"Oh wonderful new words!"

We are surrounded by everything “smart”, mobile and technologically advanced: astronauts explore space, genetic engineers conjure over the next miracle of science, and gadgets conquer the world. It is so familiar to us that we believe: all scientific and near-scientific terms were invented by scientists, specialists and development companies in parallel with the development of science and technology. In fact, a lot of these words came from science fiction writers.

Take, for example, robotics (robotics). This modern applied science owes its name to Isaac Asimov. He was the first to use this word in the story “Liar” (1941). Azimov also invented the profession of “robotics” (roboticist) and the adjective “robotic” (robotic).

Another modern science - genetic engineering (genetic engineering) - got its name with a light hand of Jack Williamson, a classic of world science fiction. He used this phrase in the story "Dragon Island" (1941). The profession of "genetic engineer" will come up with some other famous science fiction writer - Paul William Anderson.
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Deep space was “discovered” in 1934 by Edward Elmer Smith, Ph.D. and pioneer of science fiction journalism. This phrase reflects the infinite void of outer space and is usually used to describe the huge distances between stars and everything that is beyond the limits of the heroes' home world. Recently, under the deep space also understand all extraterrestrial and interplanetary.

The rich imagination of the “Doc” Smith spawned another giant of science fiction thought - the pressure suit, which is sometimes also called an aviation or space suit. This suit protects the wearer from the effects of the external environment, including sudden pressure drops; necessary in the study of space and flights at high altitudes and speeds (for example, supersonic fighters).


The word “weightlessness” (zero gravity and zero-g), which now describes the state characteristic of objects in outer space (not to be confused with artificial gravity!), Is also a figment of the writer's imagination. “Zero gravity” was first used by Jack Binder, better known as an actor, to show the absence of gravity in the center of the earth’s core. That was in 1938. And 14 years later, Sir Arthur Charles Clark gave us a "zero-g" in the story "Islands in the sky."


Out of the pen of science fiction, the famous ion drive (ion drive), "which drives a spacecraft, emitting charged particles in the direction opposite to the movement of the ship." In 1947, this word appeared in the story-leveled Equalizer of the aforementioned Jack Williamson, and since the 70s of the twentieth century, more and more science fiction writers have been transferring space ships to ionic engines. In 1960, the first wide-beam ion electrostatic engine was built in the USA. Now ion engines are used on several automated spacecraft.

Some words with a rich history migrated to science fiction by coincidence. For example, the maritime jargon "gadget" , denoting "any missing thing or object whose name the speaker cannot remember" (something like our "thing" or "shnyagi") gained popularity among readers and writers thanks to Rudyard Kipling. In 1904, Kipling published a collection of stories, “Ways and Discoveries,” in which this word occurs. By 1942, the "gadget" was leaking into science fiction, and a little later - into everyday life.

In general, I would not be very surprised if in the near future we will “flip to the cosmodrome”, chat on “cosmolingua” and learn foreign languages ​​using the “Bulychev injection”.
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<sub>Based on the Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction - Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction (ed. Jeff Pracher, introductory word - Gene Rodman Wolfe). The name of the dictionary contains a kind of reference to the satirical anti-utopia of Aldous Huxley “O brave new world!”, Published in 1932.

In 2008, the book "On the marvelous new words!" Became the winner of the "Hugo" award in the nomination "The best book about fiction."</sub>

Elena Agafonova
Translator