Only a Trillion
{{Short description|1957 essay collection by Isaac Asimov}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Only a Trillion
| author = Isaac Asimov
| image = File:OnlyATrillion.jpg
| caption = First edition
| country = United States
| language = English
| series =
| genre =
| publisher = Abelard-Schuman
| release_date = 1957
| media_type = Print (Hardback and Paperback)
| pages = 195
| isbn =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}
Only a Trillion is a collection of ten science essays and three scientific spoof articles by Isaac Asimov. It was the first collection of science essays published by Asimov. It was first published by Abelard-Schuman in 1957. A paperback edition published by Ace Books in 1976 included updates of outdated material (re-issued in 1980). The book was also published under the title Marvels of Science by Collier Books in 1962.
The title refers to the number of atoms of astatine-215 in the top 10 miles of the Earth's crust of the North and South American continents – only a trillion.
Contents
- The Atoms That Vanish (first published in Change!, 1957)
- The Explosions Within Us (original article)
- Hemoglobin and the Universe (first published in Astounding Science Fiction, Feb. 1955)
- Victory on Paper (first published in Astounding, Sept. 1955)
- The Abnormality of Being Normal (first published in Astounding, May 1956)
- Planets Have an Air About Them (first published in Astounding, March 1957)
- The Unblind Workings of Chance (first published in Astounding, April 1957)
- The Trapping of the Sun (first published in Astounding, May 1957)
- The Sea-Urchin and We (first published in Astounding, July 1957)
- The Sound of Panting (first published in Astounding, June 1955)
- The Marvellous Properties of Thiotimoline
- The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline (first published in Astounding, March 1948)
- The Micropsychiatric Applications of Thiotimoline (first published in Astounding, Dec. 1953)
- Pâté de Foie Gras (first published in Astounding, Sept. 1956)
Reception
Floyd C. Gale stated that Asimov "[a]lmost certainly had enormous fun writing this collection of articles. He staggers, frightens, amazes and, in two, fiendishly misleads his reader".{{cite news |first=Floyd C. |last=Gale |title=Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf |work=Galaxy Science Fiction |url=https://archive.org/stream/galaxymagazine-1958-10/Galaxy_1958_10#page/n131/mode/2up |date=October 1958 |pages=132–133}}
Following the publication of Only a Trillion, Asimov compiled several more science essays into the manuscript for another, similar book titled Only a Light-Year, but that book was never published, because Only a Trillion had not sold enough copies.Asimov, I. (1980) In Joy Still Felt: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1954–1978, New York: Avon Books, pp. 342–343
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/03/23/lifetimes/asi-r-trillion.html A review] of Only a Trillion by Robert E. K. Rourke.
- [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?263846 Only a Trillion (1957)] at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?263847 Only a Trillion (1976)] at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?263849 Marvels of Science] at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
{{Asimov essay collections}}