Life-Line
Encyclopedia
"Life-Line" is a short story by American author Robert A. Heinlein
. Published in 1939, it was Heinlein's first published short story.
The protagonist, Professor Pinero, builds a machine that will predict how long a person will live. It does this by sending a signal along the world line
of a person and detecting the echo from the far end. Professor Pinero's invention has a powerful impact on the life insurance industry, as well as on his own life.
Pinero is mentioned in passing in the novels Time Enough for Love
and Methuselah's Children
when the practically immortal Lazarus Long
mentions having been examined and being sent away because the machine is "broken".
Heinlein was motivated to write the story by a contest in Thrilling Wonder Stories
magazine promising $50 US to the winner, but ended up submitting it to a rival magazine, Astounding, and was paid $70 (approximately $1085 in 2008). It made a later appearance in The Worlds of Robert A. Heinlein
, a collection of short stories published in 1966, in Expanded Universe in 1980, and in a Baen edition of "The Man Who Sold The Moon", ISBN 0671656236, 1987.
In Grumbles from the Grave
, on receiving the check for the story Heinlein is reported to have said, "How long has this racket been going on?" The amount was the equivalent of about $500 in 1984, or approximately one month's rent on a nice apartment.
" (e.g. Bush/Obama administrations buy-in of General Motors, and Wall Street bail-outs):
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
. Published in 1939, it was Heinlein's first published short story.
The protagonist, Professor Pinero, builds a machine that will predict how long a person will live. It does this by sending a signal along the world line
World line
In physics, the world line of an object is the unique path of that object as it travels through 4-dimensional spacetime. The concept of "world line" is distinguished from the concept of "orbit" or "trajectory" by the time dimension, and typically encompasses a large area of spacetime wherein...
of a person and detecting the echo from the far end. Professor Pinero's invention has a powerful impact on the life insurance industry, as well as on his own life.
Pinero is mentioned in passing in the novels Time Enough for Love
Time Enough for Love
Time Enough for Love is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, first published in 1973. The work was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1973 and both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1974.-Plot:...
and Methuselah's Children
Methuselah's Children
Methuselah's Children is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, originally serialized in Astounding Science Fiction in the July, August, and September 1941 issues. It was expanded into a full-length novel in 1958....
when the practically immortal Lazarus Long
Lazarus Long
Lazarus Long is a fictional character featured in a number of science fiction novels by Robert A. Heinlein. Born in 1912 in the third generation of a selective breeding experiment run by the Ira Howard Foundation, Lazarus becomes unusually long-lived, living well over two thousand years with the...
mentions having been examined and being sent away because the machine is "broken".
Heinlein was motivated to write the story by a contest in Thrilling Wonder Stories
Wonder Stories
Wonder Stories was an early American science fiction magazine which was published under several titles from 1929 to 1955. It was founded by Hugo Gernsback in 1929 after he had lost control of his first science fiction magazine, Amazing Stories, when his media company Experimenter Publishing went...
magazine promising $50 US to the winner, but ended up submitting it to a rival magazine, Astounding, and was paid $70 (approximately $1085 in 2008). It made a later appearance in The Worlds of Robert A. Heinlein
The Worlds of Robert A. Heinlein
The Worlds of Robert A. Heinlein is a collection of science fiction short stories by Robert A. Heinlein published in 1966.It includes an introduction entitled "Pandora's Box" that describes some of the difficulties in making predictions about the near future...
, a collection of short stories published in 1966, in Expanded Universe in 1980, and in a Baen edition of "The Man Who Sold The Moon", ISBN 0671656236, 1987.
In Grumbles from the Grave
Grumbles from the Grave
Grumbles from the Grave is a posthumous 1989 autobiography of science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein collated by his wife Virginia Heinlein from his notes and writings.-Background:...
, on receiving the check for the story Heinlein is reported to have said, "How long has this racket been going on?" The amount was the equivalent of about $500 in 1984, or approximately one month's rent on a nice apartment.
Excerpt
An often quoted passage from this story is relevant to modern discussions of intellectual monopoly, and businesses "Too big to failToo Big to Fail
Too Big to Fail is a television drama film in the United States broadcast on HBO on May 23, 2011. It is based on the non-fiction book Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin. The TV film was directed by Curtis Hanson...
" (e.g. Bush/Obama administrations buy-in of General Motors, and Wall Street bail-outs):