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The Pause
The Pause is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in August Derleth's 1954 anthology Time to Come and reprinted in the 1975 collection Buy Jupiter and Other Stories.
Alexander Johannison is a nuclear physicist working at the United States Atomic Energy Commission. All traces of radioactivity are disappearing and Alexander attempts to find out why.
Alexander Johannison is a nuclear physicist working at the United States Atomic Energy Commission. All traces of radioactivity are disappearing and Alexander attempts to find out why.
5 pages, Unknown Binding
Published April 1, 1954
About the author
Isaac Asimov
4,370 books28.5k followersWorks of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles,
The Foundation Trilogy
(1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.
Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.
Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).
People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.
Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.
Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...
Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.
Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).
People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.
Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.
Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 8, 2021
Collected in Buy Jupiter and Other Stories and Time to Come. Alexander Johannison, a nuclear physicist working at the United States Atomic Energy Commission, is mystified when his Geiger Counter starts failing to detect radioactivity only to later realize radioactivity doesn't exist anymore either physically, in books or in the minds of most of humanity! Then a stranger comes knocking telling him they've performed an "operation" on humanity to save them from potential nuclear holocaust.
I did not like this one as it falls under the category of preachy anti-nuclear power stories written by Asimov. The idea of aliens being able to put the world on "pause" so a chosen few can gather their thoughts and guide the rest of humanity is an interesting one, so the protagonist's anger towards what is clearly a superior species seems irrational, which perhaps hammers home the point that humanity may need a caretaker to save us from the worst of ourselves. The message may have come better from a certain cartoon character.
I did not like this one as it falls under the category of preachy anti-nuclear power stories written by Asimov. The idea of aliens being able to put the world on "pause" so a chosen few can gather their thoughts and guide the rest of humanity is an interesting one, so the protagonist's anger towards what is clearly a superior species seems irrational, which perhaps hammers home the point that humanity may need a caretaker to save us from the worst of ourselves. The message may have come better from a certain cartoon character.
April 8, 2021
“The Pause”
Uranium has vanished, not just removed, but never having actually existed. Time has been re-written!
‘Alexander Johannison is a nuclear physicist working at the United States Atomic Energy Commission. All traces of radioactivity are disappearing and Alexander attempts to find out why.’
3/5
Uranium has vanished, not just removed, but never having actually existed. Time has been re-written!
‘Alexander Johannison is a nuclear physicist working at the United States Atomic Energy Commission. All traces of radioactivity are disappearing and Alexander attempts to find out why.’
3/5
October 9, 2022
The Pause is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in August Derleth's 1954 anthology Time to Come and reprinted in the 1975 collection Buy Jupiter and Other Stories.
Alexander Johannison is a nuclear physicist working at the United States Atomic Energy Commission. All traces of radioactivity are disappearing and Alexander attempts to find out why.
Alexander Johannison is a nuclear physicist working at the United States Atomic Energy Commission. All traces of radioactivity are disappearing and Alexander attempts to find out why.
May 28, 2024
And I thought “Death in Venice” was gay… Nuclear disarmament worked out well for Ukraine, didn’t it? But the ending moves it up a couple stars.
January 7, 2026
Not much to it. Generic twilight zone type of story.
February 10, 2026
Raised to 3.75 stars.
May 12, 2026
SciFi, short story by a master,with Great Narration!!
February 19, 2026
Fun little short story. Felt like a potential book idea that was Asimov decided to not pursue. The idea that we are merely cattle to other entities would be a fun avenue to go down.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews