Project Gutenberg 2022-02-06 Public domain in the USA. 125 Wilson, Richard 1920 1987 Wilson, Dick Halibut, Edward Stallman, Emmanuel 1927 1997 Stallman, Manny Course of Empire $aUnited States :$bRoyal Publications, Inc,$c1955. Produced from Infinity Science Fiction, February 1956 Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "Course of Empire" by Richard Wilson is a science fiction short story published in the mid-20th century. The narrative explores themes of colonization, cultural misunderstanding, and the unintended consequences of human actions as they extend their reach into the cosmos. Through a blend of humor and critique, the story reflects on the inefficiencies and mistakes inherent in the process of establishing human colonies on other planets. The story unfolds with two men, Roger Boynton and Allister, discussing past efforts to colonize Mars, Venus, and Jupiter under a World Government framework. Boynton shares anecdotes about the decisions made during these colonization efforts, revealing how they were often based on whimsical choices rather than sound strategies. As they reminisce, they realize that their initial plans were thwarted by cultural and environmental misunderstandings, such as the wild Martian camels liberating domesticated ones and rain not falling in the expected manner on Venus. The story takes a sharp turn when 'Medeans, the inhabitants of Ganymede, successfully colonize Earth, highlighting the irony of human colonization efforts being outdone by a more capable alien species. The men’s conversation serves as a critique of human hubris and the unpredictable nature of interplanetary relations. (This is an automatically generated summary.) 20211107113048wilson 1955 US Reading ease score: 85.7 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Space colonies -- Fiction PS Text Category: Short Stories Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Humour 32924 2025-07-26T13:25:56.078789 text/html 8871 2024-10-18T19:12:46 text/html 290901 2025-07-26T13:25:58.165767 application/epub+zip 289726 2025-07-26T13:25:56.690817 application/epub+zip 73995 2025-07-26T13:25:56.357783 application/epub+zip 321040 2025-07-26T13:25:59.316810 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 314211 2025-07-26T13:25:57.940763 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 98729 2022-09-30T09:29:31.292382 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 26920 2025-07-26T13:25:55.955820 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 7033 2024-10-18T19:12:46 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17866 2025-07-26T13:25:59.521744 application/rdf+xml 28243 2025-07-26T13:25:56.519761 image/jpeg 4440 2025-07-26T13:25:56.425789 image/jpeg 378829 2025-07-26T13:25:56.091796 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 en.wikipedia