Project Gutenberg
2019-05-10
Public domain in the USA.
140
Bixby, Jerome
1923
1998
Bixby, Jay Lewis
Bixby, Jerry
Bixby, Drexel Jerome Lewis
Neal, Harry
Drexel, Jay B.
Lewis, D. B.
Lewis, D.B.
Emshwiller, Ed
1925
1990
Emsh
Emsh, Ed
Alexander, Ed
Emshwiller, Edmund A.
Willer
EMSH
Laboratory
Produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, December 1955
Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
"Laboratory" by Jerome Bixby is a science fiction short story originally published in the mid-20th century, specifically in the December 1955 issue of "Worlds of If Science Fiction." The narrative revolves around the complicated interactions between two alien scientists—a senior named Pud and his junior assistant Gop—and a pair of human explorers, Johnny and Helen Gorman, who unintentionally land on their secretive laboratory-planet. The story delves into themes of advanced intelligence, the implications of contact between different species, and the unintended consequences of scientific experimentation. In "Laboratory," the two alien scientists are engrossed in their experiments when they suddenly encounter the unexpected arrival of the human duo. Following a series of humorous and chaotic encounters, including the activation of various experimental energy fields, the Vegans find themselves revealing their presence to the humans. Pud and Gop wrestle with the regulations of Contact and the potential repercussions of their exposure to the aliens. Ultimately, they devise a method to erase the humans' memories of the event and send them back in time to avoid any disruptive knowledge of their existence. The story explores the idea of how civilizations at different levels of technological advancement interact and the ethical considerations involved in such encounters. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Reading ease score: 75.5 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read.
en
Science fiction
Short stories
Extraterrestrial beings -- Fiction
Human-alien encounters -- Fiction
Extrasolar planets -- Fiction
Laboratories -- Fiction
PS
Text
Category: Short Stories
Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy
Category: Humour
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