Obscure sci-fi story: 'Is there a way to reverse entropy?'

Factual Questions
1

I have only the vaguest recollection of this store, and don’t recall the title or author, but here goes:

Some scientists developed a computer, and asked it the question “Is there a way to reverse entropy?”

The response: “Not enough information.”

Many generations later, with a much more powerful computer, the question is repeated, “Is there a way to reverse entropy?”

The response: “Not enough information.”

And so it goes thru the eons, until the universe is a cold, lonely place, with no sentient beings left alive.

At this point, the computer–now more powerful than it had ever been–finally arrives at the answer: “YES! There is a way to reverse entropy!”

But there was no one around to give the news.

And so the computer said. . .

LET THERE BE LIGHT. . . .

Any ideas???

2

“The Last Question” by Isaac Asimov. It was the Good Doctor’s favorite of his own stories.

3

I think it’s an Arthur C. Clarke story, but I can’t for the life of me remember the name…

4

Link to Asimov’s The Last Question.

I heard that story a long time ago in a planetarium, and at the end the whole dome blazed with light. I’ll never forget it.

5

::standing corrected::

My bad.

6

Just one comment: “obscure”???

This is generally considered to be among the best science stories ever written. In my opinion it is the best.

7

Many thanks!

8

In one of his collections, The Good Doctor commented in the introduction to this story that it was one of his most memorable stories, but with the most forgettable title. He was always getting inquiries just like the OP. He couldn’t see why “The Last Question” was so unmemorable a title, especially since it is so descriptive of the plot of the story.

9

Hell, I thought this was another evolution thread. :wink:
Peace.
mangeorge

10

I always remember it as “That Universalvac One.”

The power of the trademark.

And, BA, it’s been my experience that for non-sci-fi readers, all SF is “obscure.”

11

Hey, you read an anthology, and tell me in thirty years the plot, title, and author of each of the stories.:wink:

12

It looks like the Good Doctor was prescient in his view of the end of time, according to the cover story in this week’s TIME magazine: PSSST! We know how the Universe ends… and it’s not with a bang

Interestingly, the authors of the piece leave open the possibility that the Last Question will be answered, as described by the Good Doctor:

13

To save starting my own thread, I might take the liberty of temporarily hijacking this one…

How 'bout “Manuscript Found in a Police State” by Brian Aldiss. It’s a short one, I was hoping it might be on the web somewhere. I couldn’t find it though.

14

It sounds like you’re trying to recall “Memoirs found in a Bathtub” by Stanislav Lem. One of my favorites…

15

No, there is a short story called “Memoirs Found in a Police State” by Brian Aldiss. There’s no chance you’ll be able to find it online, since it’s in copyright. If I ever found it online, I’d notify Aldiss myself so he could sue the person who put it there. For that matter, “The Last Question” is in copyright, so I’m not sure if it has been legally put online or not (in the URL given by Danimal). I can’t manage to get to the home page of this Jack Tourette who posted it to discover if he has somehow gotten permission from Asimov’s estate to put the story online or if he’s doing it illegally.

Could people please not call something obscure unless you know the field well enough to be able to say whether it’s obscure or not?

16

Anyone ever hear of “The Yellow Pill”? It was about two guys on a spacecraft, one of whom was hallucinating from space madness. But the way its written you can’t tell which one.

Ring any bells?

17

Grouchy ol’ Wendell Wagner asks;

The whole field is pretty much obscure, is it not? :wink:
Peace,
mangeorge

18

LOL. Sounds like something that Spanky would say - “Grouchy ol’ Mister Thompson said we couldn’t play mud-ball in his barn no more.” “Awww, shucks!”

–Tim

19

I’m sure the title of the Aldiss short story is “Manuscript Found in a Police State”, but these things tend to often have different titles in different countries. I had it as a kid in a paperback called Nine Strange Stories. I guess you’re right about the copyright *Wendell; I’ll have to go out and buy the thing if I can find it.

And I’m no great SF expert, but I know my Dunes from my Foundations, and I’d say the story I’m looking for qualifies as obscure enough. :wink:

20

Excuse me. You’re right. That was a typo on my part. The title was indeed “Manuscript Found in a Police State.”

Grouchy? You think what I’ve said so far sounds grouchy? So far I’ve been polite. Do not irritate me, or you will quickly feel the white-hot intensity of my anger.

I wasn’t even the first person in this thread to complain about the term “obscure.” It was mentioned first by The Bad Astronomer. In any case, the reason I object to phrasing a question as “Have you ever read this obscure story?” is that it’s equivalent to saying, “Hey, you’re all a bunch of geeks who’ve read everything. I don’t have time to waste re-reading anything or looking anything up, so I’ll ask you to do it, since you have no life.” If you politely ask us for our expertise, you’re more likely to get an answer than if you start by telling us that we’re just nerds who are slavering to do your bidding.