02456cam a22003613u 450000100060000000300070000600500170001300600020003000700050003200800410003704000110007804100170008905000070010610000360011324500120014926400510016130000470021233600260025933700260028533800360031149000520034750000310039950800960043052012740052653400660180065300200186665300180188665300240190465300360192870000350196483000520199985600430205169139UtSlPG20260610134611.0mcr n260607r20221942utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d  aUtSlPG 7aen2iso639-1 4aPS1 aWollheim, Donald A.,d1914-199010aNothing 1aSalt Lake City, UT :bProject Gutenberg,c2022  a1 online resource :bmultiple file formats  atextbtxt2rdacontent  acomputerbc2rdamedia  aonline resourcebcr2rdacarrier1 aProduced from Astonishing Stories, October 1942  aRelease date is 2022-10-12  aGreg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net  a"Nothing" by Martin Pearson is a science fiction short story published in the early 1940s. It explores themes of existence, reality, and the concept of matter versus nothingness, set against the backdrop of a bombed building where the main characters find themselves trapped. The narrative combines suspense and a philosophical exploration of the nature of reality through a dialogue between two characters in a dire situation.  The story centers on a young man and an old professor who become trapped in a collapsed cellar after a bombing. As they wait for rescue, the professor proposes a radical idea grounded in physics: if they visualize themselves and the surrounding rubble as “nothing” or energy, they can pass through the rocks and escape. Following the professor's hypnotic guidance, the young man experiences a surreal journey into the nature of matter, ultimately manifesting outside, while the old man remains trapped. Despite the protagonist's attempts to save the professor after his own escape, the stark reality of the situation hits hard when the rescuers find the professor deceased after two days of digging. The story raises profound questions about existence and the limits of human understanding. (This is an automatically generated summary.)  pOriginally published:cUnited States: Fictioneers, Inc., 1942  aScience fiction  aShort stories  aBombings -- Fiction  aWorld War, 1939-1945 -- Fiction1 aMusacchia, John B.,d1916-2004 0aProduced from Astonishing Stories, October 194240uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69139