← Back

Kaleidoscope

Ray Bradbury

First published October 1949
Type Short Fiction
Length Short Story

Synopsis

When a manned rocket ship disintegrates, the men inside are thrown out into space in their space suits without any means of propulsion, and have a while to contemplate and discuss their impending deaths before their differing trajectories separate them.

Notes

  • There is a play titled Kaleidoscope (1975) that may be related to this short story.

Publications (106)

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
October 1949 Cover Thrilling Wonder Stories, October 1949 Standard Magazines, Inc. MAGAZINE 129
February 1951 Cover The Illustrated Man Doubleday Collection |3
February 1951 Cover The Illustrated Man Doubleday Collection
April 1951 Cover The Illustrated Man Doubleday Collection
1952 Cover The Illustrated Man Hart-Davis Collection
April 1952 Cover The Illustrated Man Bantam Books Collection 23
June 1952 Cover The Illustrated Man Bantam Books Collection 23
November 1952 Cover Omnibus of Science Fiction Crown Publishers Anthology 241
1953 The Illustrated Man Doubleday / SFBC Collection 32
1953 Cover Omnibus of Science Fiction Crown Publishers / SFBC Anthology 241
April 1953 Cover Omnibus of Science Fiction Crown Publishers Anthology 241
July 1953 Cover The Illustrated Man Doubleday Collection
January 1954 Cover Strange Travels in Science Fiction Grayson & Grayson Anthology
October 1954 Cover The Illustrated Man Bantam Books Collection 19
1955 Cover The Illustrated Man Corgi Books / Transworld Publishers Collection 23
August 1956 Cover Science Fiction Omnibus Berkley Books Anthology 88
April 1958 The Illustrated Man Doubleday Collection
1960 Cover The Illustrated Man Corgi Books / Transworld Publishers Collection 23
April 1961 The Illustrated Man Doubleday Collection
October 1962 The Illustrated Man Doubleday Collection
1963 Cover The Illustrated Man Corgi Books / Transworld Publishers Collection
1963 Cover The Illustrated Man Corgi Books / Transworld Publishers Collection
July 1963 Cover Great Stories of Space Travel Tempo Books Anthology 53
September 1963 Cover The Illustrated Man Bantam Books Collection 19
September 1963 Cover The Illustrated Man Bantam Books Collection 19
November 1963 Cover Science Fiction Omnibus Berkley Medallion Anthology 91
1965 The Illustrated Man Corgi Books / Transworld Publishers Collection
August 1965 Cover The Illustrated Man Bantam Books Collection 19
September 1965 Cover The Vintage Bradbury Vintage Books Collection 232
September 1965 The Vintage Bradbury Vintage Books Collection 232
December 1965 Cover Great Stories of Space Travel Tempo Books Anthology 53
December 1965 Cover The Illustrated Man Bantam Books Collection 19
1966 Cover Best SF Six Faber and Faber Anthology 111
1966 The Vintage Bradbury Vintage Books Collection
December 1966 Cover Great Stories of Space Travel Tempo Books Anthology 53
June 1967 Cover The Illustrated Man Bantam Books Collection 19
1969 Cover Great Stories of Space Travel Tempo Books Anthology 53
March 1969 Cover The Illustrated Man Bantam Books Collection 19
March 1969 Cover The Illustrated Man Bantam Books Collection 19
September 1969 Cover The Illustrated Man Doubleday / SFBC Collection 32
December 1969 Cover The Illustrated Man Corgi Books / Transworld Publishers Collection 19
April 1970 Cover Great Stories of Space Travel Tempo Books / Grosset & Dunlap Anthology 53
1972 Cover Space Suits & Gumshoes Macmillan of Canada Anthology 78
1972 Cover The Illustrated Man Corgi Books / Transworld Publishers Collection 19
July 1972 Cover The Illustrated Man Bantam Books Collection 19
1973 Science Fiction 1 Houghton Mifflin Anthology
1974 Cover The Illustrated Man Corgi Collection 19
1975 Cover 2001 and Beyond: Science Fiction Stories Longman Anthology 59
January 1975 Cover Best SF Six Faber and Faber Anthology 111
1976 Cover The History of the Science Fiction Magazine Part 3 1946-1955 New English Library Anthology 149
November 1976 Cover The Illustrated Man Bantam Books Collection 19
1977 Cover The History of the Science Fiction Magazine, Vol. 3 1946-1955 Contemporary Books Anthology 149
1977 Cover The History of the Science Fiction Magazine, Vol. 3 1946-1955 Contemporary Books Anthology 149
1977 Cover The Best Science Fiction Stories Hamlyn Anthology 265
January 1977 Cover The Illustrated Man Panther Collection 31
June 1977 Cover The Illustrated Man Hart-Davis, MacGibbon Collection
April 1978 The Illustrated Man Bantam Books Collection 19
August 1979 Cover The Illustrated Man Bantam Books Collection 19
1980 Cover Omnibus of Science Fiction Bonanza Books / Crown Publishers Anthology 241
1980 The Illustrated Man Panther Collection 31
1980 Space Suits & Gumshoes Gage Anthology 78
April 1980 Cover The Arbor House Treasury of Modern Science Fiction Priam Books / Arbor House Anthology 343
April 1980 Cover The Arbor House Treasury of Modern Science Fiction Arbor House Anthology 343
October 1980 Cover The Stories of Ray Bradbury Alfred A. Knopf Collection 143
December 1980 Cover The Stories of Ray Bradbury Alfred A. Knopf Collection 143
1981 Cover The Stories of Ray Bradbury Granada Collection 143
1981 The Illustrated Man Panther Collection 31
February 1981 Cover The Stories of Ray Bradbury Alfred A. Knopf Collection 143
1982 Cover The Illustrated Man Bantam Books Collection 19
August 1982 The Illustrated Man Bantam Books Collection 19
August 1982 Cover The Illustrated Man Bantam Books Collection 19
1983 The Illustrated Man Panther / Granada Collection 31
January 1983 Cover The Stories of Ray Bradbury, Volume 1 Granada Collection
1984 Cover The Omnibus of Science Fiction Chatham River Press Anthology 241
1984 Cover The Illustrated Man Panther / Granada Collection 31
March 1984 Cover The Great Science Fiction Stories Volume 11, 1949 DAW Books Anthology 232
March 1984 Cover The Great Science Fiction Stories Volume 11, 1949 DAW Books / New American Library of Canada Anthology 232
1985 Cover The Stories of Ray Bradbury, Volume 1 Granada Collection
1986 The Illustrated Man Grafton Collection 31
1987 Cover The Stories of Ray Bradbury, Volume 1 Grafton Collection 244
November 1987 Cover Great Science Fiction of the 20th Century Avenel Books Anthology 343
1988 Cover Isaac Asimov Presents the Golden Years of Science Fiction: Sixth Series Bonanza Books / Crown Publishers Anthology 232
1988 The Illustrated Man Grafton Collection 31
January 1988 Cover The Illustrated Man Bantam Books Collection 19
May 1990 Cover The Illustrated Man Bantam Spectra Collection
July 1990 The Vintage Bradbury Vintage Books Collection 232
October 1990 The Stories of Ray Bradbury Alfred A. Knopf Collection 143
May 1996 Cover The Illustrated Man Gauntlet Press Collection
June 1997 Cover The Illustrated Man Avon Books Collection 26
February 1998 Cover Tales in Space Borealis / White Wolf Publishing Anthology 257
2001 Cover The Illustrated Man William Morrow / HarperCollins Collection 26
November 2001 Cover The Illustrated Man Book-of-the-Month Club Collection 26
August 2002 Cover The Illustrated Man Voyager Classics / HarperCollins Collection 33
August 2008 Cover The Illustrated Man HarperVoyager Collection 33
August 2008 Cover The Illustrated Man Paw Prints Collection
December 2008 Cover Ray Bradbury Stories Volume 1 HarperVoyager Collection
April 2010 Cover The Stories of Ray Bradbury Alfred A. Knopf Collection
April 2010 Cover The Stories of Ray Bradbury Alfred A. Knopf Collection 176
January 2011 Cover The Martian Chronicles / The Illustrated Man / The Golden Apples of the Sun Barnes & Noble Books Omnibus 287
January 2011 Cover The Illustrated Man and Other Short Stories: L'homme illustré et autres nouvelles Gallimard Collection 41
October 2011 Cover The Illustrated Man Harper Perennial Modern Classics Collection 26
2012 Cover The Illustrated Man The Easton Press Collection 32
March 2012 Cover The Illustrated Man Simon & Schuster Paperbacks Collection
June 2012 Cover Ray Bradbury Stories Volume 1 Harper Voyager (UK) Collection
January 2018 Cover The Illustrated Man Amazon Digital Services Collection |3
August 2018 Cover The Illustrated Man Recorded Books and Blackstone Publishing Collection |3