Harvey P . Lynn Harvey P . Lynn , Jr . was a physicist and the special scientific adviser for " Star Trek " s pilot episode , . Lynn was brought to the attention of Gene Roddenberry in late May 1964 by US Air Force officer Donald I . Prickett , a World War II comrade , whom Roddenberry had written for technical advice , concerning the scientific and technical accuracy to which he wanted his new " Star Trek " production adhere . ( " The Making of Star Trek " , pp . 75 - 76 ) Using his own personal time , Lynn served almost a year and a half as a science consultant for the series , receiving a $ 50 compensation per episode . Lynn took exception to some of the jargon used by Roddenberry , such as " laser " and " rocket " , because these were devices already in existence in the 20th century . Originally , the episode was to take place in the Sirius star group , but Lynn suggested that another star system be used instead . Lynn is often credited with inventing the term " phaser " . Most of Lynn ' s scientific objections were outlined in a long memo he sent to Roddenberry on 14 September 1964 . The full text was reprinted in the 1968 reference book , " The Making of Star Trek " ( pp . 90 - 95 ) . Lynn was one of the people who scrutinized Matt Jefferies ' work , while the latter was in the process of designing the exterior look of the new starship . ( " The Making of Star Trek " , p . 80 ) His son , Harvey P . Lynn III , has commented this in 2002 about his fathers involvement , " " He graduated as an Electrical Engineer . Worked at RAND as a liaison Officer between RAND and Project Airforce . Was never starstruck and had little interest in TV , films , or science fiction . Apparently he met Mr . Roddenberry though a mutual friend and was selected for the technical consultant job more because he hit it off with Mr . Roddenberry than his technical expertise . When offered the job , he boned up on physics , astronomy , etc . He picked up surprisingly quickly on how to express the technical elements simply . . . ie not having to explain how a phaser works . . . sort of how most people know that a light switch turns on the lights but don ' t wonder about the mechanics . From his earnings as consultant , we bought our first color TV . I think that ' s in " The Making of Star Trek " . My Dad was never really a big fan of the show . . . not a Trekkie in today ' s sense . I ' ve retained only about 3 scripts . PS . My family was really moved by Mr . Roddenberry sending flowers to Dad ' s funeral in Texas as they hadn ' t really been in contact for years . " " Lynn died in December 1986 ( on New Year ' s Eve , according to Robert Justman , but he , presumably having gleaned the information from an obituary , was off by nearly a month , ) only months after his eagerly anticipated retirement . ( " " , p 442 ) According to a former co - worker , Lynn had planned to relocate to his native Texas , and where , as stated by his son , he was interred . Decades later , Andre Bormanis followed in the footsteps of Lynn in pretty much the same capacity for the modern , spin - off " Star Trek " live - action productions , while Jesco von Puttkamer served as such on the earlier .