Question for you S/F historians

[Orrex]

Any guesses when "hyperdrive" was first used in a story? I know that the film Forbidden Planet made explicit use of it, but any idea who gets credit for coining the term?

I guess I'd be satisfied with any FTL drive, as long as it's specifically mentioned in the story/film. That is, if there's interstellar travel, we can probably assume FTL propulsion, but I'd prefer that the drive system be mentioned by name (hyperdrive, transfinite drive, etc.)

[Greyskye]

1. spindizzy drive? (edit - nope)

James Blish had the "spindizzy" drive in the "Cities in Flight" stories. This was around 1962 I think. I'm sure there are earlier ones, but this is the first and earliest FTL drive that popped into my head.

(On edit)
Wikipedia has this: John Campbell’s "Islands of Space," which first appeared in Amazing Stories in 1931, features an early reference to hyperspace. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperspace_%28science_fiction%29

[Orrex]

2. A good suggestion

If you're right about the year, then Forbidden Planet beats Cities in Flight by about six years.

I'll need to check, but I'm confident that several Clarke stories refer to a "transfinite drive" and predate Forbidden Planet. However, if Clarke were the originator of the concept, I'm sure we'd hear more about it.

[YankeyMCC]

3. I asked the question on the Asimov's Forum where a lot of SF writers and publishers hang out

and so far this is the most responsive reply:

"My Encyclopedia of Science Fiction says John W. Campbell Jr's "Islands of Space" made use of the word "hyperspace" to describe FTL as early as 1931. Also that Camille Flammarion's Lumen, although written before Einstein's theory of Relativity, has FTL in it.

Generally though I think "Faster than Light" wouldn't have been significant to science fiction before Einstein's Theory of Relativity came out around 1905. Flammarion would sort of be an oddball exception as he was an astronomer and a spiritualist. Also there was no term for a genre like science fiction until C. H. Hinton coined the term "Scientific Romance" in 1886."

You can watch the thread yourself at: http://asimovs.com/discus/

The thread title is " First use of the term 'hyperdrive' "

Forgot to add that is it under "General Discussion"

[Orrex]

4. Neat-o!

Though it's clearly not pre-Einstein, my first thought of an early-ish FTL craft was the spaceship that brought little Kal-El to Earth. Presumably it had to be pretty speedy, if it could get from Krypton to Smallville while he was still a baby, but I don't recall that the 1939 version specifically discussed the particulars of the vessel.

Good information--thanks!

[krispos42]

5. It could have been sub-light

Start playing up there in the .99+c region of the speedometer and the trip gets damn short.

Hyperdrive is an easier explanation, though.

[salvorhardin]

6. Actually

The trip would still be long, even at 0.99+ c. Remember that Alpha Centauri is just about 4 light years away which means if one were to travel at the speed of light it would still take 4 years to get here. We don't know how far away Krypton's star system was but in any case you would be talking about a journey of years at sub-light velocities.

Baby Kal El though would experience time dilation. The closer his ship got to c the greater the dilation, so if his trip was sub-light but at a large enough percentage of c, it's conceivable that Kal El would age very little during his voyage to Earth. His trip could have been 5 years and he would have aged but a couple of months.

[phantom power]

7. EE Smith's Lensman novels featured a hyperdrive (and inertialess drive)