There was a short story in an edition of "Fahrenheit 451" I read about 15 years ago that I would like to find. The story is about a monk that is searching for the name of God, and once the name is found, the world will end. I remember one of the last lines being something about the stars going out, one by one.

Can someone help me out?

I believe the story was called "The Nine billion Names of God" and it was written by Arthur C. Clarke.

The last few lines:

"Should be there in an hour," he called back over his shoulder to Chuck. Then he added, in an afterthought, "Wonder if the computer�s finished its run? It was due about now."

Chuck didn�t reply, so George swung round in his saddle. He could just see Chuck�s face, a white oval turned toward the sky.

"Look," whispered Chuck, and George lifted his eyes to heaven. (There is always a last time for everything.)

Overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out.


(Do a google search for more details.)

[This message has been edited by guapodevil (edited 12-30-2003).]

That's it. Wow, I could have sworn it was in the same book as 451. Regardless, it's been driving me nuts for months... I appreciate the assist.

That was "The Playground" which appeared at the end of F451, but this makes at least two votes for "The Nine Billion Names of God," enough to get it on the "frequently attributed to Ray" list.

I get it. Is that something that happens often, the "frequently attributed to Bradbury" phenomenon? I must confess that his volume of work is so large that it's almost intimidating to go back through it.

... although I really should!

I've accumulated enough titles for at least two good-sized anthologies. I'll post them below.

First batch of Solved Ones comin atcha to kick off the New Year! Unsolved can mostly be found here and there on these boards, except for a few which came from other forums.

"Who Can Replace a Man?", Brian Aldiss. (Unconfirmed,* but pretty certain.)
"Profession," Isaac Asimov
"The Fun They Had," Isaac Asimov
"Nightfall," Isaac Asimov
"The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet," book 1 of a series by Eleanor Cameron
"Star Bright," Mark Clifton
"The Most Dangerous Game," Richard Connell
"In the Penal Colony," Franz Kafka
"The Sense of Wonder," Milton Lesser
"The Tunnel Under the World," Frederik Pohl
"Examination Day," Henry Slesar
"Harrison Bergeron," Kurt Vonnegut

*"Unconfirmed"--guesses which are likely but not absolutely firm. People post these questions and then don't check back! They either give up on finding the answers, or find them elsewhere and don't inform people here who are still looking!

[This message has been edited by dandelion (edited 01-01-2004).]

Here's Batch #2:

"A Mother's Tale," James Agee
"That Hell-Bound Train," Robert Bloch
"Arena," Frederic Brown
"The Nine Billion Names of God," Arthur C. Clarke
"Rescue Party," Arthur C. Clarke (first published story)
"Food For Thought," Roberts Gannaway
"The Sea Devil," Arthur Gordon
The "Light of Other Days" short story series, Bob Shaw
"My Trip to Alpha I," Alfred Slote
"Silent Running," 1972 film written by Deric Washburn and Michael Cimino (as Mike Cimino) and Steven Bochco. It was also a book, but I think that was a novelization of the film, not a book first.
"The Adaptive Ultimate," Stanley G. Weinbaum (Unconfirmed.)
"Irtnog," E. B. White

[This message has been edited by dandelion (edited 01-01-2004).]

Another fairly definite solve, left out of the earlier list: "The Other Side," by Walter Kubilius.

This reply came by way of the Community Forum at Abebooks:

FYI, the novelization of "Silent Running" was by Harlan Thompson; I have a copy, very thin little paperback.

The movie was one of the first "true" SF films that I saw in the theater.

JasonCR