 |
Science Fiction Dictionary: Ideas, Terms and Technology
(
3938 Inventions Available)
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
| Device Name | Book/Story | Author | Date |
| Eadhamite Synthetic material that creates extremely smooth roads. |
When the Sleeper Wakes | Wells | 1899 |
| Eager Beaver Your friendly robot helper. |
The Door Into Summer | Heinlein | 1956 |
| Eagle With Camera A live bald eagle equipped with a transmitting camera. |
Exploration Team | Leinster | 1956 |
| Earmite A small speaker that you can put in your ear. |
Freezone | Shirley | 1985 |
| Earplug Decision (Restraint of Advertising) A Supreme Court judgement that declared that earplugs used to block advertising were unconstitutional. |
Captive Audience | Griffith | 1953 |
| Earth Normal Using the earth standard. |
The Pygmy Planet | Williamson | 1932 |
| Earther A person born on planet Earth. |
The Five Gold Bands | Vance | 1950 |
| Earthport A massive spaceport that reared up from the surface of the earth to the edge of the atmosphere. |
The Ballad of Lost C'Mell | Smith | 1950 |
| Earthsuit Like a spacesuit, but protects you from the Earth. |
Termination Shock | Stephenson | 2021 |
| Eavesdropper Device to detect the presence of recording devices. |
Cities in Flight | Blish | 1957 |
| Eavesdropping Ray A device that allows others to hear from outside ordinary locked rooms. |
Brigands of the Moon | Cummings | 1930 |
| Ebony Teeth Completely black artificial teeth. |
Now Wait For Last Year | Dick | 1966 |
| Eccentric Projection Remote manipulation of a body not your own. |
The Girl Who Was Plugged In | Tiptree, Jr. | 1974 |
| Ecstasy Plug An implanted module that allowed a wirehead to plug himself into ordinary house current. |
Death by Ecstasy | Niven | 1969 |
| Edgar Computer that falls in love with a human woman. |
Electric Dreams | Lemorande | 1984 |
| Edge Controls A pocket-sized device using controls on the edge of the device, leaving the face for display purposes only. |
The Feeling of Power | Asimov | 1958 |
| E-Document Distribution A method of wirelessly distributing a document to a large group of people in an ad hoc setting. |
Earth | Brin | 1990 |
| EEG-Gram Projection Detection of unique characteristics at a distance. |
Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said | Dick | 1974 |
| Eel Operator A surgically modified human being able to operate a robotic eel |
Re:Set | Beetlestone | 2012 |
| Eetee (E.T. - extraterrestrial) A sentient being not of this Earth. |
Button, Button | Wilson | 1953 |
| Effective Human Implant Technology (EHIT) Computer interface implanted directly into the human brain. |
Snake-Eyes | Maddox | 1986 |
| Ego-Likeness An extremely detailed portrait played through a shigawire projector; capable of reproducing minute movements said to convey the ego essence of a person. |
Dune | Herbert | 1965 |
| Electelscope Telescope uses electronics applied to optics. |
The Cavern of the Shining Pool | Zagat | 1937 |
| Electric Bicycle A two-wheeled device utilizing stored electricity as motive power. |
In the Deep of Time | Lathrop | 1897 |
| Electric Boat A surface vessel powered by electricity. |
The Great Drought | Meek | 1932 |
| Electric Brain Stimulator A device that coordinated the waves of the brain with an external device to improve performance. |
Ben Gleed, King of Speed | Wilcox | 1939 |
| Electric Car Recharging Station A public place for recharging electric cars. |
A Journey In Other Worlds | Astor IV | 1894 |
| Electric Cat (Robot Cat) A robot presenting the appearance of a common domestic cat. |
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? | Dick | 1968 |
| Electric Diaper A diaper that will indicate when it is wet. |
The Psychophonic Nurse | Keller | 1928 |
| Electric Gun (Mass Driver) A device that used electromagnetic energy to accelerated capsules into orbit. |
A Trip to Venus | Munro | 1897 |
| Electric Kitchen Food preparation in space requires safe equipment. |
The Shot Into Infinity | Gail | 1929 |
| Electric Machine Gun (Railgun) A device that accelerates small projectiles magnetically using a strong electric current. |
The Battery of Hate | Campbell | 1933 |
| Electric Menu Ordering of food is automated, without waiters. |
Liners of Time | Fearn | 1935 |
| Electric Monk Robotic device provides belief services. |
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency | Adams | 1987 |
| Electric Phaetons (Electric Cars) Vehicles whose motive power is entirely derived from electricity. |
A Journey In Other Worlds | Astor IV | 1894 |
| Electric Plane An airplane powered entirely by electricity. |
Synthetic | Cloukey | 1930 |
| Electric Protection-Wires (Electrified Fence) An electric fence. |
A Journey In Other Worlds | Astor IV | 1894 |
| Electric Rifle A device that shoots an electrical charge. |
Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle | Appleton | 1911 |
| Electric Sheep An electronic farm animal; a non-organic robot covered with sheepskin that acts like a sheep. |
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? | Dick | 1968 |
| Electric Tractor A farm cultivator that runs entirely on electricity. |
World of Purple Light | Van Lorne | 1936 |
| Electric Typewriter A typewriter that used the power of electricity to strike the letters onto the paper, rather than the finger muscles of the typist. |
Dr. Hackensaw's Secrets Some Minor Inventions | Fezandie | 1926 |
| Electric Wall A wall of electric force. |
The World With A Thousand Moons | Hamilton | 1942 |
| Electrical Brain A mechanism that grants memory an intelligence to machines. |
Paradise and Iron | Breuer | 1930 |
| Electrical Farming Implements Labor-saving automatic farm equipment. |
Looking Forward: A Dream of the United States of the Americas in 1999 | Bird | 1899 |
| Electrical Grandmother (Robot Grandma) A robotic companion. |
I Sing The Body Electric! | Bradbury | 1969 |
| Electrical 'Tether' A device to make sure an astronaut could return from a free space walk. |
Edison's Conquest of Mars | Serviss | 1898 |
| Electrical Valet A robotic manservant, skilled in dressing its owner. |
The Lord of Tranerica | Coblentz | 1939 |
| Electrically Heated Clothes Using artificial heating to counteract the cold of space. |
Repetition | van Vogt | 1940 |
| Electric-Automatic Household Robot Cook A robot chef - an Electric-Automatic Household Beneficent Genius! |
Ely's Automatic Housemaid | Bellamy | 1899 |
| Electric-Automatic Housemaid Robot (Automaton) A very early description of a robot to help around the house. |
Ely's Automatic Housemaid | Bellamy | 1899 |
| Electric-Space-Strain Projector Device enables the wireless transmission of power. |
The Mightiest Machine | Campbell | 1934 |
| Electric-Yacht A surface vessel powered entirely by electricity. |
A Strange Trip | Hopkins | 1885 |
| Electrified Fence A wire fence carrying an electrical charge sufficient to deter crossing the boundary. |
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court | Twain | 1889 |
| Electrify the Rail Use of substantial electrical charge applied to outer hull to repel potential boarders. |
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea | Verne | 1875 |
| Electro-Automatic Pistol Circular, pocket-sized weapon. |
The Worlds of Tomorrow | Wellman | 1940 |
| Electro-Binox Binoculars with electronic focusing. |
A Specter is Haunting Texas | Leiber | 1968 |
| Electro-Bullet Fired by an electro-gun. |
Pirates of the Gorm | Schachner | 1932 |
| Electro-Culturer A device used to artificially stimulate cell growth and development. |
The Ancient Brain | Stangland | 1929 |
| Electro-Education The latest thing in electrically stimulated learning. |
The Knowledge Machine | Hamilton | 1948 |
| Electro-Gun It shoots electro-bullets. |
Pirates of the Gorm | Schachner | 1932 |
| Electro-Magnet Anchor Attach a line to a spacecraft hull. |
The Space Rover | Sloat | 1932 |
| Electromagnetic Cannon A set of devices on the Ringworld used to land spacecraft safely on the fast-moving rim. |
Ringworld | Niven | 1970 |
| Electromagnetic Shotgun A device to shut down an artificial intelligence if it becomes dangerous. |
Neuromancer | Gibson | 1984 |
| Electromechanical Educator An automated teaching machine. |
The Fourth R | Smith | 1959 |
| Electron Gun How to add a lot of electrons to a lot of positrons? |
The Great Thirst | Schachner | 1934 |
| Electronic Analogue of Living Brain Imposing the abilities of a human brain into a computer |
The Tunnel Under The World | Pohl | 1955 |
| Electronic Bard A computing machine that is able to write original poetry. |
The Cyberiad: Fables for the Cybernetic Age | Lem | 1965 |
| Electronic Body Analyzer A replacement for the human doctor. |
The Andromeda Strain | Crichton | 1969 |
| Electronic Book An early reference and description of electronic book hardware and operation. |
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | Adams | 1979 |
| Electronic Book Store A place to pick up your electronic books. |
Return from the Stars | Lem | 1961 |
| Electronic Cash A digital currency, like Bitcoin. |
Heavy Weather | Sterling | 1994 |
| Electronic Image Intensifier Much more sensitive than the human eye. |
A Fall of Moondust | Clarke | 1961 |
| Electronic Locator A device that determines the location of a person. |
World of Null-A | van Vogt | 1945 |
| Electronic Spy An autonomous device that kept itself hidden while keeping track of an individual's activity. |
Ring Around the Sun | Simak | 1952 |
| Electronic Voting Using computer terminals to register votes from citizens. |
The Shockwave Rider | Brunner | 1975 |
| Electronic-Eyed Snake A fully automated stomach pump. |
Fahrenheit 451 | Bradbury | 1953 |
| Electronized Gravity Plate Artificial gravity for use on space stations and spacecraft. |
Blood of the Moon | Cummings | 1936 |
| Electrono-Mirror Focuses the sun's rays on a planetary surface for terraforming purposes. |
The Day We Celebrate | Bond | 1941 |
| Electrosecretary An automatic transcription device. |
A Fall of Moondust | Clarke | 1961 |
| Electro-Telescope A device that could clearly image space battles and space ships, even from a great distance. |
The Mines of Haldar | Hugi | 1934 |
| Electrotruck An autonomous, electric truck. |
The Corkscrew of Space | Anderson | 1956 |
| Eloi People who have undergone treatments to extend their lives. |
Queen of Angels | Bear | 1990 |
| Email Shirt See your email on your shirt. |
Oryx and Crake | Atwood | 2003 |
| Emblok A device that imparts memories into the regrown brain, just like uploading content into a computer's random access memory. |
Earth Made of Glass | Barnes | 1998 |
| Embryo Visualization Special display technique lets researchers see cell development in three dimensions. |
Daughter of Elysium | Slonczewski | 1994 |
| Embryonic Robots Very small robots, possibly a very early reference to nanotechnology in science fiction. |
Counter Clock World | Dick | 1967 |
| Emergency Air-Suit A light-duty space suit. |
Voyage 13 | Cummings | 1938 |
| Emergency Corrective Rockets Used when you seem to be off-course in your spaceship. |
The Emperor of the Stars | Schachner (w. AL Zagat) | 1931 |
| Emergency Lifeboat A small craft used as a bail-out vehicle from a large space station or spacecraft. |
Triplanetary | Smith | 1934 |
| Emergency Repulsion (Repulsive Ray) A beam of force that repels one object from another. |
Blood of the Moon | Cummings | 1936 |
| Emergency Repulsion Ray A handheld means of propulsion in space. |
Earth-Venus 12 | Wilson | 1936 |
| Emergency Shelter A small cubicle that provides a last refuge in case the spacecraft's atmosphere is lost. |
2001: A Space Odyssey | Clarke | 1968 |
| Emergency Space-Boat An escape ship. |
Revolt of the Star Men | Gallun | 1932 |
| Emergency Space-Suit A compacted space-suit stored for emergency use. |
Pirates of the Gorm | Schachner | 1932 |
| Emergency Treatment Tank (Chamber) A fully enclosed regeneration device. |
Agent of Vega | Schmitz | 1949 |
| EmilyPost An autonomous worm that searches the Net for lack of courtesy. |
Earth | Brin | 1990 |
| Emissarial Projection An expert system able to converse and act in the capacity of ambassador. |
The Algebraist | Banks | 2004 |
| Emotion Meter A device for empirically determining human emotion. |
The Emotion Meter | Nevins, III | 1935 |
| Emotional Register (ER) A small disk worn in the forehead that discloses the emotional state of the wearer. |
The Primal Urge | Aldiss | 1961 |
| Empath A being capable of telepathic empathy with others. |
Empath | McIntosh | 1956 |
| Empathy Box A device which allows a group of people to empathize with a single person (like television lets many people view the same broadcast). |
The Little Black Box | Dick | 1964 |
| Empty Man A fully-functioning body, the personality of which had been wiped clean. |
A World Out of Time | Niven | 1976 |
| Energy Converter Massive unit on the sunside of Mercury converts heat into energy, and beams it around the solar system. |
Runaround | Asimov | 1942 |
| Energy Curtain Key A small handheld "key" to shut off a force field. |
Venus Mines, Incorporated | Schachner (w. AL Zagat) | 1931 |
| Energy Screen A field of force. |
Far Centaurus | van Vogt | 1944 |
| Energy Weapon A device that fires pure energy, used as a weapon. |
The Mightiest Machine | Campbell | 1934 |
| Energy-Cannon Device projects destructive power. |
The Last Castle | Vance | 1967 |
| Engineless Automobile Hover No engine, no steering wheel, yet it runs. |
An Adventure in Time | Flagg | 1930 |
| Environmental Happening Weather created as a work of art. |
The Phantom of Kansas | Varley | 1976 |
| E-paper Hologram A cover image that really pops out at the viewer. |
Darwin's Children | Bear | 2003 |
| E-paper Newspaper A paper-thin, flexible LCD-style display that is large enough to display a full newspaper page. |
Minority Report (Movie) | Spielberg | 2002 |
| Epileptigenic Ray Ray causes uncontrollable spasms in human subjects. |
Sixth Column | MacDonald | 1941 |
| EPR Phone Telephony that uses quantum effects for transmission - and is therefore the ultimate in anti-eavesdropping technology. |
Mariposa | Bear | 2009 |
| Erased Memory A procedure that deletes selected memories from the human mind. |
We Can Remember It For You Wholesale | Dick | 1966 |
| Eros Ship-Planetoid A vast cylindrical ship, long thought to be a planetoid. |
The Great Illusion | Garth | 1938 |
| Ersatz Window A display device used in a room without an actual view of the outside; it shows a projection of a real scene. |
Galactic Pot-Healer | Dick | 1969 |
| Escalladder A ladder that you don't have to climb to get to the top. |
Crashlander | Niven | 1994 |
| Escape Pod A small automated ship attached to a larger ship or station, used in the event of an emergency. |
The Vanisher | Shaara | 1954 |
| Escape Pod (Life Pod, Boat Pod) A small ship used solely as a "life boat." |
Star Wars | Lucas | 1976 |
| Escape Port Emergency egress from a space ship for one person. |
Hell Ship of Space | Kummer, Jr. | 1940 |
| Escapecraft A small spacecraft used when abandoning the main ship. |
The Ethical Equations | Leinster | 1945 |
| E-Sheet A disposable medium for reading electronic messages. |
Darwin's Children | Bear | 2003 |
| Esper A person to perceive the contents of another person's mind. |
The Demolished Man | Bester | 1952 |
| Esper Photo Analysis A device that can find remarkable levels of detail from a photograph. |
Blade Runner | Scott | 1982 |
| Espionage Machine A machine that makes it possible to experience the sensations of another person at a distance. |
No, No, Not Rogov! | Smith | 1958 |
| E-Suit (Environmental Suit) A forcefield that encloses air and heat around the body, but does not repel objects or radiation. |
Chindi | McDevitt | 2002 |
| Eternity Drug A medication that puts a person into a deep hibernation-like sleep for decades at a time. |
Far Centaurus | van Vogt | 1944 |
| Ether Boat A space craft. |
Murder on the Asteroid | Binder | 1933 |
| Ether Eddy A shimmering region of space marking a break-through into another universe. |
The Cavern of the Shining Pool | Zagat | 1937 |
| Ether Ship A space-going ship. |
Aleriel or A Voyage to Other Worlds | Lach-Szyrma | 1886 |
| Etheric Propulsion-Vibrations Faster-than-light travel. |
The Star-Roamers | Hamilton | 1933 |
| Etheric Typhoon The idea that space itself can have disturbances. |
A Question of Salvage | Jameson | 1939 |
| Etherometer A device that looked at the 'ether' pervading space as a means of determining gravitation field strength. |
Spawn of the Red Giants | Long, Jr. | 1937 |
| Etheroneph Spacefraft fueled by radioactive materials. |
Red Star | Bogdanov | 1908 |
| Etherphone Receiver A special earpiece to hear coded updates. |
Hotel Cosmos | Gallun | 1938 |
| Ether-Traffic The communications spectrum of the solar system. |
The Duel on the Asteroid | Miller (w/D. McDermott) | 1932 |
| Ether-Wall An invisibility field. |
Triplanetary | Smith | 1934 |
| Ethical Calculus Mathematics used to determine positive social conduct. |
Alpha Centauri | Meier | 1999 |
| Ethical Suicide Parlor A comfy environment in which you might commit ethical suicide, and thereby serve society. |
Welcome to the Monkey House | Vonnegut, Jr. | 1958 |
| Evacuating Arms Empty out the contents of an airlock exposed to space. |
Space Flotsam | Gallun | 1934 |
| EverRest Cryotorium Rest forever in cryonic suspension among the stars. |
Flare | Zelazny | 1992 |
| Evolution Machine A device that accelerates the process of evolution by millions of times. |
The Man Who Evolved | Hamilton | 1931 |
| Exfection Tailored microbes to repair human flesh. |
The Caryatids | Sterling | 2009 |
| Exodus Ship A generation ship to save a culture from extinction. |
Tani of Ekkis | Reeves | 1930 |
| Exoskeleton Fighting suit |
A Good Old-Fashioned Future | Sterling | 1999 |
| Exoskeleton (Medical) Specially designed for Thins, eight-foot tall microgravity humans. |
A Specter is Haunting Texas | Leiber | 1968 |
| Express Dolphin A most agreeable means of locomotion under the waves. |
Le Monde Tel Qu'il Sera (The World As It Shall Be) | Souvestre | 1846 |
| External Eyelenses Way retro means of correcting vision problems in human beings. |
Altered Carbon | Morgan | 2003 |
| Extradimensional From another dimension. |
Skylark of Valeron | Smith | 1934 |
| Extraecliptic Travel Lanes Organized interplanetary travel using routes not confined to the ecliptic. |
A Question of Salvage | Jameson | 1939 |
| Extra-Factual Memory A "memory" placed in a person's mind by artifice, rather than by real life experience. |
We Can Remember It For You Wholesale | Dick | 1966 |
| Extra-Terra Bio-Institute (ETBI) Bio-Conditioning The overarching work of adapting human beings to alien worlds. |
The Impossible World | Binder | 1939 |
| EYE Program A massive government database on civilians. |
Spark | Twelve Hawks | 2014 |
| Eyecaps Corneal cap that acts as a pair of goggles for extreme depth diving. |
Starfish | Watts | 1999 |
| Eyephone(s) A projection system using small goggles to project an image directly on your eye. |
Idoru | Gibson | 1996 |
| EyePod A generic term for the external computing processing unit needed for eye implants. |
WWW: Wake | Sawyer | 2009 |
| Eyes Flying remote-operated surveillance drones. |
This Moment of the Storm | Zelazny | 1966 |
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
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