One in Three Hundred
Encyclopedia
One in Three Hundred is a science fiction
novel written by J. T. McIntosh
. It was originally published as 3 novellas in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1953-54 [One in 300 (F&SF, Feb 1953), One in a Thousand (F&SF, Jan 1954), and One Too Many (F&SF, Sept 54)], and was then published by Doubleday & Company, Inc.. During 1956 the novel was reissued by Ace
as Ace Double D-113, in a dos-à-dos binding
with Dwight V. Swain
's The Transposed Man.
The original (first) novella was included in the anthology Best SF of 1954.
increasing its solar output. Applying this principle, worldwide consensus has determined which day, hour, and minute the Sun will brighten so much as to boil away the Earth's seas. Realizing that the heightened albedo
will destroy life as we know it, the world's nations debate what to do when the Sun "goes off." Since the Earth's rotation continues at 360 degrees in 24 hours, it will take only one day to cause all of the Earth's ocean
s to boil away. Terrific hurricanes and tidal waves will also occur, causing all buildings to be destroyed. If there are any survivors, they will be in hardened bunkers deep underground, and they will only be able to last as long as their food lasts.
The unavoidability of the impending doom has caused some technologically advanced countries to look for sanctuary on another planet, such as Mars
.
This is all scheduled to happen in a few years, and the exact minute and hour of the Sun's increase in radiance does not give the human race much time to devise a way of navigating space to an orbit as far away as Mars.
Nevertheless, massive building programs are initiated, and hundreds of spaceships are raised, many of them unfit for flight.
A series of national lotteries are established with grand prize being a ticket to ride a spaceship off the Earth, and possibly make it as far as Mars. Many spaceships, however, were built without landing gear. Although many ships were supposed to have shortwave radios to communicate with each other, many of the shortwave radios were simply empty cases as the tubes and wires had been left out.
The protagonist of the story has been elected into a position of authority, and must choose which people to take with him to Mars.
He has only a limited number of tickets, and knows there will come a time when people with guns will storm their way onboard, rather than stand in line until the tickets are depleted. The book is titled "One in Three Hundred" because only one in three hundred people in the United States will get a ticket to leave the Earth, and there is still a question whether the spaceships will have enough air, or even be able to travel to Mars in time, and nobody is certain whether the atmosphere of Mars is breathable, or whether Mars will even be habitable when they get there.
wrote of the novel:
Galaxy
reviewer Groff Conklin
more charitably described the novel as "a thrilling and tragic story." Anthony Boucher
, who had published the original stories in F&SF, reviewed the novel as "McIntosh's best work and one of the most human science fiction stories by anyone." P. Schuyler Miller
noted the popularity of the original stories and termed McIntosh "a writer to watch."
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...
novel written by J. T. McIntosh
J. T. McIntosh
J. T. McIntosh was a pseudonym used by Scottish writer and journalist James Murdoch MacGregor.-Biography:Born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, but living largely in Aberdeen, MacGregor used the McIntosh pseudonym as well as "H. J...
. It was originally published as 3 novellas in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1953-54 [One in 300 (F&SF, Feb 1953), One in a Thousand (F&SF, Jan 1954), and One Too Many (F&SF, Sept 54)], and was then published by Doubleday & Company, Inc.. During 1956 the novel was reissued by Ace
Ace Books
Ace Books is the oldest active specialty publisher of science fiction and fantasy books. The company was founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn, and began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns...
as Ace Double D-113, in a dos-à-dos binding
Dos-à-dos binding
In bookbinding, a dos-à-dos binding is a binding structure in which two separate books are bound together such that the fore edge of one is adjacent to the spine of the other, with a shared lower board between them serving as the back cover of both...
with Dwight V. Swain
Dwight V. Swain
Dwight Vreeland Swain , born in Rochester, Michigan, was an American writer.His first published story was "Henry Horn's Super Solvent", which appeared in Fantastic Adventures in 1941. He contributed stories in the science fiction, mystery, Western, and action adventure genres to a variety of pulp...
's The Transposed Man.
The original (first) novella was included in the anthology Best SF of 1954.
Plot
Set in the near future when a scientific principle has been discovered allowing exceptionally accurate predictions of solar flares and the occurrence of the SunSun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
increasing its solar output. Applying this principle, worldwide consensus has determined which day, hour, and minute the Sun will brighten so much as to boil away the Earth's seas. Realizing that the heightened albedo
Albedo
Albedo , or reflection coefficient, is the diffuse reflectivity or reflecting power of a surface. It is defined as the ratio of reflected radiation from the surface to incident radiation upon it...
will destroy life as we know it, the world's nations debate what to do when the Sun "goes off." Since the Earth's rotation continues at 360 degrees in 24 hours, it will take only one day to cause all of the Earth's ocean
Ocean
An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...
s to boil away. Terrific hurricanes and tidal waves will also occur, causing all buildings to be destroyed. If there are any survivors, they will be in hardened bunkers deep underground, and they will only be able to last as long as their food lasts.
The unavoidability of the impending doom has caused some technologically advanced countries to look for sanctuary on another planet, such as Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
.
This is all scheduled to happen in a few years, and the exact minute and hour of the Sun's increase in radiance does not give the human race much time to devise a way of navigating space to an orbit as far away as Mars.
Nevertheless, massive building programs are initiated, and hundreds of spaceships are raised, many of them unfit for flight.
A series of national lotteries are established with grand prize being a ticket to ride a spaceship off the Earth, and possibly make it as far as Mars. Many spaceships, however, were built without landing gear. Although many ships were supposed to have shortwave radios to communicate with each other, many of the shortwave radios were simply empty cases as the tubes and wires had been left out.
The protagonist of the story has been elected into a position of authority, and must choose which people to take with him to Mars.
He has only a limited number of tickets, and knows there will come a time when people with guns will storm their way onboard, rather than stand in line until the tickets are depleted. The book is titled "One in Three Hundred" because only one in three hundred people in the United States will get a ticket to leave the Earth, and there is still a question whether the spaceships will have enough air, or even be able to travel to Mars in time, and nobody is certain whether the atmosphere of Mars is breathable, or whether Mars will even be habitable when they get there.
Critical reception
Damon KnightDamon Knight
Damon Francis Knight was an American science fiction author, editor, critic and fan. His forte was short stories and he is widely acknowledged as having been a master of the genre.-Biography:...
wrote of the novel:
McIntosh is a gee-whiz writer...Build a lot of dinky little ships that can transport 11 people each? Great; this makes fully as much sense as building a lot of teaspoons to put out a fire with...Once our ship gets out and into space, the passengers discover it is too well insulated; they are slowly being roasted to death by their own body heat, until they take a couple of insulating panels off. Gee whiz!...At the time of the story, the author would have us believe, we have been in the spaceship business for some years; we've got a colony on Mars and regular, if infrequent, passenger service thereto -- and all this time, nobody had figured out a way to regulate the interior temperature of spaceships, untl this very moment? Really?...Most exasperating of all, not one of this story's flaws is essential to it. If they had all been corrected, the story would have been basically much the same; but it would have been a thousand times more plausible, a lot more fun to read - and beyond doubt it would have lived longer than it is now doomed to do.
Galaxy
Galaxy Science Fiction
Galaxy Science Fiction was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by an Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break in to the American market. World Editions hired as editor H. L...
reviewer Groff Conklin
Groff Conklin
Edward Groff Conklin was a leading science fiction anthologist. He edited 40 anthologies of science fiction, one of mystery stories , wrote books on home improvement and was a freelance writer on scientific subjects as well as a published poet...
more charitably described the novel as "a thrilling and tragic story." Anthony Boucher
Anthony Boucher
Anthony Boucher was an American science fiction editor and author of mystery novels and short stories. He was particularly influential as an editor. Between 1942 and 1947 he acted as reviewer of mostly mystery fiction for the San Francisco Chronicle...
, who had published the original stories in F&SF, reviewed the novel as "McIntosh's best work and one of the most human science fiction stories by anyone." P. Schuyler Miller
P. Schuyler Miller
Peter Schuyler Miller was an American science fiction writer and critic.-Life:Miller was raised in New York's Mohawk Valley, which led to a life-long interest in the Iroquois Indians. He pursued this as an amateur archaeologist and a member of the New York State Archaeological Association.He...
noted the popularity of the original stories and termed McIntosh "a writer to watch."
External links
- One in Three Hundred at The Open Library
- One in Three Hundred at Google Books