An Encyclopedia is a small, hand held device. It stored its information on small colored data rods that are stored in the front cover of the device, and inserted into the top of the spine to be accessed. Encyclopedias can also be used to access the Cortex. It can display information either in text, audio, or audio-visual formats.
Simon Tam owned an Encyclopedia which he brought with him on board the Serenity. His Encyclopedia included data rods for the following subjects: Anatomical Engineering, Bio-physical Atlas, Human History, Languages, Medical Science, and the Universal Encyclopedia.[1][2]
Behind the scenes[]
The Encyclopedia was seen in several episodes, beginning with the original pilot. The Alliance agent, Dobson, attempts to use his to access the Cortex to send a transmission to an Alliance ship. Simon's Encyclopedia is seen close up and in operation in a cut scene included on the Firefly DVD set. The same scene also shows us the names of the data rods SImon had access to. Derrial Book uses Simon's encyclopedia to access information on the marriage customs of the settlers on Triumph in "Our Mrs. Reynolds".
Appearances[]
Firefly – "Serenity"- Firefly – "Our Mrs. Reynolds"
