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 sometimes suspect that we're seeing something in the Internet as significant as the birth of cities. It's really something new, it's a new kind of civilization."
- William Gibson
 |
| Fenton Silencer | ||
| A device to cancel noise over a broad area. |
In this amusing story from Tales from the White Hart, one of the patrons of the pub tells the story of young Robert Fenton, who was stronger on practice than on theory - unfortunately.
| "Doubtless some of you will already see what I am driving at, and will appreciate the basic principle of the Fenton silencer... It consisted of a microphone, a special amplifier and a pair of loud speakers. Any sound that happened to be about was picked up by the mike, amplified and inverted so it was exactly out of phase with the original noise. Then it was pumped out of the speakers, the original wave and the new one cancelled out, and the net result was silence. Of course, there was rather more to it than that. [But]... it's a simple application of negative feedback. |
| Technovelgy from Tales from the White Hart,
by Arthur C. Clarke. Published by Ballantine Books in 1957 Additional resources -
|
This is from Silence Please, the first story in this book of short stories, first published in 1957.
This story offers good engineering detail on noise cancellation; however, I think that Robert Heinlein's hush corner beats the Fenton Silencer by a nose, having been published in Double Star in 1956. Also, see the isolation barrage from Wandl, The Invader (1939) by Ray Cummings and the sound nullifier from Prima Donna 1980 by Bernard Brown. Don't miss the more thorough-going sound-killing air fluid from The Noise Killer (1930) by AM McNeill.
Thanks to Paul, who wrote in about this story in a comment on another technovelgy item.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 1 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Tales from the White Hart
More Ideas
and Technology by Arthur C. Clarke
Tech news articles related to Tales from the White Hart
Tech news articles related to works by Arthur C. Clarke
Fenton Silencer-related
news articles:
- Speechjammer To End Your 1st Amendment Rights
| Giant Lunar Surface Test Bed Built On Earth |
| Zai Pits (West Sahel) And Dew Collectors (Dune) |
| Away Rude Mechanicals! I Want Self-Sensing Variable-Stiffness Artificial Muscles. |
| 3D Printing In Mid-Air |
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 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
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
'If you surf over a bump... If you surf over a pothole...'
'Then the spreading beam of the deranging ray struck them, and they stood an instant transfixed...'
'Noiselessly, on rubber-tired wheels, they journeyed...'
'...copy two of the original document no longer can be superimposed on copy one.'
My prize robot, tall, dashing would speak and act for me...
'A palm lock must be keyed to one individual's hand shape and palm lines.'
'I have transferred the ego of a dog to a synthetic dog brain in the skull case of a robot dog.'
