Talk:Weapons in science fiction

Untitled

I added a link to a website I found http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science_List_Detail.asp?BT=Weapon which list every type of science fiction weapon there is, and the year a writer first published a book about it. Dream Focus 14:36, 27 October 2007 (UTC)

Awesome! --Kizor 22:14, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Possible sources

The following was originally posted by User:JulesH on Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Weapons in science fiction:

“ [...] Science fictional weaponry is a clearly notable topic, and there are plenty of sources which could be used to improve this article and fix OR conerns, e.g. Hamilton Weapons of Science Fiction ISBN 1596799978, the entry on the topic in Nicholls Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (Doubleday 1979), another entry on the topic in Prucher & Wolfe Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction ISBN 0195305671, another in Stableford Science Fiction and Fact ISBN 0415974607, Snelson, Hersch & Krasnoff Science Fiction Weapons ISBN 0931064139, Seed American Science Fiction and the Cold War ISBN 1853312274, and many many more appropriate sources. JulesH (talk) 19:28, 15 February 2009 (UTC) ”

-- The Anome (talk) 22:28, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Restructuring

This article badly needs restructuring. There is clearly a distinct difference between SF weapons as minor variations on real weapons (ray guns, lightsabers, power armor), and more imaginative SF weapons (Doomsday Machines, sentient weapons, cyberwarfare, mysterious ancient weapons as McGuffins). On reflection, the whole business of whether SF weapons correspond to actual technologies should probably be relegated to the end of the article. -- The Anome (talk) 00:38, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

To do: more linkage between SF weapons and the events of the time -- for example, computerized warfare during the Vietnam War, mutual assured destruction, and fictional killer computers; brainwashing, cold war paranoia and MKULTRA; modern real cyberattacks and fictional cyberspace, etc, etc. -- The Anome (talk) 01:11, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Possibly add stun guns, which I believe (but don't have cites for), existed in science fiction prior to their existence in reality? -- The Anome (talk) 01:25, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Thank you kindly for your work. Technovelgy is a site that catalogues scifi technologies and their first appearances. At the very least, it should be good for quotes from primary sources. The search function gives us these. --Kizor 01:35, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

And what about the use of psychedelics in warfare, such as the "mind bomb" of Aldiss' Barefoot in the Head? (As far as I know, not paralleled by anything used in real life warfare, but it didn't stop MKULTRA from trying.) -- The Anome (talk) 01:31, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Mention "The Shape of Things to Come" as prefiguring submarine-launched ballistic missiles? (Need to check original references.) -- The Anome (talk) 02:56, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

• Regarding "mind bombs", I've added a note about Langford's short story BLIT. I've put it in the WMD section basically because I can't think of anywhere else an indiscriminate weapon like this would belong. If there are more examples (I'm not familiar with Aldiss's novel) we should probably break out a category for them, but the only other one I can think of is a similar image device suggested in Star Trek as a weapon against the Borg, which probably belongs more under the cyberwarfare section.
• On the subject of HG Wells, it may also be worth noting his description of tanks in The Land Ironclads. And I'm not sure whether or not you could consider the "fighting machines" of The War of the Worlds as an early version of powered armor. Don't know of any sources that discuss this comparison, but it may be worth looking for some. JulesH (talk) 13:07, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

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No rods from gods (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rods_from_gods)? no bioweapons??? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.104.195.119 (talk) 06:03, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

External links modified

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Checked. Tarl.Neustaedter (talk) 19:17, 19 October 2015 (UTC)

OR sections

Many sections of this article are written like OR essays about science fiction weapons, with no sources or OR reference to primary source plots, etc. Tagged the worst sections. Fountains of Bryn Mawr (talk) 20:36, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

"Stun ray" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect Stun ray has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2024 July 18 § Stun ray until a consensus is reached. Steel1943 (talk) 21:21, 18 July 2024 (UTC)