If you missed the last one…
This post is brought to you by Ships of Steel edited by G. W. Thomas. This anthology of Space Opera (or Adventure Science Fiction if you prefer) has four novellas from M. D. Jackson, G. W. Thomas, T. Neil Thomas and Jack Mackenzie. All four authors are writing in a genre crammed full of terminology and ideas that have been around for decades. There are robots for instance, prominently in two of these stories. That word was coined in 1920 by Karl Capek in his play “R.U.R.” His “robots” (from the Czech word for slave or worker) stuck after that. Before 1920, it is “automaton”, “mechanical man” or “clockwork man”.
This post features original dates for many terms that are quite familiar to SF readers. (Previously I pulled out those most familiar with the Star Trek franchise. This time I have cast a wider net.) There are terms from franchises like Star Wars as often as there are expressions that are used in common parlance like “astronaut”. Sometimes the Science blokes think they came up with it first but they haven’t. Take “Dark Side” for instance. It became popular after the Soviet Luna 3 spacecraft on October 7, 1959, but Murray Leinster had used it twenty-eight years earlier. John W. Campbell likewise coined “faster-than-light” back in 1931 but the term became common in 1967 with research on tachyons. No surprise that the SF writer went there first, though they are quite happy to steal a term if the scientists come up with one. It’s an interesting symbiotic relationship.
I have limited myself to the years between 1917 and 1932. More expressions in a future post!
Before 1928
Ray Gun – Messiah of the Cylinder (Everybody’s Magazine, June-September 1917) by Victor Rousseau has a large weapon on the walls of castles. To defend against the weapon, reflective, glowing paint acts as a deflector. It was “The Black Star Passes” (Amazing Stories Quarterly, Fall 1930) by John W. Campbell that turned it into a hand-held weapon.
Hyperspace – “The Statement of Archibald Swayne” (Weird Tales, March 1924) by Burton Peter Thom is a Horror tale where a man walks around in the fourth dimension before being locked in an asylum. Not really the Space Opera use of Hyperspace. That may have been “The Invisible Bubble” (Amazing Stories, September 1928) by Kirk Meadowcraft.
Blastor – “When the Green Star Waned” (Weird Tales, April 1925) By Nictzin Dyalhis: “…our Ak- Blastors were long, slender, copper-plated. The Aethir-Torps from Mharz were lurid red in color; blunt of nose; rounded as to sterns; with short, thick Ak-Blastors; and their conning towers were well forward of the middle; octagonal in shape.” There are also hand-held blasters. For more on Blasters and Ray Guns, go here.
1928
Airlock – The Skylark of Space (Amazing Stories, August September October 1928) by E. E. Smith was a monumental work in 1928. Hard to read now, it gave us so many new concepts like taking the story outside the Solar System.
Mother World – “The Moon of Doom” (Amazing Stories Quarterly, Winter 1928) by Earl L. Bell
Space-Lanes – “Crashing Suns” (Weird Tales, August September 1928) by Edmond Hamilton. The idea that shipping lanes would exist between planets is older but Ed gave it this name. For more on Hamilton’s “Interstellar Patrol” stories, go here.
Video-Phone – “The Golden Girl of Munan” (Amazing Stories, June 1928) by Harl Vincent
1929
Free Fall – “The Shot Into Infinity” (Science Wonder Quarterly, Fall 1929) by Otto Willi Gail is another term that Science used since the 1850s but Gail brought it to storytelling.
Sol – “Out of the Void” (Amazing Stories, August September 1929) Leslie F. Stone Science has used this term since the 1450s when Latin was still is wide use with scientists. It only caught on with the general public in the 1970s. Stone, one of the Ladies of Early SF, did it in 1929.
Space Craft – “Night-Thing” (Weird Tales, July 1929) by Wilford Allen issued in this Horror tale for the first time. For more on Wilford Allen and this story, go here.
Space Travel – “A Baby on Neptune” (Amazing Stories, December 1929) by Clare Winger Harris, another woman writer of importance. For more on Clare Winger Harris and Science Fiction themes, go here.
Televisor – “The Phantom Teleview” (Science Wonder Stories, November 1929) by Bob Olsen
1930
Astronaut – “The Death’s Head Meteor” (Air Wonder Stories, January 1930) by Neil R. Jones. The word existed long before actual rockets to the Moon.
Dome Shelter – Brigands on the Moon (Astounding Stories of Super-Science, March April May June 1930) by Ray Cummings gave us many terms and concepts, some caught on, some didn’t. It deserves to be better remembered.
Interplanetary-Liner – “Liners of Space” (Air Wonder Stories, February 1930) by Jim Vanny. The term was shortened to “Space-Liner” in ‘Twelve Hours to Live” (Wonder Stories, August 1931) by Jack Williamson and later lost the dash. M. D. Jackson features a space liner in Ships of Steel.
Moon Walk – Brigands on the Moon (Astounding Stories of Super-Science, March April May June 1930) by Ray Cummings, again way before 1969.
Shield – Skylark Three (Amazing Stories, August September October 1930) by E. E. Smith is in reference to a force shield used to protect a ship. I’m surprised I didn’t have this one in the Star Trek piece. “Mr. Sulu, shields up!”
Space Fleet -“Through the Meteors” (Air Wonder Stories, April 1930) by Lowell Howard Morrow.
Space Pirate – “Evans of the Earth-Guard” (Air Wonder Stories, April 1930) by Edmond Hamilton uses the term “space pirate” though the idea is older. Like many of the terms here, it borrows from nautical fiction. For more on Space Pirates, go here.
1931
Asteroid Belt – “The Disc-Men of Jupiter” (Wonder Stories, September 1931) by Manly Wade Wellman. This term was in use by scientists since the 1850s, but Wellman was the first to incorporate it into fiction. You get no Belters in The Expanse without Wellman.
Astrogator – The Conquest of Space (1931) by David Lasser is actually from a non-fiction book that Lasser and some other SF writers published themselves. This refers to a person who does the math, later replaced by a nav-computer.
Dark Side – “The Power Planet” (Amazing Stories, June 1931) by Murray Leinster. Not Pink Floyd!
Faster-Than-Light – “Islands of Space” (Amazing Stories Quarterly, Spring 1931) by John W. Campbell
Gate – “The Gate of Xoran” (Astounding Stories of Super-Science, January 1931) by Hal K. Wells has a wormhole gate long before any show with Gate in its title.
Landing Stage – “Atomic Fire” (Amazing Stories, April 1931) by Raymond Z. Gallun
Lifeboat – Spacehounds of IPC (Amazing Stories, July August September 1931) by E. E. Smith incorporated the naval term. It became Space-Boat with “Revolt of the Star Men” (Wonder Stories Quarterly, Winter 1932) by Raymond Z. Gallun
Needle Gun – “In the Spacesphere” (Wonder Stories, June 1931) by Charles Cloukey is a weapon that shoots a metal needle rather than a bullet or a blast. My favorite version of this is the Hunter-Seeker from Dune.
Normal Space – “Islands of Space” (Amazing Stories Quarterly, Spring 1931) by John W. Campbell was used to mark the different between Hyperspace and the usual space.
Prison Planet – “The Lord of Space” (Astounding Stories of Super-Science, August 1930) by Victor Rousseau. By the time Rura Penthe or Salusa Secondus show up, the idea is pretty old. For more on Prison Planets, go here.
Sapience – “The Planet Entity (Wonder Stories Quarterly, Fall 1931) ” by E. M. Johnson and Clark Ashton Smith is in reference to intelligence in any life form. The idea that things other than humans could be intelligent was new. In this case, a giant plant.For more on the Interplanetary Story Contest, go here.
Space Men – “The Exiles of Venus” (Wonder Stories, June 1931) by Jim Vanny
Space Navy – “Pirates Of Space” (Amazing Stories, December 1931) by B. X. Barry
Space Suit – “The Emperor of the Stars” (Wonder Stories, April 1931) by Nat Schachner and Arthur Leo Zagat gives us the term though Jack Williamson and Edmond Hamilton described more realistic versions around the same time. For more on Schachner and Zagat collabs, go here.
Time Stream – “Time Stream” (Wonder Stories, December 1931 January February March 1932) by John Taine gave us the terminology of time as a river. The idea, of course, goes back to 1895 and H. G. Wells, but the term is newer.
1932
Jump – “Invaders From the Infinite” (Amazing Stories Quarterly, Spring-Summer 1932) by John W. Campbell is in reference to going into Faster-Than-Light mode. Make the jump to Light Speed!
Space-Armor – “Revolt of the Star Men” (Wonder Stories Quarterly, Winter 1932) by Raymond Z. Gallun
Space-Drive – “Invaders From the Infinite” (Amazing Stories Quarterly, Spring-Summer 1932) by John W. Campbell
Space Force – “Wandl, the Invader” (Astounding Stories, February March April May 1932) by Ray Cummings. Sorry, America. Long before 2019.
Space Freighter – “The Space Rover” (Astounding Stories, February 1932) by Edwin K. Sloat. Sloat like Hal K. Wells, was not a hard-bitten SF writer. He preferred Westerns as Wells preferred detective stories, but both men added to the lexicon of SF.
Space Marine – “Captain Brink of the Space Marines” (Amazing Stories, November 1932) by Bob Olsen This term never really caught on until James Cameron made Aliens (1985) and showed us some tough space marines. These days it is part of the Warhammer universe terminology.
Conclusion
Science Fiction was forming in these early days. Based on the works of writers like H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, new writers were creating much of what we take for granted. Writers like Edmond Hamilton, Jack Williamson, Raymond Z. Gallun brought to life new ideas and words with every story. They also borrowed from each other without credit. So if a writer like Jack Williamson invented “terraforming” in 1942, everyone grabbed onto that term for changing a lifeless planet into a paradise. This meant that in 1982 when Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan came out, very little explanation for what the Genesis Device did was needed (and Jack got no credit.) Such is Science Fiction.
What surprised me was the prevalence of Weird Tales at the beginning. Some SF writers and fans, like Isaac Asimov for one, thought very little of old “Weird” as they referred to the magazine. Despite their dislike for creepy-crawlies, the terminology transferred to the SF magazines anyway. Edmond Hamilton, Jack Williamson, Manly Wade Wellman and Ray Cummings wrote for both kinds of publications, so it was bound to happen. Imagine a term like “Hyperspace” remaining unused in the back files of WT!
Thanks as always to Technovelgy.com
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