Expedition to Earth (Arthur C. Clarke Collection: Short Stories)
Arthur C. Clarke
Language: English
Pages: 175
ISBN: B00AHHONWC
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
This collection of Clarke's work was originally published in 1953, when it was selected as one of the best Science Fiction books of the year by Boucher and McComas. It contains many short stories that would later become classics, including "The Sentinel"-the basis for the later classic 2001: A Space Odyssey.
These stories present a brilliant showcase of Clarke's many-layered approach to the moral dilemmas of scientific advancement-from the thrilling and brutal "Breaking Strain" to the more poetic and thoughtful "Second Dawn." This collection represents a tour-de-force of Science Fiction storytelling sure to delight fans of Clarke's work and the SF genre.
so purposefully that I was certain they were going to some other country. And I have followed them with my thoughts.” “Even if your theory is true, which it probably is,” said Eris, “what use is it to us?” He gestured to the river flowing beside them. “We drown in the water, and you cannot build a rope to support us—” His thoughts suddenly faded out into a jumbled chaos of ideas. Therodimus smiled. “So you have guessed what I hope to do. Well, now you can see if you are right.” They had come
we are actually in their presence. “The second, and greater problem, was that the massed power of many minds would be needed, and never before had it been possible to link together more than two or three. How we succeeded is our main secret: like all such things, it seems easy now it has been done. And once we had started, it was simpler than we had expected. Two minds are more than twice as powerful as one, and three are much more than thrice as powerful as a single will. The exact mathematical
for many hours before having to return to the ocean. The excitement slowly subsided and the lecturer continued: “One of the most puzzling of the objects found on Planet Three was a flat metal container holding a great length of transparent plastic material, perforated at the edges and wound tightly into a spool. This transparent tape at first seemed quite featureless, but an examination with the new subelectronic microscope has shown that this is not the case. Along the surface of the material,
had failed to explode was still gaining speed under the drive of its rockets. Now it was a scarcely visible line of light, racing between the walls of a lonely valley. Already the snows that had been disturbed by the scream of its passage were beginning to rumble down the mountain slopes. There was no escape from the valley: it was blocked by a sheer wall a thousand feet high. Here the torpedo that had missed its mark found a greater one. The Master’s tomb was too deep in the mountain even to be
dodging trees, but I hope nothing jumps on us again: it’s bad for my nerves.” “You were right, Altman,” said Bertrond a little later. “It’s certainly a path. But that doesn’t mean intelligence. After all, animals—” He stopped in mid-sentence, and at the same instant Clindar brought the advancing robot to a halt. The path had suddenly opened out into a wide clearing, almost completely occupied by a village of flimsy huts. It was ringed by a wooden palisade, obviously defense against an enemy who