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"The writing is clicking away in my head and piling up, and unless I get it on paper somehow it's going to create uncomfortable pressure in my skull."
- Isaac Asimov
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| Microwavable Food | ||
| Food that is prepared specifically for use in a microwave (high-frequency) oven. |
| Theoretically every ration taken aboard a Patrol vessel is pre-cooked and ready for eating as soon as it is taken out of freeze and subjected to the number of seconds, plainly marked on the package, of high-frequency heating required. |
| Technovelgy from Space Cadet,
by Robert Heinlein. Published by Scribner's Sons in 1948 Additional resources -
|
The idea of using microwave radiation was patented by the end of 1946 by Raytheon; the first commercial microwave oven was introduced sometime in 1947. At almost six feet tall, 750 pounds and costing $5,000, it won few converts. It's not clear if it was offered as a consumer product, or to the food service industry.
Also, I believe that there were some canned soups that were available with self-heating bottoms in the 1930's. And packaged meals were certainly available in the form of military rations.
The first true heat-n-eat packaged meal was probably the Swanson TV Dinner, introduced in 1954. For 98 cents, you got an aluminum tray with roast turkey, stuffing and gravy, sweet potatoes and peas. I don't remember the cooking time, but it was at least thirty minutes in the oven. It wasn't until 1986 that Swanson introduced a plastic tray for microwave cooking. See the TV Dinner History page for references. Also, take a look at this history of the microwave oven - the Radarange; thanks to Doug for comments on this article.
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Tech news articles related to Space Cadet
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| Edible Meat-Like Fungus Like Barbara Hambly's Slunch? |
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'The suit stands up and starts walking, gripping me round the calves and waist, taking the bulk of my weight off my throbbing feet.'
't came out into plain view. Darkington glimpsed a slim body and six short legs of articulated dull metal.'
'Internally it’s made up of millions of components, but the most important ones are the thinking and memory parts of the Mind proper.'
'I could look down at that face of carefully molded synthetic rubber, tinted the exact shade of the doctor's living flesh.'
'Chris, the City Fathers are not interested in your welfare; I suppose you know that. They're interested in only one thing: the survival of the city.'
'Drake was the young spatial engineer he employed to terraform the little rock...'
