Breeds There a Man...?
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Breeds There a Man...? is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the June 1951 issue of Astounding and reprinted in the 1967 collection Through a Glass, Clearly and the 1969 collection Nightfall and Other Stories .
Elwood Ralson, a brilliant but pschologically disturned physicist, becomes convinced that humanity is a kind of genetics experiment run by an alien intelligence. His behaviour becomes more erratic and suicidal as his thoughts become more entrenched in this idea, and his health fails.
He claims that the aliens want him to die before he can help produce a defence against atomic weapons, which could then lead to atomic war. Under the care of a psychiatrist, he is able to provide guidance to the scientists carrying out the research. Once the experiment is complete and the defence is built and tested, he commits suicide. But before so doing, a government agent sent to investigate the case begins to actually believe Ralson's story.
| Nightfall and Other Stories |
| Nightfall | Green Patches | Hostess | Breeds There a Man...? | C-Chute | In a Good Cause- | What If- | Sally | Flies | Nobody Here But- | It's Such a Beautiful Day | Strikebreaker | Insert Knob A in Hole B | The Up-To-Date Sorcerer | Unto the Fourth Generation | What is This Thing Called Love? | The Machine that Won the War | My Son, the Physicist | Eyes Do More Than See | Segregationist |
