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Earth Is Room Enough
''Earth Is Room Enough'' is a collection of fifteen short science fiction and fantasy stories and two pieces of comic verse by American writer Isaac Asimov, published in 1957. In his autobiography ''In Joy Still Felt'', Asimov wrote, "I was still thinking of the remarks of reviewers such as George O. Smith... concerning my penchant for wandering over the Galaxy. I therefore picked stories that took place on Earth and called the book ''Earth Is Room Enough''." The collection includes one story from the ''Robot'' series and four stories that feature or mention the fictional computer Multivac. Contents *"The Dead Past" (1956), novelette, a ''Multivac'' story *" The Foundation of S.F. Success" (1954), poem *"Franchise" (1955), a ''Multivac'' story *" Gimmicks Three" (1956) *" Kid Stuff" (1953) *" The Watery Place" (1956) *"Living Space" (1956) *" The Message" (1955) *" Satisfaction Guaranteed" (1951), a ''Susan Calvin'' robot story *" Hell-Fire" (1956) *" The Last Trump" (1955 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isaac Asimov
yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (1922–1928)American (1928–1992) , occupation = Writer, professor of biochemistry , years_active = 1939–1992 , genre = Science fiction (hard SF, social SF), mystery, popular science , subject = Popular science, science textbooks, essays, history, literary criticism , education = Columbia University ( BA, MA, PhD) , movement = Golden Age of Science Fiction , module = , signature = Isaac Asimov signature.svg Isaac Asimov ( ; 1920 – April 6, 1992) was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke. A prolific writer, he wrote or edited more than 500 books ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gimmicks Three
"Gimmicks Three" is a fantasy short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the November 1956 issue of ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'' under the title "The Brazen Locked Room", and reprinted under Asimov's original title in the 1957 collection ''Earth is Room Enough''. The title refers to what Asimov called "the three well-worn gimmicks of pact with the devil, locked room mystery, and time travel".Isaac Asimov,''In Joy Still Felt'', 4:28. Plot summary Isidore Wellby has just left the army and, abandoned by his girlfriend, feels lost and let down. In desperation, he signs away his soul in blood to a demon named Shapur. On the proviso that eventually he will be forced to enter hell, either as an ordinary damned soul or as a member of the cadre, he is allotted a number of demonic powers, the nature of which are not initially explained to him. Ten years later, he has become a successful businessman and has married his erstwhile girlfriend. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Author's Ordeal
"The Author's Ordeal" are lyrics to a song by American author Isaac Asimov. They were first published in ''Science Fiction Quarterly'', May 1957, pp. 34–36. They are included in three collections of Asimov's short stories: ''Earth Is Room Enough'', ''The Far Ends of Time and Earth'' (omnibus edition) and ''The Complete Stories, Volume 1''.In ''Earth Is Room Enough'', Panther Books Ltd. reprint 1973 edition, the title of the story is "The Author's Ordeal" in the Contents list but "An Author's Ordeal" on the destination page. The lyrics pastiche the Gilbert and Sullivan patter song known as "the (Lord Chancellor's) Nightmare Song" from ''Iolanthe''. The song depicts the agonies he goes through in thinking up a new science fiction story. It notes that the process of devising a space opera is incompatible with living in the real world with all its "dull facts of life that hound you". See also *"The Foundation of S.F. Success "The Foundation of S.F. Success" is a 1954 pastiche b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Someday (short Story)
"Someday" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the August 1956 issue of ''Infinity Science Fiction'' and reprinted in the collections ''Earth Is Room Enough'' (1957), ''The Complete Robot'' (1982), ''Robot Visions'' (1990), and '' The Complete Stories, Volume 1'' (1990). Plot summary The story is set in a future where computers play a central role in organizing society. Humans are employed as computer operators, but they leave most of the thinking to machines. Indeed, whilst binary programming is taught at school, reading and writing have become obsolete. The story concerns a pair of boys who dismantle and upgrade an old ''Bard'', a child's computer whose sole function is to generate random fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Immortal Bard
"The Immortal Bard" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the May 1954 issue of '' Universe Science Fiction'', and has since been republished in several collections and anthologies, including ''Earth Is Room Enough'' (1957) and '' The Best Science Fiction of Isaac Asimov'' (1986). (In ''Earth Is Room Enough'' (Panther Books Ltd. reprint 1973 edition) the title of the story is "An Immortal Bard" in the Contents list but "The Immortal Bard" on the destination page. There is a similar, but reversed variation in title with The Author's Ordeal.) Like many of his stories, it is told as a conversation, in this case between two professors at a college faculty's annual Christmas party. It is likely that Asimov wrote this short story after seeing how literary academia viewed his own writing. His autobiography, ''In Memory Yet Green'', describes how science fiction gradually became more "respectable", while at the same time, professo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jokester
"Jokester" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in the December 1956 issue of ''Infinity Science Fiction'', and was reprinted in the collections ''Earth Is Room Enough'' (1957) and ''Robot Dreams'' (1986). It is one of a loosely connected series of stories concerning a fictional computer called Multivac. Plot summary Noel Meyerhof is a "Grand Master", one of a small cadre of Earth's recognised geniuses, who has the insight to know what questions to ask Multivac. But a computer scientist is concerned that Meyerhof is acting erratically. As a known joke-teller, he has been discovered feeding jokes and riddles into Multivac. By computer analysis, the characters in the story investigate the origin of humour, particularly why there seems to be no such thing as an original joke, except for puns. Every normal joke is something that was originally heard from someone else. The computer eventually tells them that humour is actually a psych ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Fun They Had
"The Fun They Had" is a science fiction story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in a children's newspaper in 1951 and was reprinted in the February 1954 issue of ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', ''Earth Is Room Enough'' (1957), ''50 Short Science Fiction Tales'' (1960), and ''The Best of Isaac Asimov'' (1973). Written as a personal favor for a friend, "The Fun They Had" became "probably the biggest surprise of my literary career", Asimov wrote in 1973. He reported that it had been reprinted more than 30 times with more being planned. It is about computerized homeschooling, and what children miss out on by not being in school together. He surmised that the story was popular with children because "the kids would get a bang out of the irony." Summary Set in the year 2155, when children learn individually at home using a mechanical teacher (robotic teacher), the story tells of 11-year-old Margie Jones, whose neighbor Tommy finds a real book in the at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Last Trump
"The Last Trump" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the June 1955 issue of ''Fantastic Universe'' and reprinted in the 1957 collection ''Earth Is Room Enough''. Although humorous, it deals ''inter alia'' with a serious subject, calendar reform. Plot summary By order of the Council of Ascendants and approved of by God, the Chief, it is decided that the Last Judgment, Day of Resurrection is due on Earth, despite the protestations of Etheriel, a junior Seraph with responsibility for the world. Whilst he seeks an audience with the Chief to plead for a stay of execution for "his" planet, the Last Trump is sounded, and as of January 1, 1957, time comes to a stop on Earth. A mysterious figure known only as R. E. Mann (a pun on Ahriman, the Persian name for Satan)—later revealed as the devil—makes his way across the world, seeing what has happened in the Hereafter and pleased with it. All the dead are coming back to life, nake ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hell-Fire
"Hell-Fire" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov, originally published in the May 1956 issue of ''Fantastic Universe'' and reprinted in the 1957 collection ''Earth Is Room Enough''. It is one of a number of stories, such as "Darwinian Pool Room" and "Silly Asses", in which Asimov worries about the nuclear arms race of the 1950s. Plot summary "Hell-Fire" is an extremely short story, and deals with a journalist, Alvin Horner, who speaks with Joseph Vincenzo, a scientist at Los Alamos, at the first exhibition of a film with super-slow-motion footage of a nuclear explosion, with the footage "divided into billionth-second snaps." Vincenzo is sure that nuclear bombs are hell-fire, and tells the journalist they shall ultimately destroy mankind. After the scientist's observations, the film starts. For a brief moment, before initiating the full reaction into the infamous nuclear toadstool, the atomic blast resembles a specific shape: the face of the Devil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Susan Calvin
Dr. Susan Calvin is a fictional character appearing in Isaac Asimov's ''Robot'' series of science fiction short stories. According to I, Robot, Susan Calvin was born in the year 1982 and died at the age of 82, either in 2064 or 2065. She was the chief robopsychologist at US Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc., posited as the major manufacturer of robots in the 21st century. She was the main character in many of Asimov's short stories concerning robots, which were later collected in the books ''I, Robot'' and ''The Complete Robot''. Fictional character biography According to Asimov's fictional history of robotics, Susan Calvin was born in 1982, the same year that US Robots and Mechanical Men was incorporated. At 16, she wrote the first of many papers on robotics, a Physics-1 paper entitled "Practical Aspects of Robotics". This was after attending a Psycho-Math seminar at which Dr Alfred Lanning of US Robots demonstrated the first mobile robot to be equipped with a voice. As quoted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satisfaction Guaranteed (short Story)
"Satisfaction Guaranteed" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov, originally published in the April 1951 issue of ''Amazing Stories'', and included in the collections ''Earth Is Room Enough'' (1957), ''The Rest of the Robots'' (1964), and ''The Complete Robot'' (1982). Plot summary Robot TN-3 (also known as Tony) is designed as a humanoid household robot, an attempt by US Robots to get robots accepted in the home. He is placed with Claire Belmont, whose husband works for the company, as an experiment, but she is reluctant to accept him. Tony realizes that Claire has very low self-esteem, and tries to help her by redecorating her house and giving her a make-over. Finally, he pretends to be her lover, and deliberately lets the neighbors see him kissing Claire, thus increasing her self-esteem. In the end, though, Claire falls in love with Tony, and becomes conflicted and ultimately depressed when he is taken back to the lab. The TN-3 robot models are schedul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Message (short Story)
"The Message" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the February 1956 issue of ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'' and reprinted in the 1957 collection ''Earth Is Room Enough''. "The Message" provides a fanciful origin of the expression " Kilroy was here". A very short story, it contains only 579 words. Plot summary George Kilroy, a 30th-century historian, briefly travels in time to the twentieth century to research the life of the Second World War foot soldier. He arrives in North Africa as soldiers are landing on the beaches of Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ..., and before leaving, he makes his mark on the wall of a hut. External links * Short stories by Isaac Asimov 1956 short storie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
