Noel Keyes CONTACT 1st Print PB 1963 Ray Bradbury Fredric Brown Isaac Asimov

Description: Acceptable good condition. Extraordinary stories by RAY BRADBURY ISAAC ASIMOV ROBERT SHECKLEY MURRAY LEINSTER FREDRIC BROWN and others... Edited by Noel Keyes ----------- 2 ----------- 1953. 959. P MAN THE DISCOVERER First Contact by Murray Leinster Intelligence Test by Harry Walton The Large Ant by Howard Fast What's He Doing In There? by Fritz Leiber Chemical Plant by lan Williamson Limiting Factor by Clifford D. Simak The Fire Balloons by Ray Bradbury er- 7 Introduction MAN THE DISCOVERED Invasion From Mars by Howard Koch.. The Gentle Vultures by Isaac Asimov ... Knock by Frederic Brown Specialist by Robert Sheckley.. Lost Memory by Peter Phillips... ..... ----------- 3 ----------- A wilderness of space, dust, stars, and planets, the universe is as vast as man's imagination and as rich in possibilities. The that life exists beyond earth-is no longer ultimate possibility-t astronomers of Project Ozna turn radio telescopes towards a fantasy but the subject of scientific experimentation. The Tau Ceti, listening for messages whispered across the void. Meteorites are examined for traces of alien micro-fossils. Bacteria are subjected to the rigorous conditions of outer space to determine their capacity for planet-hopping. Most exciting of all, the basic chemicals of life, the hydrocarbons, I have been synthesized in the laboratory under conditions that might exist on any planet undergoing the pangs of fiery birth and subsequent cooling. The scientists are not whistling in the darkness of space. Billions of stars in the Milky Way alone probably give heat and light to planetary systems. And there are at least a billion other galaxies. Where the right conditions exist-as they appear to do on planets around trillions of stars-organic life may exist; the odds, no matter how they are whittled down, are not unreasonable. The odds can be whittled down, for intelligent life, taking billions of years to evolve, may flourish-and vanish from a planet-within a period of a few hundred centuries. The ex- istence of another civilization is not enough. It must exist at the same time as ours. Nevertheless, when all the pros and cons are considered, it has been estimated that there are per- haps ten civilized communities within one thousand light- years of earth. Large though that distance appears, human life and extra-terrestrial life may one day make contact. How such contact may prove possible-atomic rockets, use of the space-warp, telekinesis, travel in the fourth dimension, and so on-is not the primary concern of the twelve stories in this book. What such contact will involve is. Re INTRODUCTION et y -1 Comic-book mythology sees all life from outer space as irrevocably hostile or infinitely beneficent, usually the former. And the reasons are clear. The unknown is always a threat and a cut-and-dried solution provides not only reassurance but a good story line. Ray guns, tentacled monsters, and fabulous civilizations ruled by women rigged out with chrome trim and tail fins have a marvellously sedative effect. But they are no longer exciting and the stories in this book avoid the stereotype. There is no reason-no human reason, at least- to believe that contact will be that simple. Man, sexually attractive to none of the other creatures on his own planet, can hardly expect better luck elsewhere. And for intergalactic neighbors to travel some quadrillions of miles simply to ex-

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