Forgot to hit Publish last night.

June 6 is the birthday of Tome Godwin (1915-1980). He published approximately two dozen short stories and three novels, most of them in the nineteeen fifties. If it weren’t for one particular story, he woudl probably be totally forgotten today.

But that one story was a doozy. It created controversy when it was published in the August 1954 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. It’s still controversial today.

Seventy years later.

That’s an impactful story.

The story I’m talking about is, of course, “The Coldl Equations”.

If you haven’t read it but think you might (and you should; it holds up well), then you need to be aware that pretty much the rest of this post is going to be one giant spoiler.

You’ve been warned. Continue reading →