The Cube Root of Uncertainty is a collection of science fiction

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 stories

Short Stories

Short Stories may refer to:*A plural for Short story*Short Stories , an American pulp magazine published from 1890-1959*Short Stories, a 1954 collection by O. E...

 by Robert Silverberg

Robert Silverberg

Robert Silverberg is an American author, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple nominee of the Hugo Award and a winner of the Nebula Award.-Early years:...

, published in hardcover by Macmillan

Macmillan Publishers

Macmillan Publishers Ltd, also known as The Macmillan Group, is a privately held international publishing company owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. It has offices in 41 countries worldwide and operates in more than thirty others.-History:...

 in 1970 and issued in paperback by Collier Books

Collier Books

Collier Books was a publisher established by the Collier family. It later become part of Crowell-Collier Publishing, which merged with Macmillan Publishing to become Macmillan, Inc.....

 in 1971. No further editions have been issued.

Contents

• "Introduction"
• "Passengers
  Passengers (story)
  "Passengers" is a science fiction short story by Robert Silverberg. It was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story 1970, and won the Nebula Award for Best Short Story in 1969.-Plot summary:The story is set in the year 1987...
  
  " (Orbit 4 1968)
• "Double Dare" (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...
  
   1956)
• "The Sixth Palace" (Galaxy 1965)
• "Translation Error" (Astounding 1959)
• "The Shadow of Wings" (If
  If (magazine)
  If was an American science fiction magazine launched in March 1952 by Quinn Publications, owned by James L. Quinn. Quinn hired Paul W. Fairman to be the first editor, but early circulation figures were disappointing, and Quinn fired Fairman after only three issues. Quinn then took over the...
  
   1963)
• "Absolutely Inflexible" (Fantastic Universe
  Fantastic Universe
  Fantastic Universe was a U.S. science fiction magazine which began publishing in the 1950s. It ran for 69 issues, from June 1953 to March 1960, under two different publishers. It was part of the explosion of science fiction magazine publishing in the 1950s in the United States, and was moderately...
  
   1956)
• "The Iron Chancellor (Galaxy 1958)
• "Mugwump Four" (Galaxy 1959)
• "To the Dark Star" (The Farthest Reaches 1968)
• "Neighbor" (Galaxy 1964)
• "Halfway House" (If 1966)
• "Sundance" (F&SF 1969)

"Passengers" won the Nebula Award for Best Short Story

Nebula Award for Best Short Story

Winners of the '“Nebula Award for Best Short Story”'. The stated year is that of publication; awards are given in the following year. Winning titles are listed first, with other nominees listed below.-Winners and nominees:-External links:* *...

 and was nominated for the Hugo Award

Hugo Award

The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...

.

Reception

Joanna Russ

Joanna Russ

Joanna Russ was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as How to Suppress Women's Writing, as well as a contemporary novel, On Strike Against God, and one children's book, Kittatinny...

gave the collection a mixed review, noting its division between early work ("Old Silverberg is an idiot") and more recent efforts ("New Silverberg is something else: a highly colored, gloomy, melodramatic, morally allegorical writer who luxuriates in lush description and has a real love of calamity"). She noted that even the better stories were marked by "the sophomoric dark doom that most of us -- far less technically expert -- dealt with during our apprenticeships."