| Author |
Piper, H. Beam, 1904-1964 |
| Title |
The Answer
|
| Series Title |
Produced from Fantastic Universe Science Fiction, December, 1959
|
| Note |
Reading ease score: 72.4 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read.
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| Credits |
Produced by Greg Weeks, Geetu Melwani, and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
|
| Summary |
"The Answer" by H. Beam Piper is a science fiction short story originally published in the late 1950s. It delves into the repercussions of nuclear conflict and the psychological effects of past traumas on its characters. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world where two scientists reflect on the events of a nuclear war that devastated their respective nations and the importance of their current scientific experiment. In the narrative, Lee Richardson and his colleague Alexis Pitov prepare for a scientific experiment involving a negamatter missile that they hope will yield crucial insights into the fundamental structures of matter. As they confront their shared histories and the horrors of the past—specifically, a missile that had annihilated their cities—they discuss the catastrophe of the Auburn Bomb that had catalyzed their loss. Throughout the experiment, they wrestle with the weight of their collective guilt, embers of distrust from their former rivalry, and the ominous possibilities of their current research. The story culminates in an unexpected revelation about the nature of their experiment and the haunting connections to their previous traumas, emphasizing themes of regret, redemption, and the enduring consequences of human actions. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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| Language |
English |
| LoC Class |
PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature
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| Subject |
Science fiction
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| Subject |
Short stories
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| Category |
Text |
| EBook-No. |
18342 |
| Release Date |
May 8, 2006 |
| Copyright Status |
Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads |
112 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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