Omnilingual

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"Omnilingual" is a science fiction short story written by H. Beam Piper.

It made its first appearance in the February 1957 issue of Astounding Science Fiction.

[edit] Synopsis

An expedition to Mars discovers the remains of an advanced civilization, which died out many thousands of years ago. They recovered books and documents left behind, and are puzzled by their contents. The team eventually finds their "Rosetta Stone": the periodic table of the elements.

[edit] Appearances

Omnilingual has been reprinted several times since its original publication.

• Prologue to Analog (1962, Doubleday)
• Analog Anthology (1965, Dobson)
• Great Science Fiction Stories About Mars (1966, Fredrick Fell)
• Apeman, Spaceman (1968, Doubleday)
• Mars, We Love You (1971, Doubleday)
• Where Do We Go from Here? (1971, Doubleday)
• The Days After Tomorrow (1971, Little Brown)
• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow... (1974, Rinehart & Winston)
• Science Fiction Novellas (1975, Scribner)
• Federation (1981, Ace)
• The Great SF Stories: 19 (1957) (1989, DAW)
• The World Turned Upside Down (2005, Baen)

[edit] External links

• Omnilingual, available at Project Gutenberg.
• Omnilingual publication history at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database