Birth of the Warp Drive in “Islands of Space” by John W. Campbell, Jr. Illustrations by Wesso.
Published in “Amazing Stories Quarterly,” Vol. 4, No. 2 (Spring, 1931)
“The ship was quiet. No one spoke. The meters which had flashed over to their limit had settled back and now read zero once more – all save those indicating the power stored in the giant coil. The stars that shown brilliantly in a myriad of colors about them were gone, then suddenly they saw space about glow: then there was a vast cloud of stars before them, but strange, violet stars. Some, however, were a pale green. Directly before them was one green star that glowed big and brilliant, then rapidly it faded and shrank to a tiny dot, a distant star! There was a strange tenseness about them. They seemed held in a strange, compelled silence.
“Arcot reached forward again – ‘Cutting off power, Morey!’ – the red tumbler snapped back. Again space seemed to be charged with a vast surplus of energy that rushed in from all about, coursing through their bodies, producing a tingling feeling. Then again space was rocking in a grey cloud about them – the stars suddenly leapt out at them in blazing glory again.
‘Well, it worked once!’ breathed Arcot, with a sigh of relief. ‘Lord, I made some false calculations, though I hope I didn’t make any more! Morey – how was it? I used only one sixteenth power.’ “
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“Islands of Space” is generally credited with introducing the concepts of “hyperspace” and the “warp drive” to science fiction. (So, Star Trek got it wrong in identifying Zefram Cochrane as the inventor:-) The story concerns the adventures of four heroes: Arcot, Morey, Wade and Fuller. They put together a ship that can travel faster than light and they hightail it out into space.
The story was published in book form in 1957 by Fantasy Press, and a paperback edition was put out by Ace Books in 1966. John W. Campbell, Jr. went on to become the editor of “Astounding Science Fiction” from late 1937 until his death in 1971 and was part of the Golden Age of Science Fiction. He wrote super-science space opera under his own name and stories under his primary pseudonym, Don A. Stuart. [Source: Wikipedia]
Birth of the Warp Drive in “Islands of Space” by John W. Campbell, Jr. Illustrations by Wesso.
Published in “Amazing Stories Quarterly,” Vol. 4, No. 2 (Spring, 1931)
“The ship was quiet. No one spoke. The meters which had flashed over to their limit had settled back and now read zero once more – all save those indicating the power stored in the giant coil. The stars that shown brilliantly in a myriad of colors about them were gone, then suddenly they saw space about glow: then there was a vast cloud of stars before them, but strange, violet stars. Some, however, were a pale green. Directly before them was one green star that glowed big and brilliant, then rapidly it faded and shrank to a tiny dot, a distant star! There was a strange tenseness about them. They seemed held in a strange, compelled silence.
“Arcot reached forward again – ‘Cutting off power, Morey!’ – the red tumbler snapped back. Again space seemed to be charged with a vast surplus of energy that rushed in from all about, coursing through their bodies, producing a tingling feeling. Then again space was rocking in a grey cloud about them – the stars suddenly leapt out at them in blazing glory again.
‘Well, it worked once!’ breathed Arcot, with a sigh of relief. ‘Lord, I made some false calculations, though I hope I didn’t make any more! Morey – how was it? I used only one sixteenth power.’ “
*********************************
“Islands of Space” is generally credited with introducing the concepts of “hyperspace” and the “warp drive” to science fiction. (So, Star Trek got it wrong in identifying Zefram Cochrane as the inventor:-) The story concerns the adventures of four heroes: Arcot, Morey, Wade and Fuller. They put together a ship that can travel faster than light and they hightail it out into space.
The story was published in book form in 1957 by Fantasy Press, and a paperback edition was put out by Ace Books in 1966. John W. Campbell, Jr. went on to become the editor of “Astounding Science Fiction” from late 1937 until his death in 1971 and was part of the Golden Age of Science Fiction. He wrote super-science space opera under his own name and stories under his primary pseudonym, Don A. Stuart. [Source: Wikipedia]