| Publishing Data |
Originally published in Star Science Fiction Stories #1, 1953
Collected in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume I
Winner of a Retrospective Hugo for Best Short Story |
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| Preview |
| Monks commission the
building of a computer to print out all of the names attributed to God.
They believe that to complete this activity is to fulfill man's purpose
on Earth. |
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| Background |
- Ursula
K. Le Guin calls this story "one of the purest and neatest uses of the
myth of science as omnipotent" (33).
- Casey Fredericks calls this story "almost a satire on Western technological
consciousness from the Oriental religious consciousness" (80).
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| Navigation Guide |
| Why
do the monks need the computer? |
| Describe Dr. Wagner's reaction to the lama's request for a Mark V computer?
Is his reaction similar to your own? |
| Do these monks appear to be particularly holy or to know what they are doing? |
| What is the monks' purpose in life? |
| What are George and Chuck, the two computer engineers assigned to install
and maintain the Mark V, concerned about? Does their concern seem logical
to you? |
| Comment on the impact of the story's last sentence. |
| What
is this story saying about the relationship between science and religion? |
| What
is this story implying about the purpose of Man? |
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| Further Exploration |
 Sources |
| Fredericks, Casey. The Future of Eternity: Mythologies of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1982. |
| Le Guin, Ursula. "Introduction." The Norton Book of Science Fiction. Ursual K. Le Guin and Brian Attebery, eds. New York: Norton, 1993. |
