Where no man has gone before
Encyclopedia
"Where no man has gone before" is a phrase originally made popular through its use in the title sequence
of most episodes of the original Star Trek
science fiction television
series. It refers to the mission of the original starship Enterprise
. The complete introductory sequence, narrated by William Shatner
at the beginning of every episode of Star Trek except "The Cage" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before
", is:
booklet published in 1958. The Introduction to Outer Space, produced in an effort to garner support for a national space program
in the wake of the Sputnik flight, read on its first page:
Interestingly, the situation came full circle in 1989, when NASA used the Star Trek version of the quotation to title their retrospective of Project Apollo: Where No Man Has Gone Before: A History of Apollo Lunar Exploration Missions.
Following an early expedition to Newfoundland, Captain James Cook
declared that he intended to go not only "... farther than any man has been before me, but as far as I think it is possible for a man to go" (emphasis added). Cook's most famous ship, the Endeavour, lent its name to the last-produced of the space shuttle
s, much as the Star Trek starship Enterprise
lent its name to the program's test craft
.
Similar expressions have been used in literature prior to 1958. For example, H. P. Lovecraft
's novella The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
, written in 1927 and published in 1943, includes this passage:
, who is attributed with suggesting using it as an episode name. The episode became "Where No Man Has Gone Before
", the second pilot
of Star Trek. The phrase itself was subsequently worked into the show's opening narration, which was written after the episode. Indeed, the introductory sequence was devised in August 1966, after several episodes had been filmed, and shortly before the series was due to debut. It is the result of the combined input of several people, including Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry
and producers John D. F. Black
and Bob Justman
. Under their influence, Roddenberry's original narrative:
went through several revisions, such as Black's:
before settling on the one used in the TV series.
within the Star Trek canon.
The quotation is changed from "where no man has gone before" to "where no one has gone before" with the Star Trek: The Next Generation
pilot episode "Encounter at Farpoint" in 1987. The quotation is engraved on the dedication plaques of the Enterprise-B
, Enterprise-D
and Enterprise-E
.
, Leonard Nimoy
reads a version of the quotation that adds the word "continuing" between "the" and "voyages", replaces the words "its five-year" with "her on-going", and adds the word "forms" after "life":
. The new version replaced "her" with "its", "five-year" with "continuing" and the word "man" with the gender- and species-neutral "one". The new introduction, narrated by Patrick Stewart
(who played the Enterprise-D
's captain, Jean-Luc Picard
), at the beginning of every episode of that series, was:
A first-season episode of 1987 of that series was named "Where No One Has Gone Before", the plot of which bears no connection to that of "Where No Man Has Gone Before".
The quotation "where no man has gone before" appears on the dedication plaque of the Enterprise-A
, and is also engraved on the base of a decorative ship's wheel found in the ship's lounge.
(speciecism), the word "man" was changed to the gender- and race-neutral "one" by Kirk:
in the episode "Equinox
", the oath that Starfleet officers take also includes content of the meaning "to seek out life".
at the dedication of the Warp 5
Complex in 2119.:
The quotation was changed to use the split infinitive
"to boldly go" at some point before 2151. At that point, it was adopted as the motto
of the Enterprise
and engraved on its dedication plaque with the split infinitive.
The titles of two episodes also mention lines of the title sequence of the original Star Trek series: "Strange New World" and "These Are the Voyages...". The latter is the finale of Enterprise, and also closes with a voice-over of the quotation, segueing from Picard's Next Generation opening to Kirk and then closing with Jonathan Archer
using the original series' gender-specific version:
The quotation has also gained popularity outside Star Trek. The phrase has become a snowclone
, a rhetoric
al device and type of word play
in which one word within it is replaced while maintaining the overall structure. For example, an episode of Futurama
that dealt with a character's devotion to Star Trek is named "Where No Fan Has Gone Before
", a level in the videogame Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time
is called "Starbase: Where No Turtle Has Gone Before", and an episode of DuckTales
parodying Star Trek is entitled "Where No Duck Has Gone Before".
The phrase was used sarcastically in 1992 regarding Apple's Mac 7.0 (code named "Star Trek
") which was planned to run on the Intel chip by calling it "the OS that boldly goes where everyone else has been". Likewise on Babylon 5
Ivanova implies that a woman is promiscuous by telling the captain, "Congratulations. You're about to go where every man has gone before."
The split infinitive
"to boldly go" has also been the subject of jokes. British humorist and science-fiction author Douglas Adams
describes, in his series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
, the long-lost heroic age of the Galactic Empire, when bold adventurers dared "to boldly split infinitive
s that no man had split before." In The Physics of Star Trek
, Lawrence M. Krauss
begins a list of Star Trek's ten worst errors by quoting one of his colleagues who considers that their greatest mistake is "to split an infinitive every damn time."
Title sequence
A Title Sequence is the method by which cinematic films or television programs present their title, key production and cast members, or both, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound...
of most episodes of the original Star Trek
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
science fiction television
Science fiction on television
Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
series. It refers to the mission of the original starship Enterprise
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
The USS Enterprise, NCC-1701, is a fictional starship in the Star Trek media franchise. The original Star Trek series depicts her crew's mission "to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before" under the command of Captain James...
. The complete introductory sequence, narrated by William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
at the beginning of every episode of Star Trek except "The Cage" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before
Where No Man Has Gone Before
"Where No Man Has Gone Before" is the second pilot episode of the television series Star Trek: The Original Series. It was produced in 1965 after the first pilot, "The Cage", had been rejected by NBC. The episode was eventually broadcast third in sequence on September 22, 1966, and was re-aired on...
", is:
Origin of the quotation
It has been suggested that the quotation was taken from a White HouseWhite House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
booklet published in 1958. The Introduction to Outer Space, produced in an effort to garner support for a national space program
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
in the wake of the Sputnik flight, read on its first page:
The first of these factors is the compelling urge of man to explore and to discover, the thrust of curiosity that leads men to try to go where no one has gone before. Most of the surface of the earth has now been explored and men now turn on the exploration of outer space as their next objective.
Interestingly, the situation came full circle in 1989, when NASA used the Star Trek version of the quotation to title their retrospective of Project Apollo: Where No Man Has Gone Before: A History of Apollo Lunar Exploration Missions.
Following an early expedition to Newfoundland, Captain James Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
declared that he intended to go not only "... farther than any man has been before me, but as far as I think it is possible for a man to go" (emphasis added). Cook's most famous ship, the Endeavour, lent its name to the last-produced of the space shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
s, much as the Star Trek starship Enterprise
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
The USS Enterprise, NCC-1701, is a fictional starship in the Star Trek media franchise. The original Star Trek series depicts her crew's mission "to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before" under the command of Captain James...
lent its name to the program's test craft
Space Shuttle Enterprise
The Space Shuttle Enterprise was the first Space Shuttle orbiter. It was built for NASA as part of the Space Shuttle program to perform test flights in the atmosphere. It was constructed without engines or a functional heat shield, and was therefore not capable of spaceflight...
.
Similar expressions have been used in literature prior to 1958. For example, H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
's novella The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is a novella by H. P. Lovecraft. It was completed in 1927 and was unpublished in his lifetime. It is both the longest of the stories that comprise his Dream Cycle and the longest to feature protagonist Randolph Carter, and can thus be considered a culminating...
, written in 1927 and published in 1943, includes this passage:
At length, sick with longing for those glittering sunset streets and cryptical hill lanes among ancient tiled roofs, nor able sleeping or waking to drive them from his mind, Carter resolved to go with bold entreaty whither no man had gone before, and dare the icy deserts through the dark to where unknown Kadath, veiled in cloud and crowned with unimagined stars, holds secret and nocturnal the onyx castle of the Great Ones.
Evolution of the quotation
The phrase was first introduced into Star Trek by Samuel PeeplesSamuel A. Peeples
Samuel Anthony Peeples was an American writer. He published several novels in the Western genre, often under the pen name Brad Ward, before moving into series television after being given a script assignment by Frank Gruber...
, who is attributed with suggesting using it as an episode name. The episode became "Where No Man Has Gone Before
Where No Man Has Gone Before
"Where No Man Has Gone Before" is the second pilot episode of the television series Star Trek: The Original Series. It was produced in 1965 after the first pilot, "The Cage", had been rejected by NBC. The episode was eventually broadcast third in sequence on September 22, 1966, and was re-aired on...
", the second pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
of Star Trek. The phrase itself was subsequently worked into the show's opening narration, which was written after the episode. Indeed, the introductory sequence was devised in August 1966, after several episodes had been filmed, and shortly before the series was due to debut. It is the result of the combined input of several people, including Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry
Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...
and producers John D. F. Black
John D. F. Black
John D. F. Black is a scriptwriter, TV producer, and TV director. He has had a long and varied career in television, but he is best known for his work on the TV series Star Trek in 1966, and its sequel series, Star Trek: The Next Generation during the 1980s.Black was the associate producer for ten...
and Bob Justman
Robert H. Justman
Robert Harris "Bob" Justman was an American television producer, director and production manager. He worked on many television series including Lassie, The Life of Riley, Adventures of Superman, The Outer Limits, Then Came Bronson and Mission: Impossible.- Career :Bob Justman was one of the...
. Under their influence, Roddenberry's original narrative:
This is the adventure of the United Space Ship Enterprise. Assigned a five year galaxy patrol, the bold crew of the giant starship explores the excitement of strange new worlds, uncharted civilizations, and exotic people. These are its voyages and its adventures.
went through several revisions, such as Black's:
Space, the final frontier. Endless. Silent. Waiting. This is the story of the United Space Ship Enterprise. Its mission: a five year patrol of the galaxy. To seek out and contact all alien life. To explore. To travel the vast galaxy, where no man has gone before. A Star Trek.
before settling on the one used in the TV series.
Additional usage in Star Trek
The quotation has been used numerous times by various Star Trek characters, and has been given a back-storyBack-story
A back-story, background story, or backstory is the literary device of a narrative chronologically earlier than, and related to, a narrative of primary interest. Generally, it is the history of characters or other elements that underlie the situation existing at the main narrative's start...
within the Star Trek canon.
The quotation is changed from "where no man has gone before" to "where no one has gone before" with the Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
pilot episode "Encounter at Farpoint" in 1987. The quotation is engraved on the dedication plaques of the Enterprise-B
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-B)
The USS Enterprise is a fictional starship in the Star Trek science fiction franchise. It is an Excelsior-class upgrade Starfleet vessel that appears under the command of Captain John Harriman in the film Star Trek Generations...
, Enterprise-D
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
The USS Enterprise is a 24th century starship in the Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series...
and Enterprise-E
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E)
The USS Enterprise is a Sovereign-class starship in the Star Trek franchise. It serves as the primary setting of the films Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek Nemesis...
.
Star Trek: The Animated Series
The narration was used in the title sequence of every episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series.Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan
At the end of Star Trek II: The Wrath of KhanStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is a 1982 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. The film is the second feature based on the Star Trek science fiction franchise. The plot features James T...
, Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Simon Nimoy is an American actor, film director, poet, musician and photographer. Nimoy's most famous role is that of Spock in the original Star Trek series , multiple films, television and video game sequels....
reads a version of the quotation that adds the word "continuing" between "the" and "voyages", replaces the words "its five-year" with "her on-going", and adds the word "forms" after "life":
Space... the Final Frontier. These are the continuing voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her on-going mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life forms and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Five years after the release of The Wrath of Khan, a version of the introduction was included in the title sequence of the TV-series Star Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
. The new version replaced "her" with "its", "five-year" with "continuing" and the word "man" with the gender- and species-neutral "one". The new introduction, narrated by Patrick Stewart
Patrick Stewart
Sir Patrick Hewes Stewart, OBE is an English film, television and stage actor, who has had a distinguished career in theatre and television for around half a century...
(who played the Enterprise-D
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
The USS Enterprise is a 24th century starship in the Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series...
's captain, Jean-Luc Picard
Jean-Luc Picard
Captain Jean-Luc Picard is a Star Trek character portrayed by Patrick Stewart. He appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the feature films Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek Nemesis...
), at the beginning of every episode of that series, was:
Space... the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.
A first-season episode of 1987 of that series was named "Where No One Has Gone Before", the plot of which bears no connection to that of "Where No Man Has Gone Before".
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
The title of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier references the "final frontier" mentioned in the title sequence of Star Trek: The Original Series.The quotation "where no man has gone before" appears on the dedication plaque of the Enterprise-A
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A)
The USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-A is a starship in the fourth, fifth, and sixth Star Trek films.-Origin and design:The Enterprise-A used the same shooting model as the preceding NCC-1701...
, and is also engraved on the base of a decorative ship's wheel found in the ship's lounge.
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, which dealt with cross-species racismRacism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
(speciecism), the word "man" was changed to the gender- and race-neutral "one" by Kirk:
Captain's log, stardate 9529.1. This is the final cruise of the starship Enterprise under my command. This ship and her history will shortly become the care of another crew. To them and their posterity will we commit our future. They will continue the voyages we have begun and journey to all the undiscovered countries, boldly going where no man...where no one... has gone before.
Star Trek: Voyager
According to Captain JanewayKathryn Janeway
Kathryn Janeway, played by Kate Mulgrew, is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. As the captain of the Starfleet starship USS Voyager, she was the lead character on the television series Star Trek: Voyager, and later, a Starfleet admiral, as seen in the 2002 feature film Star Trek...
in the episode "Equinox
Equinox (Star Trek: Voyager)
"Equinox" is a two-part episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the cliffhanger between the fifth and sixth seasons. -Part 1:Voyager receives a hail from the Federation Starship USS Equinox, and Janeway immediately decides to go investigate...
", the oath that Starfleet officers take also includes content of the meaning "to seek out life".
Star Trek: Enterprise
According to the 2001 pilot episode of the TV-series Enterprise, "Broken Bow", the Star Trek: The Original Series title sequence mission statement of Kirk's Enterprise originates from a speech given by Zefram CochraneZefram Cochrane
Zefram Cochrane is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe. Created by writer Gene L. Coon, the character first appeared in the 1967 Star Trek episode "Metamorphosis", in which he was played by Glenn Corbett. James Cromwell later played Cochrane in the 1996 feature film Star Trek: First...
at the dedication of the Warp 5
Warp drive (Star Trek)
Warp drive is a faster-than-light propulsion system in the setting of many science fiction works, most notably Star Trek. A spacecraft equipped with a warp drive may travel at velocities greater than that of light by many orders of magnitude, while circumventing the relativistic problem of time...
Complex in 2119.:
On this site, a powerful engine will be built. An engine that will someday help us to travel a hundred times faster than we can today. Imagine it. Thousands of inhabited planets at our fingertips. And we'll be able to explore those strange, new worlds. And seek out new life and new civilizations. This engine will let us go boldly where no man has gone before.
The quotation was changed to use the split infinitive
Split infinitive
A split infinitive is an English-language grammatical construction in which a word or phrase, usually an adverb or adverbial phrase, comes between the marker to and the bare infinitive form of a verb....
"to boldly go" at some point before 2151. At that point, it was adopted as the motto
Motto
A motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...
of the Enterprise
Enterprise (NX-01)
The Enterprise is a fictional starship in the science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise. It is commanded by Captain Jonathan Archer.-History:...
and engraved on its dedication plaque with the split infinitive.
The titles of two episodes also mention lines of the title sequence of the original Star Trek series: "Strange New World" and "These Are the Voyages...". The latter is the finale of Enterprise, and also closes with a voice-over of the quotation, segueing from Picard's Next Generation opening to Kirk and then closing with Jonathan Archer
Jonathan Archer
Jonathan Archer is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. He is the protagonist of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise, where he is played by Scott Bakula...
using the original series' gender-specific version:
Picard: Space... the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission... Kirk: To explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. Archer: To boldly go where no man has gone before.
Star Trek (2009)
At the end of the Star Trek motion picture released in 2009, Nimoy reads a revised version of his quotation from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan that segues from the original series' opening to the phrase "her ongoing mission" in place of "its five-year mission", and closes with the Next Generations gender-neutral version:Space... the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life forms and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.
Application of the phrase
A 1996 book written to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Trek is called Star Trek: These are the Voyages....The quotation has also gained popularity outside Star Trek. The phrase has become a snowclone
Snowclone
A snowclone is a type of cliché and phrasal template originally defined as "a multi-use, customizable, instantly recognizable, time-worn, quoted or misquoted phrase or sentence that can be used in an entirely open array of different variants"....
, a rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
al device and type of word play
Word play
Word play or wordplay is a literary technique in which the words that are used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement...
in which one word within it is replaced while maintaining the overall structure. For example, an episode of Futurama
Futurama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
that dealt with a character's devotion to Star Trek is named "Where No Fan Has Gone Before
Where No Fan Has Gone Before
"Where No Fan Has Gone Before" is the eleventh episode of the fourth season of the animated series Futurama. It originally aired in the United States on April 21, 2002...
", a level in the videogame Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, released as Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles: Turtles in Time in Europe, is an arcade video game produced by Konami. A sequel to the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game, it is a scrolling beat 'em up based mainly on the 1987 TMNT animated...
is called "Starbase: Where No Turtle Has Gone Before", and an episode of DuckTales
DuckTales
DuckTales is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. Based on Carl Barks' Uncle Scrooge comic book series, it premiered on September 18, 1987 and ended on November 28, 1990 with a total of four seasons and 100 episodes...
parodying Star Trek is entitled "Where No Duck Has Gone Before".
The phrase was used sarcastically in 1992 regarding Apple's Mac 7.0 (code named "Star Trek
Star Trek project
Star Trek was the code name given to a prototype project at Apple Computer and Novell during 1992 and 1993. The project was named after the Star Trek science fiction franchise with the slogan "To boldly go where no Mac has gone before."...
") which was planned to run on the Intel chip by calling it "the OS that boldly goes where everyone else has been". Likewise on Babylon 5
Babylon 5
Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on a space station named Babylon 5: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262...
Ivanova implies that a woman is promiscuous by telling the captain, "Congratulations. You're about to go where every man has gone before."
The split infinitive
Split infinitive
A split infinitive is an English-language grammatical construction in which a word or phrase, usually an adverb or adverbial phrase, comes between the marker to and the bare infinitive form of a verb....
"to boldly go" has also been the subject of jokes. British humorist and science-fiction author Douglas Adams
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
describes, in his series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon...
, the long-lost heroic age of the Galactic Empire, when bold adventurers dared "to boldly split infinitive
Split infinitive
A split infinitive is an English-language grammatical construction in which a word or phrase, usually an adverb or adverbial phrase, comes between the marker to and the bare infinitive form of a verb....
s that no man had split before." In The Physics of Star Trek
The Physics of Star Trek
The Physics of Star Trek is a 1995 nonfiction book by Arizona State University professor Lawrence M. Krauss. It discusses the physics involved in various concepts and objects described in the Star Trek universe. He investigates the possibility of such things as inertial dampeners and warp drive,...
, Lawrence M. Krauss
Lawrence M. Krauss
Lawrence Maxwell Krauss is an American theoretical physicist who is professor of physics, Foundation Professor of the School of Earth and Space Exploration, and director of the Origins Project at the Arizona State University. He is the author of several bestselling books, including The Physics of...
begins a list of Star Trek's ten worst errors by quoting one of his colleagues who considers that their greatest mistake is "to split an infinitive every damn time."