Project Gutenberg 2016-03-17 Public domain in the USA. 137 Stecher, L. J., Jr. 1918 1988 Stecher, Lewis J., Jr. Stecher, L. J. Wesley, Joseph Francis, Dick Francis, Richard D. Perfect Answer Produced from Galaxy Science Fiction June 1958 Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "Perfect Answer" by L. J. Stecher, Jr. is a science fiction novella that was published in the late 1950s. This story explores the intersections of humanity and technology through the encounter of two space explorers, Jack Bates and Bill Farnum, with an advanced artificial intelligence known as the Oracle. The narrative focuses on the implications of having access to absolute knowledge and the potential consequences for civilization. In the story, Bates and Farnum land on a seemingly civilized planet where they encounter the Oracle, a machine designed to provide accurate answers to any questions posed to it. The Oracle reveals that it was created to serve as a weapon against humanity's tendency toward depravity and self-destruction, with the aim of keeping human progress in check. As Farnum perceives the danger of the Oracle's influence, he becomes increasingly desperate to warn Earth of the threat it poses. Meanwhile, Bates, driven by greed and ambition, wishes to control the Oracle’s knowledge for personal gain. This clash of motivations leads to tragic consequences, culminating in a moral dilemma that questions the nature of power, dependence, and the very fabric of civilization itself. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 76.5 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Human-alien encounters -- Fiction Explorers -- Fiction Artificial intelligence -- Fiction Interstellar travel -- Fiction Computers -- Fiction Questions and answers -- Fiction PS Text Science Fiction Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Novels 50416 2025-07-20T14:03:27.802571 text/html 26394 2024-10-23T00:11:41 text/html 202211 2025-07-20T14:03:29.472578 application/epub+zip 201042 2025-07-20T14:03:28.154570 application/epub+zip 77313 2025-07-20T14:03:27.958556 application/epub+zip 237110 2025-07-20T14:03:30.609547 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 230003 2025-07-20T14:03:29.280543 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 106496 2022-09-23T12:38:52.566151 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 43259 2025-07-20T14:03:27.690562 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 23510 2024-10-23T00:11:41 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 19235 2025-07-20T14:03:30.733533 application/rdf+xml 28140 2025-07-20T14:03:28.025555 image/jpeg 4757 2025-07-20T14:03:27.991551 image/jpeg 181684 2025-07-20T14:03:27.812570 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog