02386cam a22003373u 450000100060000000300070000600500170001300600020003000700050003200800410003704000110007804100170008905000070010610000560011324500210016926400510019030000470024133600260028833700260031433800360034049000660037650000310044250801130047352012530058653400450183965300200188465300180190483000660192285600430198899900170203122890UtSlPG20260610133527.0mcr n260607r2007||||utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d  aUtSlPG 7aen2iso639-1 4aPS1 aWeinbaum, Stanley G.q(Stanley Grauman),d1902-193514aThe Worlds of If 1aSalt Lake City, UT :bProject Gutenberg,c2007  a1 online resource :bmultiple file formats  atextbtxt2rdacontent  acomputerbc2rdamedia  aonline resourcebcr2rdacarrier1 aProduced from A Martian Odyssey and Others published in 1949.  aRelease date is 2007-10-05  aProduced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net  a"The Worlds of If" by Stanley G. Weinbaum is a science fiction short story written in the early 20th century. The narrative blends themes of time travel with speculative concepts about alternate realities, focusing on the idea of "what could have been" had different choices been made. Through a unique machine invented by the protagonist's former professor, the story explores the profound implications of one's decisions on the fabric of reality.  Dixon Wells, the protagonist, grapples with feelings of guilt after missing a flight that ultimately ends in disaster, the sinking of the rocket "Baikal". Through a contraption called the "subjunctivisor," which allows users to view alternate realities based on hypothetical decisions, he seeks to understand what would have happened had he boarded the flight. As he engages with the machine, he rekindles memories of a captivating encounter with Joanna Caldwell, a fellow passenger, but is ultimately devastated to discover she survived the crash yet married the man who saved her. This poignant exploration of missed opportunities and the "worlds of if" ultimately leaves Wells to confront his own fate and the consequences of being perpetually late. (This is an automatically generated summary.)  nOriginal publication data not identified  aScience fiction  aShort stories 0aProduced from A Martian Odyssey and Others published in 1949.40uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22890  c63986d63986