Pyrokinesis
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It has been suggested that this article be merged into Psychokinesis. (Discuss) Proposed since February 2013. |
Pyrokinesis, derived from the Greek words πυρ (pûr, meaning "fire, lightning") and κίνησις (kínesis, meaning "motion"), was the name coined by horror novelist Stephen King for protagonist Charlie McGee's ability to create or to control fire strictly by thought in King's 1980 novel, Firestarter.[1] The word is intended to be parallel to telekinesis, though arguably the prefix "tele-" (meaning "from afar") rather than the suffix "-kinesis" would be the part to preserve in a proper Greek-based hybrid word. Critic S.T. Joshi describes the word as a "singularly unfortunate coinage."[2]
Pyromancy is often incorrectly considered to be a synonym to pyrokinesis.
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As a literary theme [edit]
Pyrokinesis is popular in fiction, with numerous examples in films, books, and television series. These include the episode "Fire" from The X-Files; the Beyond Reality episode "Enemy in Our Midst"; the One Step Beyond episode "The Burning Girl"; the Fringe episode "The Road Not Taken" and the Charmed episode "Lost and Bound." Several such works, such as the aforementioned "The Burning Girl" pre-date Firestarter, and have direct parallels with King's work (King himself wrote that "Firestarter has numerous science fiction antecedents").[citation needed] King, however, was the first to attempt to give the idea a name, as neither the term "pyrokinesis" nor any other term occurs in prior works.[3][4]
Explanation [edit]
Several works of fiction explain pyrokinetic powers as being the ability to excite or speed up an object's atoms, increasing their thermal energy until they ignite, not necessarily objects, but also air particles.[citation needed] In The Science of Stephen King, authors Gresh and Weinberg argue that this is "vaguely possible", but characterize it as "generally the stuff of comic books", such as Marvel Comics' Human Torch . Without some form of electromechanical device, such as a device to release several of the compounds that do spontaneously ignite upon contact with the oxygen in air (such as silane, a pyrophoric gas, or rubidium), or some form of triggering device located at the source of the fire, there is no scientifically known method for the brain to trigger explosions and fires at a distance.[5]
Examples of claimed pyrokinesis [edit]
In the case of A.W. Underwood, a 19th-century African-American who achieved minor celebrity with the purported ability to set items ablaze, scientists suggested concealed pieces of phosphorus may have instead been responsible. White phosphorus ignites in air at about 30°C; as this is slightly below body temperature, the phosphorus could be readily ignited by breath or rubbing.[6]
In March 2011, a 3 year-old girl in Antique Province, Philippines gained media attention for mysteriously producing and predicting fire. The town mayor himself witnessed firsthand how a pillow burned after the girl said "pillow... fire." Many other people including the local chief of police and fire officers saw how the girl caused fire without physical contact to the objects.[7]
References [edit]
- ^ SciFiNow (Dorset, England, UK: Imagine Publishing Ltd.). #47, 2010. Magazine, page 113: "Firestarter ... released 11 May 1984. Based on Stephen King's novel (which coined the term pyrokinesis)."
- ^ S. T. Joshi (2001). The Modern Weird Tale. McFarland. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-7864-0986-0.
- ^ John Kenneth Muir (2001). An Analytical Guide to Television's One Step Beyond, 1959–1961. McFarland. pp. 77–78. ISBN 978-0-7864-0969-3.
- ^ John Anthony McCrossan (2000). "Stephen King". Books and Reading in the Lives of Notable Americans. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-313-30376-0.
- ^ Lois H. Gresh and Robert Weinberg (2007). The Science of Stephen King. John Wiley and Sons. pp. 38–39. ISBN 978-0-471-78247-6.
- ^ Thomas, R. (January 1883). "Spontaneous Combustion". The Medical Age 1: 86.
- ^ Burgos, Nestor (March 9, 2011). "Fire 'seer' draws hundreds to Antique village". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
