Scan barcode
A review by octavia_cade
The Voice of the Dolphins and Other Stories by Leo Szilard
3.0
Szilard, I think it is fair to say, was a man with one foot in the future - scientifically and politically at least. He, together with Einstein, wrote the letter that kick-started the Manhattan Project. Working on the bomb and using that bomb were quite different things, however, and one suspects that he never quite got over the latter.
The titular story in this collection is essentially a thought experiment: the establishment of a political environment where the threat of atomic war is ameliorated, and peace between nations established. Its interest (and that of the collection as a whole) lies in the connection between this thought experiment and Szilard's own personal/professional context. A second attempt on the same subject ("The Mined Cities") is essentially the same thing, with the added benefit of brevity, and the few remaining stories run along the theme of failure - whether of the dolphins' plan, or all others.
The book is not, one must say, a literary triumph - Szilard tends to didacticism and clearly prefers blueprints to beautiful prose. Still, as a science fiction response to atomic war it has interest and even, I think, importance - even if the latter results from the author instead of the text.
The titular story in this collection is essentially a thought experiment: the establishment of a political environment where the threat of atomic war is ameliorated, and peace between nations established. Its interest (and that of the collection as a whole) lies in the connection between this thought experiment and Szilard's own personal/professional context. A second attempt on the same subject ("The Mined Cities") is essentially the same thing, with the added benefit of brevity, and the few remaining stories run along the theme of failure - whether of the dolphins' plan, or all others.
The book is not, one must say, a literary triumph - Szilard tends to didacticism and clearly prefers blueprints to beautiful prose. Still, as a science fiction response to atomic war it has interest and even, I think, importance - even if the latter results from the author instead of the text.