Next, I read "The Last Question" by Isaac Asimov. This short story was science fiction and was written in 1956. Describing this complex story will be a challenge, but I will give it a try. The story is basically comprised of 5 or 6 anecdotes in chronological order. In each of the anecdotes, there has been a major development in terms of space and interstellar travel. At first, humans are confined to Earth; but soon, they learn how to harness the sun's power. Using this energy, they are able to travel to and inhabit different stars and eventually, different galaxies. Humans also become immortal at some point. They are able to do all of these things because of a supercomputer that has a great deal of knowledge. In each anecdote, the characters ask the computer a variation of the question "Can entropy be reversed?" because reversing entropy is the only way to prevent the inevitable collapse of the universe. Each time it is asked, the computer responds that it does not have sufficient data to answer that question. At the end, the universe does indeed collapse, and the humans die off, but the computer remains. At this point, the computer figures out the answer to the "last question", which I will not divulge on this post, of course.
First of all, I was blown away by the fact that the book was written 60 years ago, because it has so many insights about space travel and technology that I would not expect from a short story as old as this one is. I also thought the style of writing was very nice because it builds up suspense and it makes the reader think and question as he/she reads. For example, there is symbolism at the end, when the computer finally answers the "last question". The answer is a reference to the Biblical story of creation and it makes me wonder what would happen next in the story if the writer kept writing. Would there be life once again? Would the computers be some kind of equivalent to a higher power?
I would recommend this story to anyone who is interested in science fiction. If you like movies like Interstellar, this story is for you. I will admit that some parts of the story did require a previous knowledge of some scientific concepts, but it's still general enough for most people to understand. If nothing else, I would read it for the mind-blowing ending.
First of all, I was blown away by the fact that the book was written 60 years ago, because it has so many insights about space travel and technology that I would not expect from a short story as old as this one is. I also thought the style of writing was very nice because it builds up suspense and it makes the reader think and question as he/she reads. For example, there is symbolism at the end, when the computer finally answers the "last question". The answer is a reference to the Biblical story of creation and it makes me wonder what would happen next in the story if the writer kept writing. Would there be life once again? Would the computers be some kind of equivalent to a higher power?
I would recommend this story to anyone who is interested in science fiction. If you like movies like Interstellar, this story is for you. I will admit that some parts of the story did require a previous knowledge of some scientific concepts, but it's still general enough for most people to understand. If nothing else, I would read it for the mind-blowing ending.
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