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The Cold Equations
Tom Godwin's story "The Cold Equations" rocked the science fiction world when it appeared. A pilot is on an emergency mission to a planet whose colony is doomed if he doesn't reach them. He has just enough fuel to get there - then he finds he has a stowaway, a young girl wanting to be with her brother on the colony. If the pilot jettisons her through the airlock, the ship will barely make it to a landing on the planet. If he does not, the ship will crash and both of them as well as the colony will die. What will he do?
The story, first published in the August 1954 issue of Astounding, has been widely anthologized and even dramatized. It is in the form of a cautionary tale, which commonly has three parts.
Despite its status as a classic science-fiction story, "The Cold Equations" has engendered some controversy.
The story, first published in the August 1954 issue of Astounding, has been widely anthologized and even dramatized. It is in the form of a cautionary tale, which commonly has three parts.
Despite its status as a classic science-fiction story, "The Cold Equations" has engendered some controversy.
Unknown Binding
First published August 1, 1954
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955 people want to read
About the author
Tom Godwin
93 books33 followersTom Godwin (1915 - 1980) was a science fiction author. Godwin published three novels and thirty short stories. His controversial hard SF short story "The Cold Equations" is a notable in the mid-1950s science fiction genre. He also had three novels published, but these stayed more firmly in John W. Campbell's preferred styles and are less notable. Graduated from Bay Village High School in Bay Village, Ohio.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 132 reviews
September 27, 2017
The afterword said it best:
“In the end, it just doesn’t matter if the plot of ‘The Cold Equations’ won’t bear up to close scrutiny.
Does . . . not . . . matter.
And, it doesn’t. I’ve now read the story many times, and the illogic of the plot always drives me nuts. Still, every time, that ending grabs me by the throat.”
Although, I would also add that the story is very one-note. You realize almost immediately where things are headed, so all that you’re doing over the course of story is trying to come to terms with those Cold Hard Equations.
If you’re ever in the mood for some sci-fi shorts, you can check out the entire anthology right here: http://hell.pl/szymon/Baen/The%20best...
“In the end, it just doesn’t matter if the plot of ‘The Cold Equations’ won’t bear up to close scrutiny.
Does . . . not . . . matter.
And, it doesn’t. I’ve now read the story many times, and the illogic of the plot always drives me nuts. Still, every time, that ending grabs me by the throat.”
Although, I would also add that the story is very one-note. You realize almost immediately where things are headed, so all that you’re doing over the course of story is trying to come to terms with those Cold Hard Equations.
If you’re ever in the mood for some sci-fi shorts, you can check out the entire anthology right here: http://hell.pl/szymon/Baen/The%20best...
August 19, 2017
It was the law, stated very bluntly and definitely in grim Paragraph L, Section 8, of Interstellar Regulations: Any stowaway discovered in an EDS shall be jettisoned immediately following discovery.
It was the law, and there could be no appeal.
This short story is absolute classic science fiction. Vintage 1950s science fiction. Shocking and astounding and completely original according to the times in which it was written. The first time I read it was in 2000 and it graced the pages of my tenth grade Honor's English literature textbook. I was 15. And this story affected me more than anything else I read that year. And even possibly the following year also. More than Faulkner. More than Bradbury. More than Twain.
A movie was also made that we saw in class, and as the years went by and I grew up and my tastes changed and matured and my memory started to become blurry, I had a hard time remembering the events of the original story vs. the events of the movie (which wasn't very good as I recall) until memory of the entire thing just fell into a black hole and nearly drowned. Back in February, I read this other classic short story of the science fiction variety that really brought back some vivid memories of that really amazing story I had read way back when. But was it a movie? Or a story? What was it called? Who was the author?
None of the answers to these questions was very clear in my old fart mind.
So thanks to the wondrous world of the interwebz, I started trolling science fiction websites and asking questions and trying to find this story that I knew existed, but knew pretty much nothing else about. And actually, my search led me to discover this:
and I was like
So I tracked down a free copy online and I read it again.
Ok Ok Ok. So maybe I'm exaggerating. I didn't really cry, not with my heart of stone and all that. But this story is HEAVY on the emotions, people. Whew.
Needless to say, this story still had the same effect. It is a brilliantly written story about a spaceship commander on a simple mission to deliver some life-saving medicine to dying colonists on a frontier planet when he finds himself in a situation that is making him rethink everything he knows to be true and right about the world he lives in. This story delves into the consequences of every single action and reaction, every choice that we make. Sometimes living with those choices is the hardest thing we have to do.
When I was finishing up my nursing school, one of last classes we had to take to graduate had an ethics component to it. As a soon-to-be-working emergency room nurse, I will most certainly have to face ethical situations every single day of my job. This class was designed to challenge us and to make us think outside the box of what we know and what we've been taught. Because if there is one subject in this world that includes every single shade of gray there could possibly be, it's ethics. Particularly ethics in healthcare. Life and death and all that. My teachers gave us different scenarios that we will most likely encounter in practice, and we had to figure out how we would proceed. Let me tell you, this was HARD. Harder than sticking needles into my patients. Harder than memorizing 500 billion drug names. Harder than performing CPR on a crashing patient. Finding answers to questions that may not actually have an answer goes against everything that I've ever been taught. And maybe that's why this story hit home so hard for me this go around. Because this story is HARD. And that's why it elicited such a strong emotional response. Not because it was sad or depressing or kicked me in the feels. But because this story was written to make readers feel uncomfortable. There is a reason that in healthcare we call these questions "ethical dilemmas." Because these situations make you feel as if neither answer is the right one, and the consequences of either one will most likely make you feel like shit. And this author embodies all of these consequences, actions, and questions in one flight across deep space. He used the background of space opera as a way to tackle harder subjects such as life and death, efficiency, progress, good of the whole vs. the individual. It is raw and it is intense. And his writing is direct and unadorned and straight to the point. The story is perfect in its length, its tone, its ending. I think that's why the movie was not as successful (reading this again made me realize that the movie embellished much of the plot) because it tried to reinforce a message that was more powerful on its own. I won't give anything else away because spoilers will ruin it, but I've included the link at the bottom for any of you who are intrigued. Whether you love it like me or hate it is neither here nor there. It is a story which will most likely get a reaction from everyone, and in my opinion, is what makes it a success.
And that ending.
Read It HERE
http://hell.pl/szymon/Baen/The%20best...
May 13, 2019
Wow! This story really packs a punch.
I probably shouldn’t write anything more than that in order to leave you unprepared. But it’s hard to hold back, considering how much I loved this.
So either you just trust me and go in blind (link to the story at the end) or, well, here’s my review:
An Emergency Dispatch Ship is on its way to the planet Woden to deliver vitally important medicine to one of the exploration groups there, when the pilot discovers a stowaway on his ship.
Interstellar Regulations demand that any stowaway on an EDS shall be jettisoned immediately. The reason for that is quite simple. The ship does not carry enough fuel to reach its destination as soon as the weight of the ship goes beyond mission parameters.
To get rid of the stowaway on the other hand turns out to be anything but simple, for the stowaway is a young girl who didn’t know what she was getting herself into. She only wanted to visit her brother, who is stationed on Woden and whom she hasn‘t seen for many years.
What follows is a heartbreaking story about a man who has to kill an innocent young girl in order to fulfill his mission and save the lives of the people on Woden. And also the story of a young girl who didn’t want to do anything wrong but now has to understand that she has to die in order not to be responsible for the deaths of several other people.
It’s a short tale that works brilliantly because of its uncompromising premise and its strong characters.
If there ever were a fictional story that would make me cry, it would probably be this one here.
Thanks, Oleksandr, for mentioning it to me. Otherwise it is quite possible I would have missed out on this fantastic experience.
For anyone interested, the story can be read here.
I probably shouldn’t write anything more than that in order to leave you unprepared. But it’s hard to hold back, considering how much I loved this.
So either you just trust me and go in blind (link to the story at the end) or, well, here’s my review:
An Emergency Dispatch Ship is on its way to the planet Woden to deliver vitally important medicine to one of the exploration groups there, when the pilot discovers a stowaway on his ship.
Interstellar Regulations demand that any stowaway on an EDS shall be jettisoned immediately. The reason for that is quite simple. The ship does not carry enough fuel to reach its destination as soon as the weight of the ship goes beyond mission parameters.
To get rid of the stowaway on the other hand turns out to be anything but simple, for the stowaway is a young girl who didn’t know what she was getting herself into. She only wanted to visit her brother, who is stationed on Woden and whom she hasn‘t seen for many years.
What follows is a heartbreaking story about a man who has to kill an innocent young girl in order to fulfill his mission and save the lives of the people on Woden. And also the story of a young girl who didn’t want to do anything wrong but now has to understand that she has to die in order not to be responsible for the deaths of several other people.
It’s a short tale that works brilliantly because of its uncompromising premise and its strong characters.
If there ever were a fictional story that would make me cry, it would probably be this one here.
Thanks, Oleksandr, for mentioning it to me. Otherwise it is quite possible I would have missed out on this fantastic experience.
For anyone interested, the story can be read here.
February 24, 2019
This story is old. Some say it has not held up well. I beg to differ. The enduring (and in my opinion undying) theme is that nature is indifferent to humans. Either you survive or you don't. No amount of pleading will make a storm change its course or a lightning strike less painful. It is what it is and you have to deal with it.
In Godwin's story, we follow a pilot on board a small vessel (called EDS) as he is en route to a planet that some humans are surveying. One of the survey teams is in trouble, the other can't get to them and they are running out of time. The problem is that the big cuisers connecting the various planets humanity has colonized can't just drop out of their scheduled routes because the system would then collapse (apparently, not all planets are self-sustaining). Thus, such smaller vessels are sent.
The next problem: the computers ration the precious fuel and usually give barely enough for an EDS to reach its destination.
The final problem and central point to this short story: there is a stowaway on board the EDS and regulations are clear on what the pilot has to do. Namely, tossing the stowaway out the airlock as the added weight would mean the EDS would crash when landing on the planet and all aboard as well as those needing the precious medication on board would die.
However, there are no "happy lands of absolutes" no matter what Herodotus once said. Not all (if any) stowaways are criminals, engaging the pilot in a fight over life and death, making it morally easy to toss them out. No matter what the rule book says. And this pilot is learning this particular lesson the hard way.
As the other protagonist of this story is learning the even harder lesson that all actions have consequences, even if you didn't mean anything by it, even if you didn't intend any harm.
And death isn't always malicious. Sometimes it's just the termination of life. Because that is nature and nature doesn't always give us enough margin to save the day as in most action stories.
I think the reason this story works so well, amongst other things, is because the author himself lived in the harsh environment of the Mojave Desert. Thus, he knows what nature can be like.
I had heard about this story before and know that some don't like it at all. Supposedly, it has very dated views on gender roles - which I couldn't find here. Age played a part, certainly, but how often - upon encountering an obituary - do we feel more for a child having died than for an old person (regardless of gender)?
What I can relate to is the people not liking . In fact, I thought . I think it stemmed from the author's need to create a character who was on their way to work somehwere on one hand and on the other hand. Nevertheless, the character was indeed the perfect representation of most humans' problem in understanding science in the first place and also that there is no fairness in life, that life isn't supposed to be fair as that is an entirely human concept and has no effect on the laws of nature. The incomprehension and unwillingness to comprehend was very well done - and one of the things that enraged me the most (as in real life). *lol*
So while the story had the one noteable weakness mentioned above and while we could argue about how much sense the whole fuel plot makes from an engineering point of view (to say nothing of the fact that passengers/civilians are apparently not informed of the rules and regulations and their raison d'être despite them affecting said passengers/civilians), the story was very well written and addressing a very important issue in a tragical and engaging way.
As for the morality: yes, sometimes some lives are more important than others. But not how you might think. In this particular story, the pilot can pilot the ship and thus save all the sick people on the planet. The stowaway couldn't. One life sacrificed to save 6. Makes sense to me. It's like people climbing Mount Everest - if you're on the rope and dragging others with you to death, you cut the line and that is that. Harsh, but not unkind.
You can read the story for free here: http://www.spacewesterns.com/articles...
In Godwin's story, we follow a pilot on board a small vessel (called EDS) as he is en route to a planet that some humans are surveying. One of the survey teams is in trouble, the other can't get to them and they are running out of time. The problem is that the big cuisers connecting the various planets humanity has colonized can't just drop out of their scheduled routes because the system would then collapse (apparently, not all planets are self-sustaining). Thus, such smaller vessels are sent.
The next problem: the computers ration the precious fuel and usually give barely enough for an EDS to reach its destination.
The final problem and central point to this short story: there is a stowaway on board the EDS and regulations are clear on what the pilot has to do. Namely, tossing the stowaway out the airlock as the added weight would mean the EDS would crash when landing on the planet and all aboard as well as those needing the precious medication on board would die.
However, there are no "happy lands of absolutes" no matter what Herodotus once said. Not all (if any) stowaways are criminals, engaging the pilot in a fight over life and death, making it morally easy to toss them out. No matter what the rule book says. And this pilot is learning this particular lesson the hard way.
As the other protagonist of this story is learning the even harder lesson that all actions have consequences, even if you didn't mean anything by it, even if you didn't intend any harm.
And death isn't always malicious. Sometimes it's just the termination of life. Because that is nature and nature doesn't always give us enough margin to save the day as in most action stories.
I think the reason this story works so well, amongst other things, is because the author himself lived in the harsh environment of the Mojave Desert. Thus, he knows what nature can be like.
I had heard about this story before and know that some don't like it at all. Supposedly, it has very dated views on gender roles - which I couldn't find here. Age played a part, certainly, but how often - upon encountering an obituary - do we feel more for a child having died than for an old person (regardless of gender)?
What I can relate to is the people not liking . In fact, I thought . I think it stemmed from the author's need to create a character who was on their way to work somehwere on one hand and on the other hand. Nevertheless, the character was indeed the perfect representation of most humans' problem in understanding science in the first place and also that there is no fairness in life, that life isn't supposed to be fair as that is an entirely human concept and has no effect on the laws of nature. The incomprehension and unwillingness to comprehend was very well done - and one of the things that enraged me the most (as in real life). *lol*
So while the story had the one noteable weakness mentioned above and while we could argue about how much sense the whole fuel plot makes from an engineering point of view (to say nothing of the fact that passengers/civilians are apparently not informed of the rules and regulations and their raison d'être despite them affecting said passengers/civilians), the story was very well written and addressing a very important issue in a tragical and engaging way.
As for the morality: yes, sometimes some lives are more important than others. But not how you might think. In this particular story, the pilot can pilot the ship and thus save all the sick people on the planet. The stowaway couldn't. One life sacrificed to save 6. Makes sense to me. It's like people climbing Mount Everest - if you're on the rope and dragging others with you to death, you cut the line and that is that. Harsh, but not unkind.
You can read the story for free here: http://www.spacewesterns.com/articles...
December 2, 2019
0/5
TLDR: Tom Godwin kills a young woman because Campbell wanted a story to tug at 1950's America's mawkish heartstrings.
A ridiculously contrived and improbable set of circumstances lead to a shuttle pilot having to choose between saving a stowaway and completing his mission.
This is a world where the punishment for stowing away is death, yet the public and passengers on interstellar spacecraft are never informed of this, and the doors to shuttle craft are left unlocked and unguarded.
This is a world where every ounce is at a premium on spacecraft, yet shuttle craft are build with enough space in their cabins for someone to hide away, including several comfortably large lockers, yet these shuttles are not searched before launch. Did I mention these craft where every ounce is at a premium also have air locks?
This is a world where these craft are provided with exactly enough fuel margin for the pilot to notice he is burning too fast, discover stowaways and dispose of them, but not enough to complete the mission with a stowaway.
This is a world where the pilot is provided with a gun, but no tool with which to dismantle all the dead weight in the cabin, which he could then throw out the airlock.
Finally, this is a world where the shuttle craft sent on an emergency mission, too small for a nuclear reactor so powered by chemical rockets is provided with artificial gravity. Yet no-one has thought of adapting the amazing and lightweight gizmotron providing the artificial gravity or even more amazing mcguffin powering it as a means of propulsion.
And did I mention the moral of this story is that you should take personal responsibility for your actions, not that gross corporate and governmental malfeasance causes avoidable deaths?
EDIT: Reread for some bizarre reason and noticed the bit about artificial gravity. It just makes the story even more outrageously bad.
TLDR: Tom Godwin kills a young woman because Campbell wanted a story to tug at 1950's America's mawkish heartstrings.
A ridiculously contrived and improbable set of circumstances lead to a shuttle pilot having to choose between saving a stowaway and completing his mission.
This is a world where the punishment for stowing away is death, yet the public and passengers on interstellar spacecraft are never informed of this, and the doors to shuttle craft are left unlocked and unguarded.
This is a world where every ounce is at a premium on spacecraft, yet shuttle craft are build with enough space in their cabins for someone to hide away, including several comfortably large lockers, yet these shuttles are not searched before launch. Did I mention these craft where every ounce is at a premium also have air locks?
This is a world where these craft are provided with exactly enough fuel margin for the pilot to notice he is burning too fast, discover stowaways and dispose of them, but not enough to complete the mission with a stowaway.
This is a world where the pilot is provided with a gun, but no tool with which to dismantle all the dead weight in the cabin, which he could then throw out the airlock.
Finally, this is a world where the shuttle craft sent on an emergency mission, too small for a nuclear reactor so powered by chemical rockets is provided with artificial gravity. Yet no-one has thought of adapting the amazing and lightweight gizmotron providing the artificial gravity or even more amazing mcguffin powering it as a means of propulsion.
And did I mention the moral of this story is that you should take personal responsibility for your actions, not that gross corporate and governmental malfeasance causes avoidable deaths?
EDIT: Reread for some bizarre reason and noticed the bit about artificial gravity. It just makes the story even more outrageously bad.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 24, 2019
A pilot finds a stowaway on his shuttle, with deadly consequences...
Tragic story. I even cried a little. But I also confess to some skimming, because the writing did not really grab me and I wasn’t all that invested in the conversation that happened.
Also the initial premise is pretty flawed. The morality of the whole set-up is questionable. It begs the question, why and if one life is more valuable than another. And what the parameters might be. And why they couldn’t simply add a decent door lock to their little ship and maybe design it better.
Anyway, this story is mostly a mind game, I guess, and not an attempt at hard sci-fi.
The brief scene about working out an equation by computer was quaint. How little they knew in 1954!
Can be read for free here: http://www.spacewesterns.com/articles...
Tragic story. I even cried a little. But I also confess to some skimming, because the writing did not really grab me and I wasn’t all that invested in the conversation that happened.
Also the initial premise is pretty flawed. The morality of the whole set-up is questionable. It begs the question, why and if one life is more valuable than another. And what the parameters might be. And why they couldn’t simply add a decent door lock to their little ship and maybe design it better.
Anyway, this story is mostly a mind game, I guess, and not an attempt at hard sci-fi.
The brief scene about working out an equation by computer was quaint. How little they knew in 1954!
Can be read for free here: http://www.spacewesterns.com/articles...
July 20, 2022
Well, that was depressing. Hard choices, especially ones given in situations that are the result of unintended consequences, sometimes have no good end results just less bad ones. :( Absolutely read this one blind, don't even read the blurb on GR.
April 27, 2017
3 Stars for many reasons.
I thought this book was not all that great. It is probably because I was thinking it would have more action to the story. I don't really get into all the science fiction books because it is not my time but it is kind reminds me of when the U.S. first went into space. Just because of the setting and all the things that happen. I think that this book could be better with a lot more action because I think not would be more interesting and exciting.
I thought this book was not all that great. It is probably because I was thinking it would have more action to the story. I don't really get into all the science fiction books because it is not my time but it is kind reminds me of when the U.S. first went into space. Just because of the setting and all the things that happen. I think that this book could be better with a lot more action because I think not would be more interesting and exciting.
August 9, 2018
The characterisation is simplistic but this story (first published in Astounding Science Fiction in 1954) still affects the reader as a version of a hoary old problem in moral philosophy about making choices when the death of one will save many others although the one has committed no fault.
Well, not exactly. The one is a pretty teenage girl, ordinary but bright, who stowed away on a space ship where the precise calculations required to land a rescue mission safely means that any stowaway must be jettisoned to their death within a very short time frame.
That is a fault, of course -stowing away. The pilot who has to jettison her is certainly not at fault and her fault is only that of naivete, sentiment or ignorance, little more than that. Those are qualities that most teenagers have to have as they move towards adulthood.
We might place some fault in the fleet system that makes such tight calculations on rocket fuel although there may be very significant cost reasons involved and there may be considerable fault in the failure of the fleet to mount sufficient security and checks before the ship departed.
So, there may be cost-cutting or negligence involved (standard aspects of big bureaucratic systems) but the blame game changes nothing. There she is. The ship cannot turn back and the pilot will destroy both of them and the scientific group he is helping if he fails to jettison her.
And there we have it ... an extreme but oddly credible acount of moral choice that is no choice at all at the frontier of space. It is a story that undoubtedly reflects the much messier moral choices made all the time in a world war only a decade earlier which haunted the post-war generation.
The inherent message seems to be that highly risky grand enterprises are no places for the naive, ignorant or sentimental and that the innocent are likely to be their victims simply because (and this is the central message) iron laws, scientific laws, dictate the terms of survival at any frontier.
June 17, 2020
"To him and her brother and parents she was a sweet-faced girl in her teens; to the laws of nature she was x, the unwanted factor in a cold equation."
Touching and heart wrenching story about the cold and unforgiving rules of survival in deep space. Likely revelatory to many readers at the time it was published, but hardly a new concept for the modern reader.
Touching and heart wrenching story about the cold and unforgiving rules of survival in deep space. Likely revelatory to many readers at the time it was published, but hardly a new concept for the modern reader.
August 23, 2014
The Cold Equations is a chilling story that stayed with me overnight. I woke up with a realization. It is jarring because it goes against the back brain. In reality over the eons and mythically as well, men must protect women and children. What is it in the Titanic story that has most of us teary eyed? That the men willingly stayed on to die after putting their women and children on the life boats. Deep within, we know that is right.
In this book, the correct ending--other than having more fuel on board--would have been for the pilot to strap the woman of childbearing age into the seat, made sure the autopilot could land the vehicle, and stepped out into space himself.
In many ways, that is just as cold an equation, but it is the one that is simpatico with the back brain. One of the major reasons humans have survived as a species is that the men protect the women and children. In ancient civilizations, inculcating that was clearly a goal of rites of passage into adulthood for the young men.
In this book, the correct ending--other than having more fuel on board--would have been for the pilot to strap the woman of childbearing age into the seat, made sure the autopilot could land the vehicle, and stepped out into space himself.
In many ways, that is just as cold an equation, but it is the one that is simpatico with the back brain. One of the major reasons humans have survived as a species is that the men protect the women and children. In ancient civilizations, inculcating that was clearly a goal of rites of passage into adulthood for the young men.
August 10, 2020
The story itself is fine. The writing is fine. But the overall message comes across as a forced parable culminating in the folly of women and youth and the position of men to make tough decisions and educate.
I ended up frustrated at this feeling and how the heck anyone would make a ship like they did and the sheer amount of errors and naivety which were created and allowed to make this story happen as it did.
Not really an enjoyable read.
Update 10/08/2020
I just remembered how much I hate this book.
I ended up frustrated at this feeling and how the heck anyone would make a ship like they did and the sheer amount of errors and naivety which were created and allowed to make this story happen as it did.
Not really an enjoyable read.
Update 10/08/2020
I just remembered how much I hate this book.
October 22, 2020
“Hard SF” remains one of science fiction's most persistent myths. The term always comes with inevitable claims of “grounded in science,” and “realism” etc. etc., when of course--if one actually reads the books as opposed to what a certain type of critic in the genre still loves to write about them--most "classics" of mid- to late-20th century “hard SF” turn out to be no more grounded in physics et al. than the zap guns and Lenses of the generations before them. Campbell might have talked a good game, but his influence in the science fiction community would also provide plenty of cover for dimwitted fantasies that were as poor in exemplifying science and technology as they were weak ideas in general.
“The Cold Equations” is an incompetent person’s understanding of what an engineer is, and Godwin offers it for the sole purpose of killing off an attractive, young woman. That is, after all, the story that Campbell asked for, and Godwin no doubt enjoyed cashing the check—who wouldn’t?—but this became a "classic" because far too many of his readers identified with the premise in a way they surely would not have had the stowaway turned out to be an overly enthusiastic male graduate student of astrophysics. Which is to say, it’s not terribly hard to work out what’s going on here, and it has nothing to do with science or engineering. The cigar really is just a cigar.
Some reviewers nonetheless find the story compelling, and that sort of thing is, after all, in the eye of the beholder, so --- fair enough. But if this is such an excellent example of “how the world really works,” then the response of Mission Control to the accident on Apollo 13 would have been a brief sign off of, “Well, it was good to know you, Jim,” followed by Gene Kranz and the rest of his team turning off the lights and heading to the nearest bar for a round of memorial beers. But, of course, they did nothing of the kind, and had this story been what it claims to be, the protagonist’s response to a stowaway would have been to define the problem space, and then work the problem.
What we get instead is tear-jerking melodrama for insensitive assholes who couldn’t quite make it to that undergraduate degree in physics but still aspire to be sociopaths. Melodrama does have its place, but it doesn’t deserve the term "classic." The fact that the other stories in this collection fail to deliver is a tip off that “The Cold Equations” always deserved far less attention than it got.
“The Cold Equations” is an incompetent person’s understanding of what an engineer is, and Godwin offers it for the sole purpose of killing off an attractive, young woman. That is, after all, the story that Campbell asked for, and Godwin no doubt enjoyed cashing the check—who wouldn’t?—but this became a "classic" because far too many of his readers identified with the premise in a way they surely would not have had the stowaway turned out to be an overly enthusiastic male graduate student of astrophysics. Which is to say, it’s not terribly hard to work out what’s going on here, and it has nothing to do with science or engineering. The cigar really is just a cigar.
Some reviewers nonetheless find the story compelling, and that sort of thing is, after all, in the eye of the beholder, so --- fair enough. But if this is such an excellent example of “how the world really works,” then the response of Mission Control to the accident on Apollo 13 would have been a brief sign off of, “Well, it was good to know you, Jim,” followed by Gene Kranz and the rest of his team turning off the lights and heading to the nearest bar for a round of memorial beers. But, of course, they did nothing of the kind, and had this story been what it claims to be, the protagonist’s response to a stowaway would have been to define the problem space, and then work the problem.
What we get instead is tear-jerking melodrama for insensitive assholes who couldn’t quite make it to that undergraduate degree in physics but still aspire to be sociopaths. Melodrama does have its place, but it doesn’t deserve the term "classic." The fact that the other stories in this collection fail to deliver is a tip off that “The Cold Equations” always deserved far less attention than it got.
November 16, 2015
This story is an expression of the exact attitude that has a stranglehold on our culture's view towards the poor and homeless, that is wrapped around our responses to mass shootings, that deeply informed the reaction to climate change for decades, and that's behind so much Trolley Problem-style bullshit, to wit: "Oh, that's so terribly tragic; it's too bad that's just the way the world works, and nothing could have been done. No one to hold to account for this, no sirree; just the coldness of physics."
The tragedy in this story isn't that this guy has to shoot this girl, or that this girl has to die in space; it's that the government of Earth can get away with having the only safety precaution followed in an area with not just potential for personal danger, but huge societal consequences and harm to millions, be a little sign that says "KEEP OUT". The tragedy is that the narrative thinks this is natural and reasonable and The Only Way, and that so many people agree.
The tragedy in this story isn't that this guy has to shoot this girl, or that this girl has to die in space; it's that the government of Earth can get away with having the only safety precaution followed in an area with not just potential for personal danger, but huge societal consequences and harm to millions, be a little sign that says "KEEP OUT". The tragedy is that the narrative thinks this is natural and reasonable and The Only Way, and that so many people agree.
June 28, 2022
Garrett Hardin’s Lifeboat ethics writ large. You have limited resources and either pursue the greater good or everyone dies. Unfortunately the spaceship captain is of an old school sense of honour in which women and children come first. He is ready to toss men out of the airlock willy nilly but when the stowaway is a teenage girl he catches feelings. The Cold Equations meanwhile care nothing for your feelings…
Note: Written in the 1950s it is interesting to see the word Vegan used in relation to the girl’s plastic sandals. Must be one of the earlier mentions of the ethic in popular literature. Alternatively and given the capitalisation it could refer to the star Vega and would still be quite the coincidence given its description regarding the non-leather sandals.
Note: Written in the 1950s it is interesting to see the word Vegan used in relation to the girl’s plastic sandals. Must be one of the earlier mentions of the ethic in popular literature. Alternatively and given the capitalisation it could refer to the star Vega and would still be quite the coincidence given its description regarding the non-leather sandals.
June 15, 2019
Wow, that was ... amazing! And it broke my heart!!
I don't want to tell you much about the story so you'll go in unprepared ... just know ... it hurts! The writing style fits the story very well and you can practically taste what the pilot and girl are feeling. You can see everything unfolding, even if you don't really want to.
It's the story of humans and the laws of nature, how they don't care who you are or what you want. They just are what they are and no one can change that.
I don't want to tell you much about the story so you'll go in unprepared ... just know ... it hurts! The writing style fits the story very well and you can practically taste what the pilot and girl are feeling. You can see everything unfolding, even if you don't really want to.
It's the story of humans and the laws of nature, how they don't care who you are or what you want. They just are what they are and no one can change that.
h amount of fuel will not power an EDS with a mass of m plus x safely to its destination. To him and her brother and parents, she was a sweet-faced girl in her teens; to the laws of nature, she was x, the unwanted factor in a cold equation.
November 19, 2015
This is a collection of really very good early sci-fi. You should read it if you like the old adventure stories, the characters are usually not above the average, and the opposition is usually nature. All of the stories are gritty, even grim. One word of caution, the title story, which is also the last one in the volume, is a situational horror story. And if it does not break your heart, you have no heart to begin with.
April 5, 2016
An initially captivating short story but it soon becomes full of holes and a complete lack of logic. It's impossible to be sympathetic to the protagonist or his cruel world which did not troubleshoot for such an obvious problem?? "Sorry that's the way it is, I must kill you." There is no compassion nor one thought of altruism that might give this story some heart. Truthfully "cold."
October 3, 2014
Illogical. It was captivating, yet there were too many problems logically for me to believe that this would ever happen.
January 15, 2021
I first read this story when I was fourteen years old. It impacted me horribly then, and decades later, it has the same power.
This is just a little short story, first written in the late fifties.
Like so many great stories, it is simple. And powerful.
A young woman stows away aboard a ship heading across the galaxy so she can see her brother. Her presence throws off all the infinitesimal calculations needed to arrive safely. Only one fate awaits stowaways - they must be jettisoned.
This story haunted me for all those years in between the first and second reading. It will stay with me forever now.
This is just a little short story, first written in the late fifties.
Like so many great stories, it is simple. And powerful.
A young woman stows away aboard a ship heading across the galaxy so she can see her brother. Her presence throws off all the infinitesimal calculations needed to arrive safely. Only one fate awaits stowaways - they must be jettisoned.
This story haunted me for all those years in between the first and second reading. It will stay with me forever now.
May 11, 2021
Fun, satisfying, and delightfully dark sci-fi stories (including the classic used for the title -- interesting to find out that Godwin was inspired by an even darker comic). Good times.
July 17, 2023
I only read the title story:
The Cold Equations
The Cold Equations
January 9, 2014
Triumph over adversity. Courageous, clever, cooperating with "pets". Touches of horror are worth the danger to walk beside such strength. Hero solves intellectual conundrums, leading to straightforward tense action. Fire blocks unbeatable foes. "He lighted the grass at his feet .. had to run to get ahead of it and then run still faster to keep ahead of it" p 294.
First Julie, mother, thinks "Tears and fears are futile weapons; they can never bring us any tomorrows. We'll have to fight whatever comes to kill us no matter how scared we are, For ourselves and for our children. " p 12. Enemies overlook "the law that no species alone is entitled to survival" p 336. Her father, first Prentiss 50s "could have shunned responsibility and his personal welfare would have benefited. . repugnant .. What he knew of survival on hostile worlds might help the others to survive. So he had assumed command, tolerating no objections and disregarding the fact that he would be shortening his already short time to live on Ragnarok. . some old instinct that forbade the individual to stand aside and let the group die" p 21.
"The past is dead for us .. past dishonors, disgraces, and such" p 29. Bemmer, selfish sneaky bully, hoards food while children starve, capital crime, becomes insult in language. Sequel Barbarians is promising, may be hard to find.
Cover is pretty but misleading. Women's courage is to face death giving birth, except Ragnorak girl Julie 16, who knifes monster prowler - much bigger than cover sabretooth. Rodent "mocker" communicators only rode shoulders of fighters, men. World is vivid, great for TV, film, could be filled more by others. Too bad Godwin dead.
1 The Cold Equations - Emergency shuttleship pilot has only enough fuel for mission, not young stowaway. Scary sad.
2 The Survivors aka Space Prison - Captain Prentiss, Lt Lake, student doctor Chiara, and wanted rebel Schroeder lead survivors dumped to die on uninhabitable planet Ragnarok. Heroic. ingenious. Want sequel The Barbarians.
3 The Harvest - Aliens eat souls fleeing earth. Ouch.
4 Brain Teaser - Carl Engle has to ask right questions of computer and save ship in warp after secretive operator killed. Title says all, cerebral.
5 Mother of Invention - Trio stranded on planet of diamonds need to get home before world destructs. Like 4 Brain Teaser.
6 And Devious the Line of Duty - Lt Hunter falls for Princess Lyla, promised to abusive Narf as part of senior not-so-drunk Rockford's plan to ally her planet with Earth. Silly romance but galactic war at stake.
7 Empathy - Captain Rider can save Frontier Corps or faithful lisping doggy empathic alien assistant from vicious BERM Cmdr Beeling when latter provokes overwhelming native attack. Clever action. Rah for pets.
8 No Species Alone - Snake alien invader's mind power fails against rescued stray cat Susie and six kittens. More cheers for pets and owners. Hypnotic gaze mush, but exciting.
9 The Gulf Between - Knight loses troops to Cmdr Cullin in war, who wants men to be machines. Decades later, spymaster Cullin fools robot to take over Knight's shuttle with ultimate weapon. Bits from helpless dying accelerating man are mystery till end. Complicated, hard to pay attention.
First Julie, mother, thinks "Tears and fears are futile weapons; they can never bring us any tomorrows. We'll have to fight whatever comes to kill us no matter how scared we are, For ourselves and for our children. " p 12. Enemies overlook "the law that no species alone is entitled to survival" p 336. Her father, first Prentiss 50s "could have shunned responsibility and his personal welfare would have benefited. . repugnant .. What he knew of survival on hostile worlds might help the others to survive. So he had assumed command, tolerating no objections and disregarding the fact that he would be shortening his already short time to live on Ragnarok. . some old instinct that forbade the individual to stand aside and let the group die" p 21.
"The past is dead for us .. past dishonors, disgraces, and such" p 29. Bemmer, selfish sneaky bully, hoards food while children starve, capital crime, becomes insult in language. Sequel Barbarians is promising, may be hard to find.
Cover is pretty but misleading. Women's courage is to face death giving birth, except Ragnorak girl Julie 16, who knifes monster prowler - much bigger than cover sabretooth. Rodent "mocker" communicators only rode shoulders of fighters, men. World is vivid, great for TV, film, could be filled more by others. Too bad Godwin dead.
1 The Cold Equations - Emergency shuttleship pilot has only enough fuel for mission, not young stowaway. Scary sad.
2 The Survivors aka Space Prison - Captain Prentiss, Lt Lake, student doctor Chiara, and wanted rebel Schroeder lead survivors dumped to die on uninhabitable planet Ragnarok. Heroic. ingenious. Want sequel The Barbarians.
3 The Harvest - Aliens eat souls fleeing earth. Ouch.
4 Brain Teaser - Carl Engle has to ask right questions of computer and save ship in warp after secretive operator killed. Title says all, cerebral.
5 Mother of Invention - Trio stranded on planet of diamonds need to get home before world destructs. Like 4 Brain Teaser.
6 And Devious the Line of Duty - Lt Hunter falls for Princess Lyla, promised to abusive Narf as part of senior not-so-drunk Rockford's plan to ally her planet with Earth. Silly romance but galactic war at stake.
7 Empathy - Captain Rider can save Frontier Corps or faithful lisping doggy empathic alien assistant from vicious BERM Cmdr Beeling when latter provokes overwhelming native attack. Clever action. Rah for pets.
8 No Species Alone - Snake alien invader's mind power fails against rescued stray cat Susie and six kittens. More cheers for pets and owners. Hypnotic gaze mush, but exciting.
9 The Gulf Between - Knight loses troops to Cmdr Cullin in war, who wants men to be machines. Decades later, spymaster Cullin fools robot to take over Knight's shuttle with ultimate weapon. Bits from helpless dying accelerating man are mystery till end. Complicated, hard to pay attention.
September 15, 2017
Just listened to a drama rendition of Tom Godwin's "The Cold Equations".
I've been somehow on edge for the past 2 months since I first heard about this short story, afraid of reading it since I saw it reviewed with words like antifeminist, protofeminist, squishy fantasy for the self deluded (emphasis on the "squishy") misogynistic, cryptofascist and pederasty (something to do with anal rape of a child...?) and I even saw something about cannibalism somewhere...! Goodness, all that for one short story...!
I grew the balls needed today and decided to listen to this audio version of the story, planning on stopping it at any hint of any uncomfortable stuff (I've had the pdf of it for weeks now, afraid to touch it).
So I listened, on edge all through.
When I was done, I scrolled through the pdf to be sure it was the same story.
And laughed like crazy.
It is said the fear of death is worse than death itself 😂
The only difference in this audio and the pdf is the female is a little girl looking for her brother, in the audio she's a grown woman looking for her husband.
Much Thanx to the goodreaders who pointed out the massive massive (MASSIVE!) plot holes in this story, Andrew and Drew Perron. I look forward to reading sci-fi from you guys.
Unauthorised personnel, keep out. You won't be killed, you'll only pay a fine, or what...
I've been somehow on edge for the past 2 months since I first heard about this short story, afraid of reading it since I saw it reviewed with words like antifeminist, protofeminist, squishy fantasy for the self deluded (emphasis on the "squishy") misogynistic, cryptofascist and pederasty (something to do with anal rape of a child...?) and I even saw something about cannibalism somewhere...! Goodness, all that for one short story...!
I grew the balls needed today and decided to listen to this audio version of the story, planning on stopping it at any hint of any uncomfortable stuff (I've had the pdf of it for weeks now, afraid to touch it).
So I listened, on edge all through.
When I was done, I scrolled through the pdf to be sure it was the same story.
And laughed like crazy.
It is said the fear of death is worse than death itself 😂
The only difference in this audio and the pdf is the female is a little girl looking for her brother, in the audio she's a grown woman looking for her husband.
Much Thanx to the goodreaders who pointed out the massive massive (MASSIVE!) plot holes in this story, Andrew and Drew Perron. I look forward to reading sci-fi from you guys.
Unauthorised personnel, keep out. You won't be killed, you'll only pay a fine, or what...
October 28, 2019
The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin
“He was an EDS pilot, inured to the sight of death, long since accustomed to it and to viewing the dying of another man with an objective lack of emotion... the laws of the space frontier must, of necessity, be as hard and relentless as the environment that gave them birth.”
A cautionary tale with the basic theme that an individual must be sacrificed so that others can survive.
Read for personal research.
Overall, a good book for the researcher and enthusiast.
I found this book's contents helpful and inspiring - number rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.
Two similar tales involving stowaways who must be jettisoned may be of interest:
"Precedent" by E.C. Tubb - 1949.
"A Weighty Decision" 1952 issue of the comic book 'Weird Science' (written by Al Feldstein - drawn by artist Wally Wood).
“He was an EDS pilot, inured to the sight of death, long since accustomed to it and to viewing the dying of another man with an objective lack of emotion... the laws of the space frontier must, of necessity, be as hard and relentless as the environment that gave them birth.”
A cautionary tale with the basic theme that an individual must be sacrificed so that others can survive.
Read for personal research.
Overall, a good book for the researcher and enthusiast.
I found this book's contents helpful and inspiring - number rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.
Two similar tales involving stowaways who must be jettisoned may be of interest:
"Precedent" by E.C. Tubb - 1949.
"A Weighty Decision" 1952 issue of the comic book 'Weird Science' (written by Al Feldstein - drawn by artist Wally Wood).
July 17, 2016
Much has been said and written on the subject of the story's logical errors, and all those objections are essentially correct. The complete lack of hope, initiative and the total surrender to unassailable forces is appalling and the conclusions the reader is presented with are offensive. Yet, that is partly responsible for the instinctive reaction to this classic sci-fi short story. Whether you agree with it or not, the way it is presented makes the experience of following the characters to their final resignation into their fate so visceral.
The fact that this famous short story continues to have this effect on its readers to this day justifies its place as one of the most influential sci-fi texts of the twentieth century.
The fact that this famous short story continues to have this effect on its readers to this day justifies its place as one of the most influential sci-fi texts of the twentieth century.
February 28, 2019
I can't believe great science fiction writers and editors felt this was the best science fiction story of all time. It's very much about confronting the fact that nice pretty girls count as humans, and if you signed up to kill humans under some circumstances, then they count as human! SIGH.
Having said that, the author doesn't caricature the girl. She does count as human.
On a more meta-level, I suppose you could read the story as representing a certain view of morality. A really simplistic flow-chart view, which it doesn't question. But the reader can.
Having said that, the author doesn't caricature the girl. She does count as human.
On a more meta-level, I suppose you could read the story as representing a certain view of morality. A really simplistic flow-chart view, which it doesn't question. But the reader can.
October 26, 2013
The Cold Equations was an interesting piece which reminded me of the innocent casualties involved in a war. We often don't stop to consider those who lose their lives, unless they can be directly reflected to people in our own lives, like if we have loved ones in the military. But here, the casualty is a teenage girl. This story deals with the ethics of the military and challenges the cold-heartedness by presenting an unlikely stowaway aboard a vessel.
March 5, 2017
A seemingly small rebellious act by a naive youth results in a painful, unavoidable, and horrible consequence that boils down to balancing an equation as immutable as the laws of physics.
Read it.
You can find it free here.... http://web.archive.org/web/2012012017...
....or here... http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fic...
Read it.
You can find it free here.... http://web.archive.org/web/2012012017...
....or here... http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fic...
February 22, 2010
Thrilling. I honestly didn't want to stop reading this short story. From the very first sentence it draws you in. As I read on in the story, the plot was revealed and I was utterly horrified. But in a good way...sort of. Overall, an excellent story, well written. Negatively, it had a depressing ending, but then again happy endings tend to get boring.
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