Talk:Laser weapon
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference
how do we know Lasers do not have a stun setting? --TOSrules 04:59, 5 Aug 2005 (UTC)
- That's what I was wondering. Apparently, they thought that Pike wouldn't be so willing to use the laser to burn off the Talosian's head if it had a stun setting. :\ --Shran 05:05, 5 Aug 2005 (UTC)
- Maybe that is what they thought, but it is obvious he was angery enough to not to want to use it. I am not sure but I think there may be an implication of the Stun setting in either "The Cage" or "Where No Man Has Gone Before", the weapon was also used in "The Man Trap" and "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" --TOSrules 05:15, 5 Aug 2005 (UTC)
- The real reason for all the confusion is really simple: Dr. VonPutkammer (sp?), who GR was corrsponding with for science/tech advice informed him that lasers couldn't do the things he wanted them to do, so he changed the name to "phasers" instead. The same thing happened to the Lithium crystals in the warp drive (they became DIlithium crystals because the real ones were unsuitable for what GR wanted them to do). It's been discussed ad infiniutm at various Treknology sites and forums, but for some reason it's one of those retcons that never seems to sink in with a lot of people...Capt Christopher Donovan 09:20, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
- It was Harvey P. Lynn that advised Roddenberry to discontinue the use of the term; Dr. Jesco von Puttkammer was the special science advisor to Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
- The real reason for all the confusion is really simple: Dr. VonPutkammer (sp?), who GR was corrsponding with for science/tech advice informed him that lasers couldn't do the things he wanted them to do, so he changed the name to "phasers" instead. The same thing happened to the Lithium crystals in the warp drive (they became DIlithium crystals because the real ones were unsuitable for what GR wanted them to do). It's been discussed ad infiniutm at various Treknology sites and forums, but for some reason it's one of those retcons that never seems to sink in with a lot of people...Capt Christopher Donovan 09:20, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
- As regards stun settings, as early as the 1964 Yorktown/April pitch, it was contemplated that the hand weapons would also employ pellets instead of an energy stream to disable opponents. This would explain why there are three nozzles at the end of the laser pistol. See http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/misc/trek_history.htm -- GNDN 17:59, 16 September 2006 (UTC)
