I've been wracking my brain with this one. I'm sure one of you will know the answer. I'm trying to recall the title of a short story Ray wrote (pre 1980) about time travel. I read it back in high school and can't remember the name of the story. I thought it was in The Illustrated Man, but I looked recently and couldn't find it there. The story is about a group of people who travel in time back to a prehistoric era. Despite strict instructions not to alter the environment, one of the visitors steps on and kills a butterfly. When the travelers return home, they find subtle differences vs when they left (e.g. words spelled differently on billboards). Anybody have any ideas where I could find this story? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks, Pterran. Sounds like it's one that many Bradbury fans are familiar with. Do you know which anthology it might be in? It's really a great story. Certainly makes one think about the lasting effect we have on the world around us. Bradbury was brilliant to have put the thought in such a thought-provoking context.
Did you know, Time Traveler, that a movie is being made of this story? I can't wait!!! There is also a short version of it as one of the Bradbury Theater episodes.
I just pulled up some further data about the upcoming movie. It sounds like it will be a major film. Produced by Warner Bros, starring Ed Burns, Ben Kingsley. Great stuff. I also found a version of A Sound of Thunder on the web and re-read the story. It's even more impactful than I remember. Ray wrote this story even before the Butterfly Effect was theorized by meteorologists in the late 1950's and early 1960's. Truly a man ahed of his time.
