Project Gutenberg 2019-12-20 Public domain in the USA. 86 Stamers, James The Useless Bugbreeders Produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, May 1961 Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "The Useless Bugbreeders" by James Stamers is a science fiction story written in the early 1960s. This whimsical tale revolves around interplanetary legal disputes concerning a peculiar race of aliens known as the Bugbreeders. The narrative explores themes of alien life, culture, and the perception of utility and value in a galactic community, questioning what makes a civilization worthy of preservation amid the rapid expansion of humanity in the cosmos. The story follows the legal representative, Mr. Jones, as he defends the Bugbreeders' claim to Asteroid 4722 against the Space Council, who sees the asteroid merely as an obstruction to interplanetary traffic. Through a comical courtroom setting, Mr. Jones presents evidence of the Bugbreeders' capabilities, including their production of food and housing through their unique bacterial breeding practices. However, as demonstrations go awry and cause chaotic destruction, it becomes apparent that the Bugbreeders' offerings may not be compatible with human expectations. Ultimately, the narrative culminates in Mr. Jones discovering that these aliens have a secret regarding their biology that could profoundly affect humanity, raising poignant questions about life and immortality. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 76.4 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Extraterrestrial beings -- Fiction Legal stories Human-alien encounters -- Fiction Lawyers -- Fiction PS Text Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Humour 49047 2025-07-24T08:49:35.867179 text/html 25304 2024-10-17T15:22:14 text/html 94265 2025-07-24T08:49:37.806193 application/epub+zip 93096 2025-07-24T08:49:36.304169 application/epub+zip 77545 2025-07-24T08:49:36.070172 application/epub+zip 130849 2025-07-24T08:49:39.052147 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 123571 2025-07-24T08:49:37.541175 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 108204 2022-09-27T14:48:39.645592 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 42165 2025-07-24T08:49:35.751185 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 22337 2024-10-17T15:22:14 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17002 2025-07-24T08:49:39.181147 application/rdf+xml 27131 2025-07-24T08:49:36.163170 image/jpeg 4840 2025-07-24T08:49:36.113193 image/jpeg 296641 2025-07-24T08:49:35.880177 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