A Statue for Father

Last updated
"A Statue for Father"
Short story by Isaac Asimov
Satellite 195902.jpg
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s)Science Fiction, Humor
Publication
Published in Satellite Science Fiction, February 1959
Publication typeMagazine
Media typeShort story

"A Statue for Father" is a humorous science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. The story first appeared in the February 1959 issue of Satellite Science Fiction and was reprinted in the 1975 collection Buy Jupiter and Other Stories .

Plot summary

A theoretical physicist and his son work on the theory of time travel, and experiment with a method of reaching back into time and retrieving objects (as also occurs in "The Ugly Little Boy" and "Button, Button").

More by serendipity than design, they manage to retrieve a nest of dinosaur eggs which in due course hatch. They keep on working but are unable to repeat the experiment. In the meantime, the dinosaurs grow and are kept as pets. But when one of them accidentally gets electrocuted, they can't resist tasting the flesh beneath the scales and find that it tastes delicious.

The two men decide to raise the dinosaurs to be killed for food and open the first of a successful chain of restaurants dedicated to serving "dinachicken.".

The ironic twist of the title is that the physicist is remembered not for his scientific achievements, but for his culinary discovery.


Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugo Gernsback</span> American inventor, writer, editor and publisher (1884–1967)

Hugo Gernsback was an American editor and magazine publisher whose publications included the first science fiction magazine, Amazing Stories. His contributions to the genre as publisher were so significant that, along with the novelists Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, he is sometimes called "The Father of Science Fiction". In his honor, annual awards presented at the World Science Fiction Convention are named the "Hugos".

<i>The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms</i> 1953 monster film by Eugène Lourié

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is a 1953 American science fiction action horror film directed by Eugène Lourié, with special effects by Ray Harryhausen. The film stars Paul Christian, Paula Raymond, Cecil Kellaway, and Kenneth Tobey. The screenplay is based on Ray Bradbury's 1951 short story "The Fog Horn", specifically the scene where a lighthouse is destroyed by the title character. The film is about the Rhedosaurus, a dinosaur that is released from its frozen hibernating state by an atomic bomb test in the Arctic Circle and begins to wreak a path of destruction as it travels southward, eventually arriving at its ancient spawning grounds, which includes New York City.

<i>Buy Jupiter and Other Stories</i> 1975 collection of short stories by Isaac Asimov

Buy Jupiter and Other Stories is a 1975 collection of short stories by American writer Isaac Asimov. Each story is introduced by a short account of how it came to be written and what was happening in Asimov's life at the time, and follows on from where The Early Asimov (1972) left off. In the introduction, Asimov explains that his objective is to tell enough of his autobiography in his short story collections so that his editors will stop asking him to write an actual autobiography.

<i>The Best of L. Sprague de Camp</i> 1978 collection of writings by L. Sprague de Camp

The Best of L. Sprague de Camp is a collection of writings by American science fiction and fantasy author L. Sprague de Camp, first published in hardback by Nelson Doubleday in February 1978 and in paperback by Ballantine Books in May of the same year as a volume in its Classic Library of Science Fiction. The book was reprinted by Ballantine in May 1986. It was reissued in trade paperback and ebook editions by Phoenix Pick in December 2014. It has also been translated into German.

<i>A Gun for Dinosaur and Other Imaginative Tales</i> 1963 short story collection by L. Sprague de Camp

A Gun for Dinosaur and Other Imaginative Tales is a short story collection by American science fiction and fantasy author L. Sprague de Camp, first published in hardback by Doubleday in 1963, and in paperback by Curtis Books in 1969. The first British edition was issued by Remploy in 1974. It has also been translated into German.

<i>Aristotle and the Gun and Other Stories</i> 2002 collection of short stories by L. Sprague de Camp

Aristotle and the Gun and Other Stories is a collection of short stories by American science fiction and fantasy author L. Sprague de Camp. It was published in hardcover in August 2002 by the Gale Group as part of its Five Star Speculative Fiction Series.

<i>Rivers of Time</i> Science fiction short stories by Sprague de Camp

Rivers of Time is a 1993 collection of science fiction short stories by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, first published in paperback by Baen Books. All but one of the pieces were originally published between 1956 and 1993 in the magazines Galaxy, Expanse, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Analog, and Asimov's Science Fiction, and the Robert Silverberg-edited anthology The Ultimate Dinosaur. The remaining story was first published in the present work.

"Button, Button" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. The story first appeared in a January 1953 issue of Startling Stories and was reprinted in the 1975 collection Buy Jupiter and Other Stories. It is one of several stories by Asimov in which he deliberately set out to be funny.

"Breeds There a Man...?" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the June 1951 issue of Astounding and was reprinted in science fiction anthologies such as Beachheads in Space (1952) and The Great SF Stories #13 (1951), as well as in Asimov-only collections such as Through a Glass, Clearly (1967), Nightfall and Other Stories (1969). and Robot Dreams (1986).

"Time's Arrow" is a science fiction short story by British writer Arthur C. Clarke, first published in 1950 in the first issue of the magazine Science Fantasy. The story revolves about the unintended consequences of using time travel to study dinosaurs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A Gun for Dinosaur</span> Short story by L. Sprague de Camp

"A Gun for Dinosaur" is a classic time travel science fiction story by American writer L. Sprague de Camp as part of his Rivers of Time series. It tells the story of four men who travel into the past to hunt dinosaurs.

<i>Sid the Science Kid</i> American animated television series

Sid the Science Kid is an American animated children's television series produced by The Jim Henson Company in association with PBS affiliate KCET, that aired on PBS Kids from September 1, 2008 to March 25, 2013. The show is created using digital puppetry. Each character required two puppeteers working in concert, one performing the face and mouth using a remote manipulator or Waldo, and the other performing the body using motion capture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aristotle and the Gun</span> Short story by L. Sprague de Camp

"Aristotle and the Gun" is a time travel and alternate history science fiction story by American writer L. Sprague de Camp.

<i>Terror from the Year 5000</i> 1958 film

Terror from the Year 5,000 is a 1958 independently made American black-and-white science fiction film, produced by Robert J. Gurney Jr, Samuel Z. Arkoff, James H. Nicholson and Gene Searchinger; directed by Robert J. Gurney Jr, and starring Ward Costello, Joyce Holden, John Stratton, Salome Jens and Fred Herrick. The screenplay is based (uncredited) on the short story "Bottle Baby" by print/TV/film writer Henry Slesar that was published in the science fiction magazine Fantastic. American International Pictures released the film as a double feature with either The Screaming Skull or The Brain Eaters.

<i>Corrupting Dr. Nice</i> Science fiction book by John Kessel

Corrupting Dr. Nice is a science fiction novel by American writer John Kessel, published in 1997. It is a time travel novel modeled on the screwball comedies of the 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Employment (short story)</span> Short story by Lyon Sprague de Camp

"Employment" is a science fiction story by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, pioneering the concept of de-extinction. It was first published in the magazine Astounding Science-Fiction for May, 1939. The story appeared under the pseudonym Lyman R. Lyon as the magazine's policy did not allow the name of any author to be repeated on the same contents page, and de Camp had another piece in the same issue under his actual name. It first appeared in book form in the anthology Imagination Unlimited. It later appeared in the anthologies Men of Space and Time, and Science Fiction Inventions, as well as the de Camp collection The Best of L. Sprague de Camp. It was credited to de Camp's real name in all publications subsequent to its first appearance. The story has been translated into German.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dinosaur erotica</span> Subgenre of erotic literature

Dinosaur erotica, part of the larger genre of monster erotica, is a subgenre of erotic literature that involves sexual encounters between humans and non-avian dinosaurs. Works include titles such as Taken by the T-Rex, Ravished by Triceratops and A Billionaire Dinosaur Forced Me Gay. Despite being called by some in the media "the Kardashian of erotica," the genre's titles have generated sales and media interest.

"The Egg" is a science fiction short story by L. Sprague de Camp. It was first published in the magazine Satellite Science Fiction for October, 1956. It first appeared in book form in the collection A Gun for Dinosaur and Other Imaginative Tales. The story has been translated into German.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">In-Group</span> 1952 science fiction short story by L. Sprague de Camp

"In-Group" is a science fiction short story by L. Sprague de Camp. It was first published in the magazine Marvel Science Fiction for May, 1952. and later reprinted in the magazine Skyworlds for February 1978. It first appeared in book form in the collection A Gun for Dinosaur and Other Imaginative Tales. The story has been translated into Italian and German.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Throwback (short story)</span> Short story by L. Sprague de Camp

"Throwback" is a classic science fiction short story featuring atavism by L. Sprague de Camp. It was first published in the magazine Astounding Science Fiction for March 1949. It first appeared in book form in the collection A Gun for Dinosaur and Other Imaginative Tales ; it later appeared in the anthology Apeman, Spaceman. The story has been translated into Italian and German.