Turtledove
Register
No edit summary
No edit summary
Tag: Source edit
 
(32 intermediate revisions by 8 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
  +
{{Infobox short story
"'''The Genetics Lecture'''" is a [[short story]] by [[Harry Turtledove]] which originally appeared in the October 2005 issue of ''[[Analog]]'' as its "Probability Zero" feature. Set in a university genetics classroom, the story is a relatively straight discussion of genetics until Turtledove introduces specific details of the characters. In an interesting twist, one student asks his professor if it is possible that intelligent life could have evolved from something other than mollusks. The professor, whose name is revealed as [[Cthulhu]], upbraids his student, [[Nyarlathotep]], tapping one his eight tenticles for emphasis.
 
  +
|author = [[Harry Turtledove]]
  +
|pub_date = October 2005
  +
|image = Analog Oct2005.jpg
  +
|ImageSize = 180px
  +
|genre = [[Alternate History]], [[Science fiction]]
  +
|first appearance = Analog
  +
|collected = [[Atlantis and Other Places]]<br>[[The Best of Harry Turtledove]]}}"'''The Genetics Lecture'''" is a short story by [[Harry Turtledove]] which originally appeared in the October 2005 issue of ''[[:Category:Short Stories First Published in Analog|Analog]]'' as its "Probability Zero" feature and reprinted in ''[[Atlantis and Other Places]]'' in 2010 and ''[[The Best of Harry Turtledove]]'' in 2021.
   
 
Set in a university genetics classroom, the story is a relatively straight discussion of genetics until Turtledove introduces specific details of the characters. In an interesting twist, one student asks his professor if it is possible that intelligent life could have evolved from something other than mollusks. The professor, whose name is revealed as [[Professor Cthulhu|Cthulhu]], upbraids his student, [[Nyarlathotep (Student)|Nyarlathotep]], tapping one of his eight tentacles on the desk for emphasis. Evidently, in this alternate reality the chordates - which in [[OTL|our timeline]] include mammals as well as fish, amphibians, reptiles and birds - do not amount to much compared with the dominant mollusks.
The story is brief, but Turtledove makes the most its length. The reader is lulled into a sense of security, as the professor explains in the importance of [[hox genes]]. Then abruptly, Turtledove pulls the rug out from under the reader. To add to the fun, Turtledove pays homage to the most famous creation of H.P. Lovecraft by naming professor after Cthulhu and Nyarlathotep, two of Lovecraft's monsterous creations.
 
   
 
The story is brief, but Turtledove makes the most of its length. The reader is lulled into a sense of security, as the professor explains in the importance of [[Hox Gene (The Genetics Lecture)|Hox genes]]. Then abruptly, Turtledove pulls the rug out from under the reader by revealing that all sentient life on Earth are mollusks. To add to the fun, Turtledove pays homage to [[H.P. Lovecraft]] by naming the characters after [http://lovecraft.wikia.com/wiki/Cthulhu Cthulhu] and [http://lovecraft.wikia.com/wiki/Nyarlathotep Nyarlathotep], two of Lovecraft's monstrous creations.
[[Category:Alternate History|Genetics Lecture, The]]
 
  +
  +
{{The Genetics Lecture}}
  +
{{Atlantis and Other Places}}
  +
{{The Best of Harry Turtledove}}
  +
{{DEFAULTSORT:Genetics Lecture, The}}
 
[[Category:The Genetics Lecture|*]]
 
[[Category:The Genetics Lecture|*]]
[[Category:Short Stories|Genetics Lecture, The]]
+
[[Category:2005 Works]]
[[Category:Pastiche||Genetics Lecture, The]]
+
[[Category:Atlantis and Other Places]]
 
[[Category:Alternate History]]
  +
[[Category:Short Stories First Published in Analog]]
  +
[[Category:Works Set in the Present]]
  +
[[Category:Works Set in the 2000s]]
  +
[[Category:H.P. Lovecraft]]
  +
[[Category:Probability Zero Stories]]
  +
[[Category:The Best of Harry Turtledove]]

Latest revision as of 15:39, 13 May 2021

"The Genetics Lecture"  
Analog Oct2005
Author Harry Turtledove
First Appearance Analog
Collected Atlantis and Other Places
The Best of Harry Turtledove
Genre(s) Alternate History, Science fiction
Publication date October 2005

"The Genetics Lecture" is a short story by Harry Turtledove which originally appeared in the October 2005 issue of Analog as its "Probability Zero" feature and reprinted in Atlantis and Other Places in 2010 and The Best of Harry Turtledove in 2021.

Set in a university genetics classroom, the story is a relatively straight discussion of genetics until Turtledove introduces specific details of the characters. In an interesting twist, one student asks his professor if it is possible that intelligent life could have evolved from something other than mollusks. The professor, whose name is revealed as Cthulhu, upbraids his student, Nyarlathotep, tapping one of his eight tentacles on the desk for emphasis. Evidently, in this alternate reality the chordates - which in our timeline include mammals as well as fish, amphibians, reptiles and birds - do not amount to much compared with the dominant mollusks.

The story is brief, but Turtledove makes the most of its length. The reader is lulled into a sense of security, as the professor explains in the importance of Hox genes. Then abruptly, Turtledove pulls the rug out from under the reader by revealing that all sentient life on Earth are mollusks. To add to the fun, Turtledove pays homage to H.P. Lovecraft by naming the characters after Cthulhu and Nyarlathotep, two of Lovecraft's monstrous creations.