000 02487cam a22003733u 4500
001 69139
003 UtSlPG
005 20260610134611.0
006 m
007 cr n
008 260607r20221942utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d
040 _aUtSlPG
041 7 _aen
_2iso639-1
050 4 _aPS
100 1 _aWollheim, Donald A.,
_d1914-1990
245 1 0 _aNothing
264 1 _aSalt Lake City, UT :
_bProject Gutenberg,
_c2022
300 _a1 online resource :
_bmultiple file formats
336 _atext
_btxt
_2rdacontent
337 _acomputer
_bc
_2rdamedia
338 _aonline resource
_bcr
_2rdacarrier
490 1 _aProduced from Astonishing Stories, October 1942
500 _aRelease date is 2022-10-12
508 _aGreg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
520 _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.)
534 _pOriginally published:
_cUnited States: Fictioneers, Inc., 1942
653 _aScience fiction
653 _aShort stories
653 _aBombings -- Fiction
653 _aWorld War, 1939-1945 -- Fiction
700 1 _aMusacchia, John B.,
_d1916-2004
830 0 _aProduced from Astonishing Stories, October 1942
856 4 0 _uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69139
999 _c109935
_d109935