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You can do a great deal if you have enough data, and enough time to compute on it, by logical methods. But given the situation that neither data nor time is adequate, and an answer must be produced ... what do you do? A story from the classic science fiction magazine ASTOUNDING, edited by the legendary John W. Campbell, Jr.!
24 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 1955
6 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
James Blish
217 books327 followersJames Benjamin Blish was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. Blish also wrote literary criticism of science fiction using the pen-name William Atheling Jr.
In the late 1930's to the early 1940's, Blish was a member of the Futurians.
Blish trained as a biologist at Rutgers and Columbia University, and spent 1942–1944 as a medical technician in the U.S. Army. After the war he became the science editor for the Pfizer pharmaceutical company. His first published story appeared in 1940, and his writing career progressed until he gave up his job to become a professional writer.
He is credited with coining the term gas giant, in the story "Solar Plexus" as it appeared in the anthology Beyond Human Ken, edited by Judith Merril. (The story was originally published in 1941, but that version did not contain the term; Blish apparently added it in a rewrite done for the anthology, which was first published in 1952.)
Blish was married to the literary agent Virginia Kidd from 1947 to 1963.
From 1962 to 1968, he worked for the Tobacco Institute.
Between 1967 and his death from lung cancer in 1975, Blish became the first author to write short story collections based upon the classic TV series Star Trek. In total, Blish wrote 11 volumes of short stories adapted from episodes of the 1960s TV series, as well as an original novel, Spock Must Die! in 1970 — the first original novel for adult readers based upon the series (since then hundreds more have been published). He died midway through writing Star Trek 12; his wife, J.A. Lawrence, completed the book, and later completed the adaptations in the volume Mudd's Angels.
Blish lived in Milford, Pennsylvania at Arrowhead until the mid-1960s. In 1968, Blish emigrated to England, and lived in Oxford until his death in 1975. He is buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford, near the grave of Kenneth Grahame.
His name in Greek is Τζέημς Μπλις"
In the late 1930's to the early 1940's, Blish was a member of the Futurians.
Blish trained as a biologist at Rutgers and Columbia University, and spent 1942–1944 as a medical technician in the U.S. Army. After the war he became the science editor for the Pfizer pharmaceutical company. His first published story appeared in 1940, and his writing career progressed until he gave up his job to become a professional writer.
He is credited with coining the term gas giant, in the story "Solar Plexus" as it appeared in the anthology Beyond Human Ken, edited by Judith Merril. (The story was originally published in 1941, but that version did not contain the term; Blish apparently added it in a rewrite done for the anthology, which was first published in 1952.)
Blish was married to the literary agent Virginia Kidd from 1947 to 1963.
From 1962 to 1968, he worked for the Tobacco Institute.
Between 1967 and his death from lung cancer in 1975, Blish became the first author to write short story collections based upon the classic TV series Star Trek. In total, Blish wrote 11 volumes of short stories adapted from episodes of the 1960s TV series, as well as an original novel, Spock Must Die! in 1970 — the first original novel for adult readers based upon the series (since then hundreds more have been published). He died midway through writing Star Trek 12; his wife, J.A. Lawrence, completed the book, and later completed the adaptations in the volume Mudd's Angels.
Blish lived in Milford, Pennsylvania at Arrowhead until the mid-1960s. In 1968, Blish emigrated to England, and lived in Oxford until his death in 1975. He is buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford, near the grave of Kenneth Grahame.
His name in Greek is Τζέημς Μπλις"
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 8, 2012
I was curious about the author, since we wrote some initial Star Trek scripts and books, but this child of his is too much of its own time.
Communists, ESP and VACs, it tastes a little moldy.
It's interesting to the historians but i really prefer the future in my sci-fi, not the past.
The story in itself is pretty simple and uninteresting.
Oh well, 5 minutes of my life...
Communists, ESP and VACs, it tastes a little moldy.
It's interesting to the historians but i really prefer the future in my sci-fi, not the past.
The story in itself is pretty simple and uninteresting.
Oh well, 5 minutes of my life...
February 12, 2012
A interesting short story, with twist at the end.
The story is told in a conversational style.
The narrator is well spoken and his voice is clear and easy to listen to.
The recording is clean with out any background noises,there is plenty of volume and the editing is seamless.
The story is told in a conversational style.
The narrator is well spoken and his voice is clear and easy to listen to.
The recording is clean with out any background noises,there is plenty of volume and the editing is seamless.
April 4, 2018
Part of LibriVox Short Science Fiction Collection 001. Longer than the average story in this collection, I’m afraid this wasn’t really to my taste. Although I found it intriguing at first it was, IMHO, ultimately unsatisfying. JBs stuff usually has this effect on me, I just prefer something more extraordinary, if the author had been say Robert Sheckley then the egg would probably have been biological and there might even have been some humour in it. A fatuous and unfair criticism I know, but I fear, for me, this tale was more of a detective novel than an SF view of the future.
May 1, 2022
Entertaining fantasy listening 🎶🔰
Another will written fantasy or is it? Adventure thriller short story by James Blush about is there a bomb in New York City harbor on a Polish freighter? How much time do they have? Can they find it and disarm? You will have to read this novella to find out. Enjoy the adventure of books and novels 👍. 🏡🔰⏰😀 2022
Another will written fantasy or is it? Adventure thriller short story by James Blush about is there a bomb in New York City harbor on a Polish freighter? How much time do they have? Can they find it and disarm? You will have to read this novella to find out. Enjoy the adventure of books and novels 👍. 🏡🔰⏰😀 2022
August 8, 2021
A Polish cargo ship drops potentially dangerous cargo (known as "The Egg") in New York harbor. When the CIA are unable to determine whether it's a bomb or not, they call in a renown gambler to give his best hunch. Dull and implausible nonsense. Nowhere near one of Blish's best.
May 8, 2017
I'm not sure what the cover has to do with this story, it wasn't dramatic at all. It was more like a silly parody than a serious story. Fun, but lacking substance.
August 24, 2018
Intriguing scenario. I wonder if something like this happens in real life.
August 30, 2019
Interest story with an unusual twist at the end which I did not see coming. Not convinced that it is very realistic though.
May 17, 2025
a somewhat procedural
August 21, 2025
Boring ending.
January 29, 2014
One Shot / James Blish 1955 Astounding Science Fiction
Another old science fiction story complete with the misses 65 years of hindsight can provide. It wasn't terribly impressive, even for when it was written, which kind of surprised me as James Blish is one of notable science fiction writers of any era.
The story, to me, was just unbelievable and the use of words to describe things... like 'the egg' had me rather confused until I put together that it meant a bomb. This egg “problem” gets turned over to the CIA, which is NOT the CIA you've come to know and love.
Anyway the essence of this story is that if you have enough information and enough time you can likely solve any problem... and the story address what you do when there is not enough time or information. In the sense that is what you're told it is about in a brief blurb at the beginning, I think the story does what it sets out to do.
3 stars. While in it's day it may have been 4 or 5 stars, we are really 'grading' on reading it today.
You can listen to this story on Librovox in Short Science Fiction Collection 001, or download it in most any form from Gutenberg press or Manybooks .net. If you have a half hour you want to fill you could do worse.
Another old science fiction story complete with the misses 65 years of hindsight can provide. It wasn't terribly impressive, even for when it was written, which kind of surprised me as James Blish is one of notable science fiction writers of any era.
The story, to me, was just unbelievable and the use of words to describe things... like 'the egg' had me rather confused until I put together that it meant a bomb. This egg “problem” gets turned over to the CIA, which is NOT the CIA you've come to know and love.
Anyway the essence of this story is that if you have enough information and enough time you can likely solve any problem... and the story address what you do when there is not enough time or information. In the sense that is what you're told it is about in a brief blurb at the beginning, I think the story does what it sets out to do.
3 stars. While in it's day it may have been 4 or 5 stars, we are really 'grading' on reading it today.
You can listen to this story on Librovox in Short Science Fiction Collection 001, or download it in most any form from Gutenberg press or Manybooks .net. If you have a half hour you want to fill you could do worse.
January 30, 2011
Science fiction is all about taking current trends and extending them out to see what could happen. Short sci-fi published in the 50's and 60's now often seems odd or bizarre now that we're looking back at a time they were still looking forward to.
First published in 1955 and now freely available from gutenberg etc, this story is interesting because the authour got so many things right. Computers are increasingly important, and public companies are often taking over roles reserved for government agencies in the 50's. Even the comments about not really understanding how hard it is to produce really random data is all spot on. What was missed of course was the fact computer prices would drop as fast as they grew more powerful, union/mob style gangsters would go out of fashion and ESP wouldn't pan out at all. The result is strange enough another reviewer called it an alternate reality piece, but I think it was likely logical from the authour's point in space-time.
I think it's interesting reading, but it won't be to many people's taste anymore without first adjusting their mindset.
First published in 1955 and now freely available from gutenberg etc, this story is interesting because the authour got so many things right. Computers are increasingly important, and public companies are often taking over roles reserved for government agencies in the 50's. Even the comments about not really understanding how hard it is to produce really random data is all spot on. What was missed of course was the fact computer prices would drop as fast as they grew more powerful, union/mob style gangsters would go out of fashion and ESP wouldn't pan out at all. The result is strange enough another reviewer called it an alternate reality piece, but I think it was likely logical from the authour's point in space-time.
I think it's interesting reading, but it won't be to many people's taste anymore without first adjusting their mindset.
February 8, 2012
This short story was originally published in 1955, and can now be downloaded for free from Project Gutenberg. It's a fairly undistinguished piece of near-future (for the time) sci-fi but shows some of the themes Blish would come to focus on in his later stories, such as ESP.
January 6, 2015
This is a bit of Cold War era science fiction that delves into probability and human instincts. It hasn't aged rather well, so I would recommend checking out The Box by Blish for a better example of Cold War SF.
June 25, 2009
Cute prognostication piece in an alternate universe, but it hasn't aged well.
December 11, 2013
I didn't like this much. It's dated (in a bad way), and I found it dull. However, it could just not be my cup of tea. The writing itself, however, was rather good, so there's a plus.
March 4, 2014
I found this one rather boring. The story revolves around a CIA man who is hired to determine if there is a bomb. He gets a gambler to way the odds.
March 5, 2015
I'll give it a star for an early raising of the issue of ticking nuke scenario. No more than that. The resolution to the situation is just stupid.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews