000 02486cam a22003253u 4500
001 25234
003 UtSlPG
005 20260610133558.0
006 m
007 cr n
008 260607r2008||||utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d
040 _aUtSlPG
041 7 _aen
_2iso639-1
050 4 _aPS
100 1 _aGarrett, Randall,
_d1927-1987
245 1 0 _aCum Grano Salis
264 1 _aSalt Lake City, UT :
_bProject Gutenberg,
_c2008
300 _a1 online resource :
_bmultiple file formats
336 _atext
_btxt
_2rdacontent
337 _acomputer
_bc
_2rdamedia
338 _aonline resource
_bcr
_2rdacarrier
490 1 _aProduced from Astounding Science Fiction, May 1959.
500 _aRelease date is 2008-04-29
508 _aProduced by Greg Weeks, Bruce Albrecht, LN Yaddanapudi and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
520 _a"Cum Grano Salis" by Randall Garrett is a science fiction novella written in the late 1950s. The story revolves around a group of astronauts facing dire circumstances on an alien planet, highlighting themes of survival, human resilience, and the unexpected consequences of encounters with extraterrestrial life. The title itself, which translates to "with a grain of salt," underscores the caution and skepticism the characters must exercise as they navigate their challenging situation. The narrative follows Colonel Fennister and the crew of an exploratory mission to Alphegar IV, who find themselves in a precarious predicament after a lightning strike destroys their food supplies, leaving them with only a month’s worth of rations while awaiting rescue. As they grapple with the threat of starvation, they explore the native flora for potential food sources. Only Broderick MacNeil, a spaceman on the crew, discovers that he can consume a native fruit, the banana-pear, without harmful effects, leading to a critical survival tactic. However, as others try the fruit, they suffer fatal consequences, revealing a deadly chelating agent within it that the others were unaware of. The story captures the conflicts arising from desperation and survival instincts and ultimately reflects on how the body’s chemistry can differ significantly between species. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
534 _nOriginal publication data not identified
653 _aScience fiction
830 0 _aProduced from Astounding Science Fiction, May 1959.
856 4 0 _uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25234
999 _c66235
_d66235