Errors made in this blog have been corrected, thank you to our sharp-eyed commenters.
We were pretty excited around here when Brave New Words won the Hugo
Award. Now that Brave New Words is available in paperback we asked Jeff Prucher, freelance lexicographer and editor for the Oxford English Dictionary’s science fiction project, to revisit the blog. Below are Prucher’s picks of words that may seem to come from science, but really originate in science fiction.
In no particular order:
1. Robotics. This is probably the most well-known of these, since Isaac Asimov is famous for (among many other things) his three laws of robotics. Even so, I include it because it is one of the only actual sciences to have been first named in a science fiction story (”Liar!”, 1941). Asimov also named the related occupation (roboticist) and the adjective robotic.
2. Genetic engineering. The other science that received its name from a science fiction story, in this case Jack Williamson’s novel Dragon’s Island, which was coincidentally published in the same year as “Liar!” The occupation of genetic engineer took a few more years to be named, this time by Poul Anderson.
3. Zero-gravity/zero-g. A defining feature of life in outer space (sans artificial gravity, of course). The first known use of “zero-gravity” is from Jack Binder (better known for his work as an artist) in 1938, and actually refers to the gravityless state of the center of the Earth’s core. Arthur C. Clarke gave us “zero-g” in his 1952 novel Islands in the Sky.
4. Deep space. One of the other defining features of outer space is its essential emptiness. In science fiction, this phrase most commonly refers to a region of empty space between stars or that is remote from the home world. E. E. “Doc” Smith seems to have coined this phrase in 1934. The more common use in the sciences refers to the region of space outside of the Earth’s atmosphere.
5. Ion drive. An ion drive is a type of spaceship engine that creates propulsion by emitting charged particles in the direction opposite of the one you want to travel. The earliest citation in Brave New Words is again from Jack Williamson (”The Equalizer”, 1947). A number of spacecraft have used this technology, beginning in the 1970s.
6. Pressure suit. A suit that maintains a stable pressure around its occupant; useful in both space exploration and high-altitude flights. This is another one from the fertile mind of E. E. Smith. Curiously, his pressure suits were furred, an innovation not, alas, replicated by NASA.
7. Virus. Computer virus, that is. Dave Gerrold (of “The Trouble With Tribbles” fame) was apparently the first to make the verbal analogy between biological viruses and self-replicating computer programs, in his 1972 story “When Harlie Was One.”
8. Worm. Another type of self-replicating computer program. So named by John Brunner in his 1975 novel Shockwave Rider.
9. Gas giant. A large planet, like Jupiter or Neptune, that is composed largely of gaseous material. The first known use of this term is from a story (”Solar Plexus”) by James Blish; the odd thing about it is that it was first used in a reprint of the story, eleven years after the story was first published. Whether this is because Blish conceived of the term in the intervening years or read it somewhere else, or whether it was in the original manuscript and got edited out is impossible to say at this point.
Comments
Mike Cane said :
Mar 31, 2009
#10: Soylent. From Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison.
Robert W. Franson said :
Apr 1, 2009
A couple of typos:
Asimov’s “Liar” first appeared in 1941.
Williamson’s story is “The Equalizer”.
Unless the “Solar Plexus” manuscript for Astonishing Stories turns up, I’d presume that Blish saw or coined “gas giant” sometime after 1941.
An interesting list!
Peggy said :
Apr 1, 2009
Jack Williamson has actually said that he learned that a scientist used the term “genetic engineering” before “Dragon’s Island” was published.
Jeff Prucher said :
Apr 1, 2009
@Peggy: Thanks for pointing that out. Add it to the list of Words You Might Think Came from Science Fiction but Actually Came from Science.
Jeff Prucher said :
Apr 2, 2009
@Robert: Typos fixed. Thanks for catching them.
Dennis G. Jerz said :
Apr 5, 2009
The word “Robot” appeared in the Karel Capek play, R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) (written in 1920, premiered in Prague early in 1921, performed in New York in 1922). Karel’s brother Josef suggested the term, which described artificial workers (made of living tissue, not nuts and bolts).
Doctor Alban said :
Apr 5, 2009
Robot comes from a Czech word meaning “work” (robota). The first to use it now as we know it was the novelist Karel Capek in “Rossum’s Universal Robots”, in 1920
padawan said :
Apr 5, 2009
BTW, not only “robotics” is a word with it’s origin in science fiction. The word “robot”, meaning a mechanic humanoid, was coined by Karel Kapek, a checz writer, in “Rossum’s Universal Robots”
Fernando Cerezal said :
Apr 5, 2009
The term robot cames from Czech “Robota”, that means “slave”. The first use for denominate a (biological) being who serves men was in un “Rossum Universal Robots, RUR”, by Karel Kapeck.
I supose that robotic is a derivated from that.
Phil said :
Apr 5, 2009
Why does everyone have too ruin it?
If you think you’re right, give us a link to it and not make us read a bunch of dribble about other crap we have no interest in first!
You people ruined it for the rest!
Karel said :
Apr 5, 2009
You’re right Fernando and it’s pointless to name robotics without refer to the term “robot” coined by Karel Capek in that book in 1921, as a side he claimed the idea came from his brother Josef.
The meaning of the word has to do with “work” (similar to russian “Работа”) even in the sense of serfdom as in domestic or personal service, but no with Otrokí or slaves.
Roy Sablosky said :
Apr 6, 2009
My favorite is “waldo”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldo_(short_story)
Wim L said :
Apr 6, 2009
I am (also) surprised to see no mention of Capek in the entry for Robot— maybe Asimov was the first to use the word to describe a field of study?
Jon Thompson said :
Apr 6, 2009
As Fernando Cerezal said, R.U.R. invented the term “Robot” where they were previously called “automaton” or “golem.” To credit “Robotics” to Asimov, without crediting “Robot” to Kapek (Josef, Karel’s brother) is either ignorant or irresponsible.
Now with that said, the Robots in R.U.R. are biological entities a la Frankenstein, not silicon and metal constructs that we know robots to be now. However, that was the Science Fiction of the time.
Lilian Nattel said :
Apr 6, 2009
Interesting! And I enjoyed the comments, too. I didn’t realize that “robot” came from Czech.
ruzkin said :
Apr 6, 2009
Surprised you don’t have Cyberspace (William Gibson - Burning Chrome, 1982).
ds said :
Apr 6, 2009
I’m pretty William Gibson coined “cyberspace” in Neuromancer.
Marc Petit-Huguenin said :
Apr 6, 2009
The waldo could also be on this list, (from the short story “Waldo” by Robert A. Heinlein).
Jane Q. Public said :
Apr 6, 2009
The “robots”, or “robotnik”, in Capek’s play were then mechanical “workers”.
millia said :
Apr 6, 2009
I realize it’s not all sci-fi, but grok has to be my favorite word coined by a sci-fi author.
Such a great word.