| "The Last Question" | |
| Author | Isaac Asimov |
|---|---|
| Country |  USA |
| Language | English |
| Series | Multivac |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction short story |
| Published in | Science Fiction Quarterly |
| Publication type | Periodical |
| Publisher | Columbia Publications |
| Media type | Print (Magazine, Hardback & Paperback) |
| Publication date | November 1956 |
| Preceded by | Someday |
| Followed by | Jokester |
"The Last Question" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. Isaac Asimov (c January 2 1920 &ndash April 6 1992 ˈaɪzək ˈæzɪmʌv originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as, was a Russian The United States of America —commonly referred to as the English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Multivac is the name of a fictional Supercomputer in many stories by Isaac Asimov from 1955 to 1979 The short story is a literary genre of Fictional Prose Narrative that tends to be more concise and to the point than longer works of fiction such Magazines, periodicals or serials are Publications generally published on a regular schedule containing a variety of articles, generally Magazines, periodicals or serials are Publications generally published on a regular schedule containing a variety of articles, generally A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a Book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with Cloth Paperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a Book by the nature of its binding. " Someday " is a Science fiction Short story by Isaac Asimov. The short story is a literary genre of Fictional Prose Narrative that tends to be more concise and to the point than longer works of fiction such Isaac Asimov (c January 2 1920 &ndash April 6 1992 ˈaɪzək ˈæzɪmʌv originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as, was a Russian It first appeared in the November 1956 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and was reprinted in the collections Nine Tomorrows (1959), The Best of Isaac Asimov (1973) and Robot Dreams (1986), as well as the retrospective Opus 100 (1969). Nine Tomorrows is a collection of nine short stories and two pieces of comic verse by Isaac Asimov. The Best of Isaac Asimov, published in 1973, is a collection of 12 short stories by Isaac Asimov, chosen by Asimov himself Robot Dreams ( 1986) is a collection of Isaac Asimov 's Short stories, intended largely to show a series of Asimov robot-inspired drawings Opus 100 is Isaac Asimov 's one hundredth book It was published by Houghton Mifflin on 16 October 1969 It is one of a loosely connected series of stories concerning a fictional computer called Multivac. A computer is a Machine that manipulates data according to a list of instructions. Multivac is the name of a fictional Supercomputer in many stories by Isaac Asimov from 1955 to 1979 It is possible that the date 2061 was chosen since Isaac Newton predicted that the end of the world would take place no earlier than 2060. Sir Isaac Newton, FRS (ˈnjuːtən 4 January 1643 31 March 1727) Biography Early years See also Isaac Newton's early life and achievements
Contents |
History
In conceiving Multivac, Asimov was extrapolating the trend towards centralization that characterised computation technology planning in the 1950s to an ultimate centrally managed global computer. After seeing a planetarium adaptation, Asimov "privately" concluded that this story was his best science fiction yet written; he placed it just higher than "The Ugly Little Boy" and "The Bicentennial Man. A planetarium is a Theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about Astronomy and the night sky or for training in Celestial navigation The Ugly Little Boy is a Science fiction Short story by Isaac Asimov. The Bicentennial Man is a Novella in the Robot Series by Isaac Asimov. " "The Last Question" ranks with "Nightfall" and other stories as one of Asimov's best-known and most acclaimed short stories. " Nightfall " is an influential Science fiction Short story by author Isaac Asimov, about the coming of darkness to the people of a planet ordinarily Overall, it is considered to be one of the greatest science fiction short stories ever written.
The story was first adapted for the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University in 1966 featuring the voice of Leonard Nimoy, as Asimov wrote in his autobiography In Joy Still Felt. Michigan State University ( MSU) is a co-educational public Research university in East Lansing, Michigan USA. Leonard Simon Nimoy (born March 26, 1931) is an American Actor, Film director, Poet, Musician and In Memory Yet Green is the first volume of Isaac Asimov 's two-volume autobiography It was adapted for the Strasenburgh Planetarium in Rochester, New York in 1969, under the direction of Ian C. The Strasenburgh Planetarium is a public planetarium located at 663 East Avenue in the city of Rochester NY. Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York State, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. McLennan,
A reading of the story can also be periodically heard on BBC 7 radio.
Plot summary
"The last question was asked for the first time, half in jest, on May 21, 2061, at a time when humanity first stepped into the light. The question came about as a result of a five dollar bet over highballs, and it happened this way. . . " (Opening line to The Last Question)
The story deals with the development of a computer called Multivac and its relationship with humanity through the course of seven historic settings, beginning in 2061. Multivac is the name of a fictional Supercomputer in many stories by Isaac Asimov from 1955 to 1979 Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus In each of the first six scenes a character presents the computer with a question, namely as to how the threat to human existence posed by heat death can be averted. The heat death is a possible final state of the universe, in which it has " run down " to a state of no Thermodynamic free energy to sustain The question is equivalent to: "Can the workings of the second law of thermodynamics (used in the story as the increase of the entropy of the universe), be reversed?" In each case the computer finds itself unable to answer, due to having "insufficient data for a meaningful answer". The second law of Thermodynamics is an expression of the universal law of increasing Entropy, stating that the entropy of an Isolated system which In Thermodynamics (a branch of Physics) entropy, symbolized by S, is a measure of the unavailability of a system ’s Energy
In the last scenes, the god-like descendants of humanity watch the universe finally approach the state of heat death and ask the Cosmic AC, Multivac's descendant, the question one last time before "Man" merges with it. The heat death is a possible final state of the universe, in which it has " run down " to a state of no Thermodynamic free energy to sustain Cosmic AC is still unable to answer, but continues to ponder the question after space and time cease to exist. Eventually the Cosmic AC discovers the answer, but has nobody to report it to; the universe is already dead. It therefore decides to show the answer by demonstrating the reversal of entropy, creating the universe anew; the story ends with AC's pronouncement, "'LET THERE BE LIGHT!' And there was light—". Let there be light is an English translation of the Hebrew יְהִי אוֹר (or yehiy 'or) [1]
See also
External links
- Read The Last Question online
- Review of The Last Question
- Another Review and some discussion
- The Last Question at BestScienceFictionStories.com - short story reviews and resources. The technological singularity is a theoretical future point of unprecedented technological progress caused in part by the ability of machines to improve themselves using Artificial
References
- ^ Asimov, I: "The Last Question". Science Fiction Quarterly, November 1956
| Opus 100 |
| The Last Question | The Feeling of Power | Thiotimoline and the Space Age | Dreamworld | The Holmes-Ginsbook Device |
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