Literary notes about GAS (AI summary)
In literature the term "gas" is multifaceted—serving both a literal and metaphorical purpose across genres. In technical and scientific texts, authors discuss gas in precise, factual terms—describing its behavior in machinery, as in discussions of gas jets and valves in instructional works [1], [2], or its chemical properties in experiments and patents [3], [4], [5]. At the same time, in narrative fiction, "gas" appears as a critical element in setting moods and atmospheres: from the flickering, blue gas-lamps that set a scene in Paris or the eerie streets in Dickens’s works [6], [7], [8], to metaphorical uses that evoke modern societal concerns, such as the commentary on rising gas prices and its impact on everyday life [9], [10]. Even in poetic and playful expressions, such as the metaphor of "puttin’ gas in a balloon" to illustrate amplification [11], the word takes on vibrant, sometimes cautionary, meanings. This diversity underlines how "gas" can bridge the technical with the emotional, anchoring both the practical and the symbolic in literature [12], [13], [14].
- Gas enters at A , and passes to the valve chamber B .
— from How it Works by Archibald Williams - As soon as this pressure is exceeded, the gas in C C lifts the metal cup, and V V are pressed against their seats, so cutting off the supply.
— from How it Works by Archibald Williams - When released in space, the balloon was inflated by chemicals packed inside which subliminated to produce inflating gas.
— from Rockets, Missiles, and Spacecraft of the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution - Turn on the gas slightly and light it: you get a tiny flame.
— from The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James - Yes, several: any substance that can assume and maintain the form of an elastic fluid at the temperature of the atmosphere, is called a gas.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - At that epoch there were no gas-jets in the streets of Paris.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo - We had not driven very far from our lodgings when we stopped in a by-street at a public-looking place lighted up with gas.
— from Bleak House by Charles Dickens - Come, flame of gas, burning so sullenly above the iron gate, on which the poisoned air deposits its witch-ointment slimy to the touch!
— from Bleak House by Charles Dickens - Only police drive big Crown Victorias now that gas had hit seven bucks a gallon.
— from Little Brother by Cory Doctorow - "The gas is gonna come down in about two minutes.
— from Little Brother by Cory Doctorow - ‘It’s like puttin’ gas in a balloon.
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens - The water rises in consequence of the oxygen gas within it 196 having been destroyed, or rather decomposed, by the combustion of the taper.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - The gas-lamps flickered and became blue, and the leafless trees shook their black iron branches to and fro.
— from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - Our gas was lit and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for the table had not been cleared yet.
— from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
