’s computer just kept dialing at random, hanging up on humans, until it got a fellow computer of the same type as itself.'

HandelBot Helps Two-Handed Robots Learn Piano
'I request that you feed the correlation between those dots and the levers of the panel into my memory banks.'

Woven Fiber Electronic Skin For Robots
'... all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'

The Morphing Wheel And The Smartwheel
'If you surf over a bump, the spokes contract to roll over it.'

Transporting Antimatter
'...drawing plans for the magnetic tongs and bed plates and relays.'

Polish Turns Your Nail Into A Stylus
'He wrote on it, using the pointed fingernail of his right forefinger...'

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.