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"[Science fiction is ] That branch of literature which is concerned with the impact of scientific advance upon human beings."
- Isaac Asimov
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| Universal Technical Consultative Service | ||
| Interstellar travel plans calculated, reserved and confirmed. |
Well before the internet or the power of personal computers, when computers were controlled by skilled operators, and everything was hardcopy, Jack Vance proposed an enterprise that could have produced a Gatesian gazillionaire if things had turned out differently.
| "He went to an office of the Universal Technical Consultative Service, and gained the attention of an operator. 'Set up this problem,' said Gersen. 'Two ships leave the planet New Hope. One proceeds directly here, to Avente. The other goes to a red dwarf star, spends half a day, then comes to Avente, arriving ten days later. I want a list of the red dwarf stars which this second ship might have visited.'
The operator considered. 'There is oviously an ellipsoid shell here, the foci being New Hope and Alphanor. We must take into account the accelerations and decelerations, the probable coast periods and landing times. There will necessarily be a locus of most probability, and areas of diminishing probability.' 'Set up the problem so that the machine lists these stars in order of probability.' 'To what limits?' 'Oh - one in fifty. Include also the constants of these stars as given in the directory.' 'Very well, sir. The fee will be 25 SVU.' Gersen brought forth the money; the operator translated the problem into precise language, spoke into a microphone. Thirty seconds later a sheet of paper dropped from a slot. The operator glanced at it, signed his name, handed it without a word to Gersen." |
| From The Star King,
by Jack Vance. Published by Berkeley in 1964 Additional resources -
|
Submitted by an anonymous reader.
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Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
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'It could maintain a steady six miles per hour...'
'Then they press one of these here thirteen buttons...'
'...without burning a single hydrocarbon molecule to injure the diseased atmosphere any further.'
'Bird-like robots now descended from the ceiling of the theatre...'
'The efficient robot waiter of the Sky Club had cleared away the remnants of an epicurean meal.'
'...in the tank the new body and the new mind and memory and life has taken almost instant form.'
'pirate three-vee satellites sanded out of orbit...'
'The atmosphere yielded its moisture with reluctance. It had to be coaxed down...'
