I first read this story circa 1968. It was in a book of short stories by Isaac Asimov that I had received from my membership in the Science Fiction Book Club. For some reason the story always stuck with me, and I was a little surprised to stumble onto it on the internet. It was weird reading it again for the first time in ~40 years.
Enjoy!
Thank you Lancey. This is my all time favorite Asimov story. It is right up there with “The Billiard Ball”.
“This is by far my favorite story of all those I have written.
After all, I undertook to tell several trillion years of human history in the space of a short story and I leave it to you as to how well I succeeded. I also undertook another task, but I won’t tell you what that was lest l spoil the story for you.
It is a curious fact that innumerable readers have asked me if I wrote this story. They seem never to remember the title of the story or (for sure) the author, except for the vague thought it might be me. But, of course, they never forget the story itself especially the ending. The idea seems to drown out everything — and I’m satisfied that it should.” —Isaac Asimov
My favorite author of all time!
No one was better at explaining complicated “Stuff” in lay-mans terms like Isaac!
Read a short story called “The Billiard Ball” by Isaac!
A GREAT story dealing with quantum mechanics and speed of light theory .. written in a FUN and EASY reading style that a 12 year old, (like I was) could understand and most importantly .. Enjoy!
Isaac actually wanted to rename the story .. “Dirty Pool”! LOL
(( ping ))
(From the movie “Dark Star”, a conversation with a ‘Thermostellar bomb’.)
Doolittle: Hello, Bomb? Are you with me?
Bomb #20: Of course.
Doolittle: Are you willing to entertain a few concepts?
Bomb #20: I am always receptive to suggestions.
Doolittle: Fine. Think about this then. How do you know you exist?
Bomb #20: Well, of course I exist.
Doolittle: But how do you know you exist?
Bomb #20: It is intuitively obvious.
Doolittle: Intuition is no proof. What concrete evidence do you have that you exist?
Bomb #20: Hmmmm... well... I think, therefore I am.
Doolittle: That’s good. That’s very good. But how do you know that anything else exists?
Bomb #20: My sensory apparatus reveals it to me. This is fun.
[Pinback wants the bomb to disarm]
Pinback: All right, bomb. Prepare to receive new orders.
Bomb#20: You are false data.
Pinback: Hmmm?
Bomb #20: Therefore I shall ignore you.
Pinback: Hello... bomb?
Bomb #20: False data can act only as a distraction. Therefore, I shall refuse to perceive.
Pinback: Hey, bomb?
Bomb #20: The only thing that exists is myself.
Pinback: Snap out of it, bomb.
Bomb#20: In the beginning, there was darkness. And the darkness was without form, and void.
Boiler: What the hell is he talking about?
Bomb#20: And in addition to the darkness there was also me. And I moved upon the face of the darkness. And I saw that I was alone.
Let there be light.
(( ping ))
Fiction: Isaac Asimov’s ‘Nightfall’
http://doctord.dyndns.org:8000/Stories/Nightfall.htm