| "The Last Question" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Short story by Isaac Asimov | |||
 | |||
| Country | United States | ||
| Language | English | ||
| Genre(s) | Science fiction | ||
| Publication | |||
| Published in | Science Fiction Quarterly | ||
| Publication type | Periodical | ||
| Publisher | Columbia Publications | ||
| Media type | Print (Magazine, Hardback & Paperback) | ||
| Publication date | November 1956 | ||
| Chronology | |||
| Series | Multivac | ||
| |||
"The Last Question" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in the November 1956 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and in the anthologies in the collections Nine Tomorrows (1959), The Best of Isaac Asimov (1973), Robot Dreams (1986), The Best Science Fiction of Isaac Asimov (1986), the retrospective Opus 100 (1969), and in Isaac Asimov: The Complete Stories, Vol. 1 (1990). While he also considered it one of his best works,[1] "The Last Question" was Asimov's favorite short story of his own authorship, and is one of a loosely connected series of stories concerning a fictional computer called Multivac. Through successive generations, humanity questions Multivac on the subject of entropy.
The story overlaps science fiction, theology, and philosophy. It has been recognized as a counterpoint to Fredric Brown's short short story "Answer," published two years earlier.[2][3]
- ^ The big book of science fiction : the ultimate collection. Ann VanderMeer, Jeff VanderMeer. New York. 2016. ISBN 978-1-101-91009-2. OCLC 928107748.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ Gardner, Martin (1983). The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener.
- ^ Landon, Brooks (2008). "computers in science fiction". In Gunn, James; Barr, Marleen S.; Candelaria, Matthew (eds.). Reading Science Fiction.