MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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The Star Dummy (1952)
Anthony Boucher
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Contributed by Gerry Myerson

I learned duodecimal (and the whole concept of number bases) from "The Star Dummy," by Boucher, in Conklin's Omnibus of Science Fiction. The teddybear-shaped six- fingered alien was trying to communicate with the koalas in the zoo until an open-minded human showed up and the two traded written numbers.

Originally published in Fantastic in 1952.

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Works Similar to The Star Dummy
According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:
  1. In the River by Justin Stanchfield
  2. Report from the Ambassador to Cida-2 by Clifton Cunningham
  3. The Heroic Adventures of Hercules Amsterdam by Melissa Glenn Haber
  4. Methuselah's Children by Robert A. Heinlein
  5. The Pi Man by Alfred Bester
  6. By a Fluke by Arthur Porges
  7. Old Faithful by Raymond Z. Gallun
  8. Mathematica by John Russell Fearn
  9. Mathematica Plus by John Russell Fearn
  10. The Unwilling Professor by Arthur Porges
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Categories:
GenreScience Fiction,
MotifAliens,
TopicAlgebra/Arithmetic/Number Theory,
MediumShort Stories,

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(Maintained by Alex Kasman, College of Charleston)