…well, in science fiction anyway. A well-read acquaintance of mine brought this to my attention the other day.
The novel is called Engineer Garin’s Hyperboloid, by the Russian author Aleksei Tolstoy. From the site:
And from here:
Now that’s a Death Ray!
Another mention here (search for “Garin”).
Crap. On preview: The novel was published in 1926.
Crap. Forgot to add: The novel was published in 1926.
Are you saying that novel was published in 1926?
No, I think he’s saying it was published in- no, no. I can’t do this.
Couldn’a happened in a funnier thread though.
This novel: what year did you say it was published?
Ah…its a 1920s style publication.
I read it once, for about twenty minutes, in 1960.
Shit. You beat me to it.
My uncle was born in 1926, the same year a Tolstoy novel was published.
Astoundingly, Amazing Stories first was published in 1926, and there were many issues with Death Rays on the cover. And if Uncle Hugo published it, it had to be true.
Now it would be Startling and a Thrilling Wonder if there were real 1926 style death rays at the same time as the fictional one. I think I heard about them from somewhere.
I always thought that the “1920’s” part included the whole decade just like “1980’s” style Death Metal. I don’t see the problem with it getting started a little late. The first 5 years were probably just committee meetings talking about the thing.
Oh I see. You were just trying to emphasize the 1926 publishing to make it clear that it was just 2 years before the start of the Great Depression and the two were almost certainly linked. That is a brilliant analysis that I never would have thought of myself.
I guess you need that kind of power if you’re looking to visit the deepest part of the ocean. Even then, you can’t stay long. Quarter of an hour, maybe a few minutes more.
Not many people know that…If all the gold in the earth’s core were spread evenly over the surface of the moon, Yale would have it’s prom there. Also, power-hungry engineers using heat rays visited earth’s core. Just once. In 1926.
I know a guy who owns a 1920’s-Style X Ray. It’s the dental swivel-gun type, it’s black, and it’s the second coolest thing I’ve ever seen in anybody’s house.
You’re going to make us ask, aren’t you?
Hmm. Quite a year, that 1926. For instance, can anyone explain the following?
May 1 - you are a creebee, crovell! strike begins in Britain
Working 1939 console television set. Same guy’s house.
If I’m not mistaken, the 1920s-style Death Ray was made of 1980s-style Death Metal. It was ahead of its time.