Editing Ansible (section)

== Coinage by Ursula Le Guin ==
[[Ursula K. Le Guin]] first used the word ''ansible'' in her 1966 novel ''[[Rocannon's World]]''.<ref name=Sheidlower/><ref name=Bernardo/> Etymologically, the word was a contraction of ''answerable'', reflecting the device's ability to deliver responses to their messages in a reasonable amount of time, even over [[interstellar communication|interstellar]] distances.<ref name=Quinion/>

The ansible was the basis for creating a specific kind of interstellar civilization, where communications between far-flung stars are instantaneous, but humans can only travel at [[relativistic speed]]s. Under these conditions, a full-fledged [[galactic empire]] is not possible, but there is a looser interstellar organization, in which several of Le Guin's protagonists are involved.<ref name=LeGuin2022/>

Although Le Guin invented the name ''ansible'' for this type of device (further developing its details in her fictional works), the broader concept of instantaneous [[Superluminal communication|superluminal]] or FTL communication had previously existed in science fiction.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} Similar communication functions were included in a device called an "interocitor" in the 1952 novel ''[[This Island Earth (novel)|This Island Earth]]'' by [[Raymond F.&nbsp;Jones]], and the [[This Island Earth|1955 film]] based on the novel. Similarly in 1954, another of these devices called the "Dirac Communicator" appeared in [[James Blish]]'s short story ''Beep'', which was expanded into the 1974 novel ''[[The Quincunx of Time]]''.<ref>Nicholls, Peter "Dirac Communicator" in [[John Clute|Clute, John]] and Nicholls, Peter eds. (1995) ''[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]]''. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, p.&nbsp;337. {{isbn|0-312-13486-X}}.</ref> Additionally, [[Robert Heinlein|Robert A. Heinlein]], in his 1958 novel ''[[Time for the Stars]],'' employed instantaneous telepathic communication between identical twin pairs over interstellar distances, and like Le Guin, provided a technical explanation based on a non-Einsteinian principle of [[Relativity of simultaneity|simultaneity]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}