The Cold Equations Explained

The Cold Equations
Author:Tom Godwin
Genre:science fiction
Published In:Astounding
Publication Type:magazine

"The Cold Equations" is a science fiction short story by American writer Tom Godwin (1915–1980), first published in Astounding Magazine in August 1954. In 1970, the Science Fiction Writers of America selected it as one of the best science-fiction short stories published before 1965, and it was therefore included in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929–1964. It has been widely anthologized and dramatized.

Plot summary

In the year 2178, a small Emergency Dispatch Ship (EDS) is launched from the interstellar cruiser Stardust to deliver desperately needed medicine to the frontier planet Woden. The EDS pilot, Barton, soon discovers a stowaway: 18-year-old Marilyn Lee Cross.

By law, all EDS stowaways are to be jettisoned because an EDS carries only enough fuel to reach its destination. Marilyn wanted merely to visit her brother Gerry on the remote planet and was unaware of the law. When she saw the "UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL KEEP OUT!" sign while she was sneaking onboard, she thought that at most she would have to pay a fine if caught.

Barton sadly explains to her that her additional weight would make it impossible to land safely; they would crash on the planet, killing both them and the colonists needing the medicine. After recovering from her shock and horror, and contacting Gerry, Marilyn willingly climbs into the airlock and is ejected into space.

Development

The story was shaped by Astounding Science Fiction editor John W. Campbell, who sent "Cold Equations" back to Godwin three times before he got the version he wanted because "Godwin kept coming up with ingenious ways to save the girl!"[1] Campbell's biographer Alec Nevala-Lee noted in 2016 that the story was published at a time when Campbell had embraced contrarianism on the basis that (in Campbell’s words) there was "no viewpoint that has zero validity — though some have very small validity, or very limited application."Nevala-Lee also revealed that Campbell described the story as a

"gimmick on the proposition ‘human sacrifice is absolutely unacceptable’. So we deliberately, knowingly and painfully sacrifice a young, pretty girl... and make the reader accept that it is valid!"[2]

Reception

Richard Harter wrote a detailed analysis of the story in 1977, with special attention to the possible negligence of those who designed the situation in which dilemmas like this could occur, and how this paralleled similar concerns involving industrial safety legislation.[3]

Writer Don Sakers' short story "The Cold Solution"[4] deconstructs the premise. In 1992 it was awarded "the readers' favorite" Analog short story of 1991.[5]

In 1996, critic and engineer Gary Westfahl wrote that because the story's premise is based on systems that were built without adequate margin for error, the story is "good physics", but "lousy engineering", and that it frustrated him so much he decided it had been "not worth [his] time".[6]

In 2014, writer Cory Doctorow made a similar argument: he sees the situation presented in the story as an example of a "moral hazard". Doctorow notes that the constraints under which the characters operate are decided by the writers, and not "the inescapable laws of physics". He argues that the decision of the writer – to give the vessel no margin of safety and a critical supply of fuel and to focus readers' attention onto the necessity of tough decisions at a time of crisis, rather than mulling over the responsibility for proper planning from the onset - is intellectually dishonest and that "stories about how we can’t afford to hew to our values in time of crisis are a handy addition to every authoritarian’s playbook".[7]

In a 2019 essay, Doctorow condemned Campbell for turning the story "into a parable about the foolishness of women and the role of men in guiding them to accept the cold, hard facts of life".[8]

Precursors

There was a similar concept in a number of earlier stories:

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction points to A Plunge into Space (Robert Cromie, 1890)[9] as having a subplot very similar to "The Cold Equations".[10] "A Weighty Decision" (Al Feldstein in Weird Science, 1952)[11] and the story "Precedent" (E. C. Tubb in New Worlds, 1952)[12] also have been cited as potential inspirations. In all three, as in "The Cold Equations", a stowaway must be ejected from a spaceship because the fuel aboard is only sufficient for the planned mission mass.[13]

David Drake stated "The plot is lifted directly from 'A Weighty Decision,' a story in the May–June, 1952, issue of the EC comic Weird Science. I don't believe that coincidence could have created plots so similar in detail" and ends with "The plot is such an obvious steal from the comic that I think Godwin would have concealed it better if he hadn't intended to use a completely different ending. I can also imagine that Godwin wouldn't have expressed his qualms at changing the ending to Campbell, who wouldn't have winked at direct plagiarism. (Not that EC had any legitimate gripe: Bill Gaines laughed in later years about the way he and his staff at EC stole plots from SF stories and ran them without credit.)"[14]

Dramatic adaptations

Radio plays

Film and television

Web

The fiction podcast The Drabblecast released a full-cast reading of the story on July 15, 2013.[19]

Awards

Tied for 9th place in Astounding/Analog magazine's 1971 All-Time Poll short fiction category.[20]

Placed 8th in the 1999 Locus Awards for best novelette.[21]

Publication history

Original publication:

The following anthologies have included "The Cold Equations":

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Green, J.L. . Joseph L. Green . Fall 2006 . Our five days with John W. Campbell . Campbell, J.W. (interviewee) . . 171 . 13 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060618204513/http://www.challzine.net/23/23fivedays.html . 18 June 2006.
  2. Nevala-Lee, A. . Alec Nevala-Lee . 6 July 2016 . 'The Cold Equations' . . 13. NevalaLee.wordpress.com . 7 November 2020.
  3. In 1999 Richard Harter posted his 1977 critical study in a Usenet discussion group, and reprinted it on a personal web page:
    Web site: Harter, R. . December 1999 . 1977 . 'The Cold Equations': A critical study . RichardHartersWorld.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20131208103213/http://www.richardhartersworld.com/cri_d/cri/1999/coldeq.html . 8 December 2013 . dead.

    Web site: Harter, R. . 1977 . 30 November 1999 . 'The Cold Equations': A critical study (1977) . rec.arts.sf.written . Google Groups.

  4. Sakers, Don . July 1991 . The Cold Solution . . Harris, Dell (illustrations) . 211–219.
  5. Web site: The Cold Solution . . 29 April 2021.
  6. Book: Westfahl, G. . Gary Westfahl . 1996 . Cosmic Engineers: A study of hard science fiction . Praeger . 9780313297274.
  7. Doctorow, C. . Cory Doctorow . 2 March 2014 . Cold equations and moral hazard . . Perspectives .
  8. Doctorow, C. . Cory Doctorow . 4 November 2019 . Jeannette Ng was right: John W. Campbell was a fascist . . en-US . 2019-11-05.
  9. Book: A Plunge into Space . Cromie, Robert . Robert Cromie . 1890 . Frederick Warne and Co. . London . 28 April 2021.
  10. Web site: Cromie, Robert . November 13, 2019 . The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction . 29 April 2021.
  11. A Weighty Decision . Feldstein, Al . Wood, Wally (pencils) . May 1952 . Weird Science . 1 . 13.
  12. Precedent . Gray, Charles . Clothier (illus.) . Edwin Charles Tubb . May 1952 . New Worlds . 5 . 15 . 28 April 2021 . 28–39.
  13. The Cold Legacies . Brotherton, Mike . July 2011 . Lightspeed . 28 April 2021.
  14. Godwin, Tom (2003). The Cold Equations & Other Stories. "Afterword: Sometime It All Works". .
  15. Web site: The Cold Equations. 17 April 2017.
  16. Web site: The Cold Equations (TV Movie 1996) - IMDb . . September 23, 2015.
  17. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4131856/ The Stowaway
  18. News: How 'Stowaway' Solves a 67-Year Old Sci-Fi Problem . Berlatsky, Noah . April 22, 2021 . Observer . 28 April 2021.
  19. http://www.drabblecast.org/2013/07/15/drabblecast-289-the-cold-equations/ a full-cast reading of the story
  20. Web site: 1971 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll . . Locus . . https://web.archive.org/web/20080706071900/http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/AsfAT1971.html . December 8, 2019. 2008-07-06 .
  21. Web site: 1999 Locus All-Time Poll . . Locus . . https://web.archive.org/web/20080706082409/http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/LocusAT1999.html . December 8, 2019. 2008-07-06 .
  22. Web site: Modern Science Fiction . August 23, 2014 . Science Fiction Awards Database.
  23. Web site: The Road to Science Fiction #3: From Heinlein to Here . August 21, 2014 . Science Fiction Awards Database.
  24. Web site: Asimov/Greenberg: Great SF Stories . November 28, 2018 . Science Fiction Awards Database.
  25. Web site: The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF . August 19, 2014 . Science Fiction Awards Database.
  26. Web site: The World Turned Upside Down . August 23, 2014 . Science Fiction Awards Database.