Aug 30, 2022

Words coined by science fiction writers

Surabhi Rawat

Science fiction

From robotics to virus, did you know that these words were actually coined by science fiction writers? Here we list down some such words.

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Robotics

Apart from his books, author Isaac Asimov is well-known for his three laws of robotics. Robotics was first used as a word in his story 'Liar!', which was published in 1941.

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Genetic engineering

The word genetic engineering was first used in Jack Williamson’s science fiction novel titled 'Dragon’s Island', which was also published in 1941.

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Zero-gravity

The term 'Zero-gravity' was first used by Jack Binder in 1938-- it was used to refer to a gravity-less state of the Earth’s center. Later in 1952, the term "zero-g" was used by author Arthur C. Clarke in his novel 'Islands in the Sky'.

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Computer virus

It was author Dave Gerrold who first used the term virus, in context of computer virus, in his 1972 book titled 'When Harlie Was One'.

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Pressure suit

Did you know that it was author E. E. Smith who first used the term "pressure suit"? These are a kind of suits that maintain a stable and standard pressure around one's body and they are often used by astronauts today.

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Deep space

The term 'deep space' was first used by author E. E. Smith in 1934!

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Computer worms

The term 'Worms' for a type of self-cloning computer program was first used by author John Brunner in his book 'Shockwave Rider' which was first published in 1975.

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How many of these words did you know of?

Tell us in the comments.

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Thanks For Reading!

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