Danny Dunn, Invisible Boy
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Danny Dunn, Invisible Boy is the thirteenth novel in the Danny Dunn series of juvenile science fiction/adventure books written by Raymond Abrashkin and Jay Williams. The book was first published in 1974.
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[edit] Plot summary
Danny exacerbates a small electrical fire, altering an experimental crystalline semiconductor material Dr. Bullfinch was evaluating. Dr. Bullfinch is able to use this altered material to create ISIT (the Invisibility Simulator with Intromittent Transmission), a dragonfly-like probe which could be piloted with a virtual reality helmet and gauntlet gloves.
The trio each tries out the device. Irene uses ISIT to birdwatch. Joe uses the device to observe a beehive from the inside. Danny discovers a classmate nicknamed 'Snitcher' cheating by copying the word list to the next day's spelling bee. The ISIT is outfitted with a speaker which is subsequently used as a means to get Snitcher to confess.
Dr. Bullfinch is visited by General Gruntel. The General reveals (in very authoritarian language) he wishes to use ISIT as a tool to spy not only on enemy governments, but against citizens as well. General Gruntel attempts to seize the unit, but is rebuffed by the Doctor. While going to get authorization to take ISIT, he leaves the professor's lab under guard.
Danny, Irene, and Joe decide to take matters into their own hands and stealthily break into the lab to recover the probe. The probe's absence is realized which leads to Colonel Twist, the commanding officer of the two guards, to delusionally believe the device has been stolen by a foreign power. As he is being confronted by Twist, the professor realizes the trio of friends were responsible. He informs Danny that without destroying his notes detailing the creation of ISIT, the military could still recreate it. While the local national guard arrives to secure the house against foreign spies, Danny and the Professor make their way to the probe's controls and use it to cause a fire that destroys both the notes and probe. Dr. Grimes arrives with orders for the military personnel to leave. Bullfinch informs Grimes that the device has been destroyed and that he will not recreate it until the world is ready for it.
[edit] ISIT (the Invisibility Simulator with Intromittent Transmission)
The ISIT probe resembles a dragonfly. The wings are used to collect microwave energy, which is beamed to it within a range of 2,500 yards. Flight is accomplished with jets of compressed air (it is not stated if the wings flap). Feet on the unit are capable of grasping as well.
The control system for ISIT is a virtual reality helmet and gauntlet gloves. Visual and auditory information is relayed through the helmet, while control is handled through the gauntlets. Operators receive tactile sensation feedback.
[edit] Allusions and references
[edit] Allusions to actual history, geography and current science
Biologists and technologists at the University of California, Berkeley have developed a tiny robot, the Micromechanical Flying Insect (MFI), that they say will one day fly like a fly.
Dr. Robert Wood of Harvard has created a robot weighing 60 mg and with a wingspan of 3 cm. Such Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) have successfully launched.
WowWee seems to be developing a toy dragonfly that would fly under remote control.
Unconfirmed reports of field uses of this technology have been made.
[edit] Editions
- Publishers
- McGraw-Hill
- ISBN 0-070-70546-1 (Paperback, 1974, illustrated by Paul Sagsoorian)
- ISBN 0-070-70547-X (Hardback, 1974, illustrated by Paul Sagsoorian)
- MacDonald and Jane's
- ISBN 0-356-04908-6 (Hardback, 1974, illustrated by Anne Mieke)
- Pocket Books/Archway Books
- ISBN 0-671-29733-3 (Paperback, 1975, #2 in their series, illustrated by Paul Sagsoorian)
- ISBN 0-671-45068-9 (Paperback, 1983 reissue, illustrated by Paul Sagsoorian)
