Back of the Moon
| First published | January 1947 |
|---|---|
| Type | Short Fiction |
| Length | Short Story |
Synopsis
This story begins with an essay about the dangers of atomic power, even in peaceful applications, but then proceeds with a "What If" story about an atomic experiment gone bad, and the resulting catastrophe to the earth. "The catastrophe happened because of an error in the mathematical theory, a slightly mistaken assumption by the mathematical physicist whose work had preceded the meticulously careful laboratory work."
Notes
It appears that the story was written in 1945. Heinlein writes "If logic could predict the atomic bomb in 1938 then logic applied to 1945 facts should give some notion of things to come." The Heinlein papers at UC-Santa Cruz refers to this as Opus 35 "Man in the Moon" ca. 1946. Published title: "Back of the Moon". The "Heinlein Opus List" writes: "Back of the Moon": Published version of "Man in the Moon" omitting second half of text. Wikipedia says that this story was published in 1980 in the Heinlein collection "Expanded Universe", but our content listings of that collection show neither "Back of the Moon" nor "Man in the Moon". We have no publication of his "Man in the Moon" prior to 2011.
Publications (1)
| Date | Publication | Publisher | Type | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 1947 | The Elks Magazine, January 1947 | Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks | MAGAZINE | 10 |