The Calibrated Alligator
- Form
- Novelette
- Year
- 1960
Publication history
- 1960: Astounding Science Fiction February 1960, Magazine
- 1969: The Calibrated Alligator and Other Science Fiction Stories, Holt Rinehart Winston Hard cover book
Blurb
(None on file)
Comments
For its first publication, in Amazing, this story was credited to Calvin H. Knox. its subsequent appearance in the anthology of the same name, was under Silverberg's own name.
A moon base dedicated to research is no place for a pet, especially a baby alligator. But when a scientist finds himself unwilling to decline a posting there, and also unwilling to forsake his dear little Caligula, some creative thinking is required. And Al Mason is just the man for the job.
The story is set in the year 1996, and Lunar Base Three is run by the American government. Funding is relatively solid, with support in Congress, but the scientists are conscious of having to do at least a little PR to keep people aware that their dollars are being well spent. The story is a child of the Cold War era, and Silverberg throws a Russian base into the mix, not as a threat of violence, but more as a source of professional competition for the scientists.
Other resources
(None on file)