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.

Oh, good. You’re still here.

Here’s the basic setup. A plague of soem sort has broken out on an isolated planet. The only inhabitants are the men doing research or manning a small military-type outpost. I forget exactly which. It doesn’t matter.

A pilot is sent in the fastest spaceship available to bring them the mediciine they  need to survive. He has a deadling, no pun intended. If he doesn’t make it, then everyone on the planet will die.

In order to get there in time, his ship has just enough fuel to go straight there, plus a little for maneuvering.  The ship is a particular type that is as light as possible.Any additional weight would slow the ship down.

The pilot notices he is off course. Not by much. Just a little. He corrects.

A little  while alter, he is off course again.

After searching through the ship for any excess material he can jettison, he finds the problem. And she’s a pretty little problem, all right.

It’s a teenage girl. She has stowed away because her brother is stationed on this planet. She wants to go see him.

Instead, she has doomed him and every man on that planet. Or she has doomed herself.

The only way the pilot can get the medicine there in time to save the men, is to jettison her.

As hard as he tries to come  up with a different solution, he’s left with no choice. Out the airlock she goes.

Legend has it that Godwin wanted to come up with a way to save the girl. John W. Campbell, Jr., wouldn’t let him. Campbell told Godwin that the logic of the situation he had set up in his story demanded an unhappy ending.

Godwin complied. But only after Campbell returned th story to him three times. As least according to Wikipedia.

The story has been attacked throughout the years. Many of the attacks criticize the setup, in which the margin of error is so low that such a situation could develop. I’m kinda inclined to side iwth Campbell. The universe doesn’t care about your feelings or what you think is fair. In some situations, you really don’t have room for a margin of error.

“The Cold Equations” has been reprinted a lot. Baen’s collection is a good place to find it. Plus one of Godwin’s novel The Survivors is included along with some other stories. I’ve read The Survivors. It’s not bad, but it’s not particularly inspired  either. I enjoyoed it, but I proably won’t ever reread it. Too much else to read.

The story has also been adapted for television and radio.

I can see why it’s a classic. And if this is the only story Godwin is remembered for, well, that’s a pretty good accomplishment in itself.