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(1874-1936) US engineer, academic and author in whose sf novel, The Man Who Ended War (1908), the inventor of a radioactive metal-disintegrating Ray (an early nuclear weapon of sorts, though not the first in world literature; see Robert Cromie) threatens to destroy the world's warships from a secret location, one by one, if the great powers refuse to disarm. They initially resist and he carries out his threat, though the protagonists of the tale track him down utilizing a second Invention – a device capable of locating radio transmissions and/or radioactive waves – and he is persuaded to stop, as international peace treaties are about to be signed. [JC]
born Massachusetts: 26 April 1874
died Lynn, Massachusetts: 17 January 1936
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Entry from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2011-current) edited by John Clute and David Langford.
Accessed 10:20 am on 1 May 2026.
<https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/godfrey_hollis>