Anniversary (Asimov)
Encyclopedia
Anniversary is a science fiction
short story
by Isaac Asimov
. It was first published in the March 1959 issue of Amazing Stories
and subsequently appeared in the collections Asimov's Mysteries
(1968) and The Best of Isaac Asimov
(1973). The story was written to mark the twentieth anniversary of Asimov's first published story, "Marooned Off Vesta
", in the March 1939 issue of Amazing. The story is also part of a loosely connected series of stories by Asimov about the supercomputer Multivac
.
. Every year, they meet on the anniversary of the disaster to celebrate their survival. On the 20th anniversary, Brandon has a surprise: he appears at Moore's house with Michael Shea, the third survivor.
As the three men reminisce, Brandon admits that he is unhappy with the way their fame has faded over the years. Even though the three are still the only people ever to survive a spaceship wreck, the public has forgotten them. The only thing the general public remember about the wreck of the Silver Queen is that Dr. Horace Quentin, a great scientist, was killed.
When Shea mentions that Trans-space Insurance is still searching for wreckage from the ship, 20 years later, it occurs to Brandon that there must have been something extremely valuable on board, and that Trans-space still hasn't found it. The three men learn via Moore's Multivac terminal that Quentin had a revolutionary new optical device with him on the ship, and that it is still missing. The only clue is the description of the device as "an opticon", an apparent reference to a light-manipulating device.
Moore realizes that he has had it all along; he unknowingly obtained it during the wreck. The device's name is "anopticon", meaning a device without lenses. He discovers that an apparently useless tube a few inches long, which he had taken as a souvenir, can be used as a powerful microscope or telescope. It seems to use force-fields instead of lenses and is extremely versatile. With Quentin's device in their possession, the three men will once again become famous.
In the first story, the irony was that the men were in orbit around Vesta with no source of motive power but a year's supply of water. They find a way to use the water as a makeshift rocket in order to reach Vesta, and on the way down they make a toast: "Here's to the year's supply of water we used to have." At the end of this story, they change the toast to "Here's to the souvenirs we used to have."
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
by Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
. It was first published in the March 1959 issue of Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...
and subsequently appeared in the collections Asimov's Mysteries
Asimov's Mysteries
Asimov's Mysteries, published in 1968, is a collection of 14 short stories by Isaac Asimov, all of them science fiction mysteries...
(1968) and The Best of Isaac Asimov
The Best of Isaac Asimov
The Best of Isaac Asimov is a collection of twelve science fiction short stories by Isaac Asimov. It begins with a short introduction giving various details on the stories, such as how they came to be written, or what significance merits their inclusion in a "best of" collection, as well as some...
(1973). The story was written to mark the twentieth anniversary of Asimov's first published story, "Marooned Off Vesta
Marooned Off Vesta
Marooned Off Vesta is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It was the third story written by Asimov, and the first to be published. Written in July 1938 when Asimov was 18, it was rejected by Astounding Science Fiction in August, then accepted in October by Amazing Stories, appearing in...
", in the March 1939 issue of Amazing. The story is also part of a loosely connected series of stories by Asimov about the supercomputer Multivac
Multivac
Multivac is the name of a fictional supercomputer in many stories by Isaac Asimov. According to his autobiography In Memory Yet Green, Asimov coined the name in imitation of UNIVAC, an early mainframe computer...
.
Plot summary
Warren Moore and Mark Brandon are two of the three survivors of the wreck of the Silver Queen in the asteroid beltAsteroid belt
The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets...
. Every year, they meet on the anniversary of the disaster to celebrate their survival. On the 20th anniversary, Brandon has a surprise: he appears at Moore's house with Michael Shea, the third survivor.
As the three men reminisce, Brandon admits that he is unhappy with the way their fame has faded over the years. Even though the three are still the only people ever to survive a spaceship wreck, the public has forgotten them. The only thing the general public remember about the wreck of the Silver Queen is that Dr. Horace Quentin, a great scientist, was killed.
When Shea mentions that Trans-space Insurance is still searching for wreckage from the ship, 20 years later, it occurs to Brandon that there must have been something extremely valuable on board, and that Trans-space still hasn't found it. The three men learn via Moore's Multivac terminal that Quentin had a revolutionary new optical device with him on the ship, and that it is still missing. The only clue is the description of the device as "an opticon", an apparent reference to a light-manipulating device.
Moore realizes that he has had it all along; he unknowingly obtained it during the wreck. The device's name is "anopticon", meaning a device without lenses. He discovers that an apparently useless tube a few inches long, which he had taken as a souvenir, can be used as a powerful microscope or telescope. It seems to use force-fields instead of lenses and is extremely versatile. With Quentin's device in their possession, the three men will once again become famous.
In the first story, the irony was that the men were in orbit around Vesta with no source of motive power but a year's supply of water. They find a way to use the water as a makeshift rocket in order to reach Vesta, and on the way down they make a toast: "Here's to the year's supply of water we used to have." At the end of this story, they change the toast to "Here's to the souvenirs we used to have."
Story notes
- Asimov notes in his comments on the story that Moore picking up the device had been a throwaway line he included in the original "Marooned Off Vesta".
- The story has an uncanny similarity to the framing story of the film TitanicTitanic (1997 film)Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
. In both, an insurance company is searching an ancient shipwreck for a valuable artifact, and in both, the main protagonist survivor(s) are revealed at the end to have had possession of it all along.