Shield (science fiction) - Definition and Overview

Science fiction works such as Star Trek and Star Wars have popularized the concept of shields in the form of energy fields used to absorb hostile weapons fire. The concept goes back at least as far as the 1920s, in the works of E.E. 'Doc' Smith and others; and William Hope Hodgson's The Night Land (1912) has the Last Redoubt, in which the remnants of humanity shelter, protected by something very like one.

These shields are often featured on starships, although personal shields have also been described. Such devices are, to date, fictional, but they have some resemblance to real devices such as magnetic field generators.

Example Usage of (science