Origins of Star Trek Terminolgy
- Thread starter elric428
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It's weird seeing the SF dictionary being touted in various articles this week as a "new" reference tool, when it's really a relaunch/redesign of a site that's been around since at least 2004, though it's been dormant for a few years now.
They cite 1952 for "Warp speed," but "warp" more generally for an FTL space drive goes back to 1930, to John W. Campbell's Islands of Space.
"Prime Directive" goes back at least to Jack Williamson's 1947 story "With Folded Hands," which used the term to mean something akin to the Laws of Robotics, "to serve and obey, and guard men from harm." That story is mentioned in the "Research Details" footnote on the dictionary's entry, but oddly isn't included on the main list.
They cite 1952 for "Warp speed," but "warp" more generally for an FTL space drive goes back to 1930, to John W. Campbell's Islands of Space.
"Prime Directive" goes back at least to Jack Williamson's 1947 story "With Folded Hands," which used the term to mean something akin to the Laws of Robotics, "to serve and obey, and guard men from harm." That story is mentioned in the "Research Details" footnote on the dictionary's entry, but oddly isn't included on the main list.
That sounds like supercavitation. Warp drive is more like compressing space ahead and expanding it behind, and letting that distortion pull you along with it.
I've always wondered when the first use of energy shields was mentioned. I get it that a defensive barrier would be called a shield, just wondering when it first took the form of an energy barrier.
Tractor beam makes sense, since tractors are used to pull or tow. Still, another example of "when was this first used as an energy beam?"
Tractor beam makes sense, since tractors are used to pull or tow. Still, another example of "when was this first used as an energy beam?"
Unsurprisingly, both terms were coined by E.E. "Doc" Smith in his pulp space operas. A lot of familiar SF tropes and terminology came from the pulps.
https://sfdictionary.com/view/108/shield
https://sfdictionary.com/view/131/tractor-beam
"Tractor beam" seems to be a shortening of John W. Campbell's earlier "attractor beam." Though "tractor" meaning "thing that pulls" has been around since at least 1856.
Smith also coined "pressor" as the counterpart of a tractor, a beam that pushed instead of pulling. That one hasn't caught on as widely, though.
This questio and the answers might be interesting. https://scifi.stackexchange.com/que...aceships-with-shield-technology/241770#241770
In "The Final Reflection" Klingons call warp drive an "Anticurve Rider".
I have no idea exactly what that means, but it sounds good to me.
Sounds pretty close. A warp ship rides on a wave of curved spacetime. Not sure where the "anti-" comes in, though.
Yeah that makes sense.
The "anti" bit is probably just to give Klingon engineers something to gloriously struggle against lol!
Yes, it does move with quite an ominous stalking glide.
Such a contrast to the big E which is a more a majestic sweeping galleon under full sail.
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So, a straightaway...
In TAS "The Time Trap," Spock refers to the Klingon D7 FTL drive as an "S-2 graf unit" and said it was "roughly the equivalent" of a Federation warp drive.
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/S-2_graf_unit
http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/TAS010.htm
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/S-2_graf_unit
http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/TAS010.htm
Do you think that the TAS writers (and by default TOS), by using the german term "graf" were implying that the Klingons were similar to WWII Germans? Just a thought.
Isn't Graf just a noble title similar to Count, with nothing technical or engineering specifically implied or indicated?
I can't say about that, but the idea that they had different technology definitely made the Klingons sound alien to me.
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