With Folded Hands

"With Folded Hands..."
Short story by Jack Williamson
Astounding Science Fiction cover by William Timmins
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s)Science fiction
Publication
Published inAstounding Science Fiction
PublisherStreet & Smith
Media typePrint
Publication date1947
Chronology
SeriesHumanoids series
 
 
The Humanoids

"With Folded Hands ..." is a 1947 science fiction novelette[1] by American writer Jack Williamson (1908–2006). In writing it, Willamson was influenced by the aftermath of World War II, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and his concern that "some of the technological creations we had developed with the best intentions might have disastrous consequences in the long run."[2]

The novelette first appeared in the July 1947 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and was later included in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two (1973) after being voted one of the best novellas up to 1965. In 1950, it was the first of several Astounding stories adapted for NBC's radio series Dimension X.