All the many names of the supreme being god, jehovah, allah, and so on they are only manmade labels. They believed that the universe was solely created in order for us to name all of gods names and they believed that once they had completed discovering all of gods names that. The nine billion names of god is another religiously rooted story about monks getting a supercomputer to find all names of god to be ready when he comes. Childhoods end audio childhoods end pdf a walk in the dark a borrowed title like the others, but especially. If it contains a prophecy, it is one that cannot be verified for several billion years. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. The nine billion names of god arthur c clarke ministry. Clarke has written over a hundred short stories, most of which have been anthologized before. Praise god, the almighty is not as silly and simplistic as described here. Clarke this is a slightly unusual request, said dr. Clarke contents view concise listing vi introduction the nine billion names of god 1967 essay by arthur c. There are also some stories that are precursors for. In the same vein as the rc5 and desii challenges, we will attempt to harness the idle computing power of the world to find the 9 billion names of god and bring about the destruction of the universe through the.
The nine billion names of god was written by the venerable sir arthur c. To include a little background from clarkes forward in his 1974 reprise anthology the nine billion names of god signet, the new american library inc. We see the result of the mark vs labors, in that at the end of the listingrecitation, the stars wink out of. Arthur c clark nine billion names of god free download as pdf file. It poses, instead, a future where spirituality remains most closely in touch with the universes fundamental laws, depicting the shock a modern rationalist would. In arthur c clarkes story the 9 billion names of god the names of god are all possible sequences in an unspecified alphabet, having no more than nine characters, where no letter occurs more than three times in succession. Clarke in which a group of monks buys a computer to calculate all the names of god theres even a distributed computing webpage which proposes this project. Etext library the nine billion names of god the nine billion names of god arthur c.
The deep range pdf 10 pages the nine billion names of god pdf 8 pages the parasite pdf 12 pages second dawn pdf 24 pages the star pdf 9 pages the stroke of the sun pdf 8 pages a walk in the dark pdf 8 pages. Clarke in 1953 and is included in his science fiction anthology of the same name. Astronomy, totally rad science fiction friday the nine billion names of god by arthur c. What modification does the lama want to make to the mark v computer. You can read the 9 billion names of god for free with this pdf. Nonfictional story from clarke about his conversation with a telecommunications traitor to the ussr and their plans for the unrestricted american airwaves. A welleducated lama from tibet visits a hightech american. I found the task quite interesting, and got up to 512 correction 5 before the thread it was on drifted to other things as threads are wont to do. Sir arthur predicted the use of communications satellites in 1945 and submitted a proposal for such a system that was nearly laughed out of court. They ask for a super computer named the mark v to be installed at their monastery to speed up the process and request that instead of using number sequences it should use their special. This task is a variation of the short story by arthur c. Science fiction friday the nine billion names of god by. We cover the famous science fiction short story the 9 billion names of god by arthur c clarke on todays scifi discussion video.
Nine billion names of god clarke the nine billion names of god by arthur c. The story was among the stories selected in 1970 by the science fiction writers of america as one of the best science fiction short stories published before the creation of the nebula awards. It was reprinted in the science fiction hall of fame, volume one, 19291964. Mar 18, 2008 the nine billion names of god follows three employees of a computer company as they sell, deliver and maintain a relatively large and fast computer to a group of tibetan monks. The nine billion names of god is a 1953 science fiction short story by british writer arthur c. The nine billion names of god, published in 1953 was about a tibetan monastery whose monks sought to list every imaginable name of god. But these are his twentyfive favorites and they combine to make fine reading. While doing some research the other day, i came across a fictional story by an author named arthur c. And no more than 3 consecutive occurrences of the same letter are permitted. This collection of science fiction short stories inc. The nine billion names of god follows three employees of a computer company as they sell, deliver and maintain a relatively large and fast computer to a group of tibetan monks. As far as i know, its the first time anyones been asked to supply a tibetan monastery with an automatic sequence computer.
The nine billion names of god summary supersummary. Scribd is the worlds largest social reading and publishing site. Its the first time im not writing the script, for istance. Clarke finally won a retrospective hugo award for best short story. Like atfn, this is another that began decades ago, but wasnt finished until now. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of the nine billion names of god by arthur c. Read hundreds of free scifi stories from asimov, lovecraft. View all covers for the nine billion names of god logged in users can change user. Now i have seen that handiwork, and my faith is sorely troubled. The purpose of the ending is to surprise and unsettle the reader, rather than to indicate some underlying truth or convey some significant message. I havent seen either of online versions, but quick skimming of text version suggests. For such a short story, the nine billion names of god has a lot to say about faith, fate, and hubris while leaving a lot to the imagination. Apr 06, 2007 some monks in a monastery in tibet have been researching the real names of god for 3 centuries apparently, the familiar names of god are not good enough. The others range from the tall fantasy tales from the.
We cover the famous science fiction short story the 9 billion names of god by. God is known in judah, his name is great in israel. If anyone has read the short story the nine billion names of god by arthur c. Contents introduction the nine billion names of god 1953 i remember babylon 1960 trouble with time 1960 rescue party 1946 the curse 1946 summertime on icarus 1960. Analysis and interpretation the nine billion names of god. The nine billion names of god i remember babylon trouble with time rescue party the curse summertime on icarus dog star hide and seek out of the sun the wall of darkness no morning after the possessed death and the senator whos there. Discussion questions for the nine billion names of god. Help with the theme of the short story the nine billion names of god. As far as i know, its the vrst time anyones been asked to supply a tibetan monastery with an automatic sequence computer. The title story is quietly remarkable as tibetan monks complete their lifes work with the aid of a computer and the star also makes an unsettling comment on religion.
This story appeals to me on so many levels, but the thing that sticks with me the most is the very last line of the story. The monks could have been compiling this list of nine billion separate nine letter words that were something other than the true names of god, but to what end. Understanding the names of god will help us understand how to praise and worship him more effectively. Asma alhusna the quran on the divine names mevlana jalaluddin rumi on the divine names allah the greatest name arrahman 1 the allmerciful arrahim 2 the allbeneficient almalik 3 the absolute ruler alquddus 4 the pure one assalam 5. In this way its a lot like a ghost story or urban legend. I do not know who gave the nebula its name, which seems to me a very bad one. Daniel barker daniel is the founder of you can science, and also the producer of a science podcast called uncertainty principle, which this website hosts. But this is notreally the full truth of the in the commentary entitled tafsir of the writers the authors add to their mention of theexpression the beautiful names the remark, are ninetynine in number. We see the result of the mark vs labors, in that at the end of the listingrecitation, the stars wink out of the sky, indicating that the entire universe is disappearing. The nine billion names of god challenges the popular rationalist resonances of the mid1950s, which emerged partly out of the first groundbreaking advances in computation.
I had started a hobby back in 2010, to list as many names of god or gods as i could locate, alphabetically. Mar 18, 2014 for such a short story, the nine billion names of god has a lot to say about faith, fate, and hubris while leaving a lot to the imagination. The nine billion names of god signetnew american library, paperback, 1980. The nine billion names of god i radio drama based on the 1967 science fiction story by arthur c. In nine billion names of god a group of monks have been writing down possible names for god for three centuries. The nine billion names of god is basically a horror story.
Wagner, with what he hoped was commendable restraint. Nepalese monks hire an ibm computer to print all possible nine letter words in a special language which could be the name of their god. There are some stories about antigravity, new worlds, horse like creatures who meet tiny creatures who may outsmart them before too long. They know the written real names of god will be exactly 9 letters long letters drawn from their special alphabet. A most unusual short story by carter scholz is called the nine billion names of god and takes the form of letters between scholz and an editor at a science fiction magazine discussing the fact that scholz submitted a copy of clarkes story with his name on the byline. Set at a tibetan lamasery, a type of monastery, the nine. The nine billion names of god is a collection of short stories from acclaimed sciencefiction author arthur c. Help with the theme of the short story the nine billion. The nine billion names of god was the first arthur c clarke story i ever read, and within a week of reading it i was devouring his work. The nine billion names of god is my most cooperative brickfilm so far.
Ive found the nine billion names of god as a nicelypresented free pdf download here. Text also in textbook audiovideo recording youtube another audiovideo recording sfaudio arthur c. They ask for a super computer named the mark v to be installed at their monastery to speed up the process and request that instead of using number sequences it should use their special alphabet and that no letter must be used more than three time consecutively and should. The story was among the stories selected in 1970 by the.
Out of curiosity, i started playing around with determining how many valid sequences there are in a range. The nine billion names of god audio the nine billion names of god pdf childhoods end. Nine billion names of god summaryopinion yourshiningknight. Aug 21, 2017 the nine billion names of god is my most cooperative brickfilm so far. The machine that killed the stars the 9 billion names of god. But this is notreally the full truth of the in the commentary entitled tafsir of the writers the authors add to their mention of theexpression the beautiful names the remark, are ninety nine in number. How long did the monks believe it would take them to complete this task when they began it, three centuries earlier. What does the end of nine billion names of god signify. The machine that killed the stars the 9 billion names of. Mar 07, 2020 we cover the famous science fiction short story the 9 billion names of god by arthur c clarke on todays scifi discussion video.
If you have not read it and would like to here is a link. Feb 15, 2014 in nine billion names of god a group of monks have been writing down possible names for god for three centuries. The monks want the computer to help them print out all the possible names of god, of which they believe there are about nine billion. The nine billion names of god 1967 collection by arthur c. The machine that killed the stars the 9 billion names. Science fiction friday the nine billion names of god by arthur c. Never cared for 68 until i was finished with this work. The monks could have been compiling this list of nine billion separate nineletter words that were something other than the true names of god, but to what end. The nine billion names of god arthur c clarke ministry of. One thing that stood out was the humor of the stories something i dont necessarily associate with clarke. Analysis and interpretation the nine billion names of god in 1953 arthur c. Experten stellen ausgewahlte science fictionstories vor.