jla@usl.UUCP (Joe Arceneaux) (07/14/85)
I would think that Marty's trip to the past affected MANY aspects of the
present which are not mentioned in the film. I remember once reading a
short story about a time traveler who goes back to check out the dinosaurs.
All he does is step out of his machine, look around then get back in, but
doing so he accidentally kills a butterfly. When he gets back to the
"present" things are radically different. (Of course the farther back one
goes, the more drastic the effects of the visit.) Does anyone remember
this story, and the author/title? Thanks.
--
Joe Arceneaux
Lafayette, LA
{akgua, ut-sally}!usl!jlaroot@trwatf.UUCP (Lord Frith) (07/16/85)
In article <588@usl.UUCP> jla@usl.UUCP (Joe Arceneaux) writes: > > present which are not mentioned in the film. I remember once reading a > short story about a time traveler who goes back to check out the dinosaurs. > All he does is step out of his machine, look around then get back in, but > doing so he accidentally kills a butterfly. When he gets back to the > "present" things are radically different. (Of course the farther back one > goes, the more drastic the effects of the visit.) Does anyone remember > this story, and the author/title? Thanks. > -- > Joe Arceneaux Author is definately Ray Bradbury and the name is.... uh.... "Time Safari" I think. -- UUCP: ...{decvax,ihnp4,allegra}!seismo!trwatf!root - Lord Frith ARPA: trwatf!root@SEISMO "There is not a single McDonald's in Garrett County"
tw8023@pyuxii.UUCP (T Wheeler) (07/16/85)
Whew! Boy does this one bring back memories. The story you refer to is at least 35 years old. It was a short story in a collection by Heinlen(I think). The hero of the story left his time with everything running smoothly and everyone happy. When he returns, everything is in a mess - war, pestilence, etc.. All because he stepped on that butterfly. I read the story many years ago and have thought about it every time one of these back to the future stories comes up. Someday, when the weather cools, I will go up in the attic and see if I still have the collection the story came from. T. C. Wheeler
shor@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP (Melinda Shore) (07/17/85)
> From: tw8023@pyuxii.UUCP (T Wheeler) > It was a short story in a collection > by Heinlen(I think). The hero of the story left his time with > everything running smoothly and everyone happy. When he returns, > everything is in a mess - war, pestilence, etc.. All because he > stepped on that butterfly. It could have been by Heinlein, but methinks it was actually by Bradbury. At any rate, the time travellers return from their jaunt to the age of the dinosaurs , and one (the guide, I believe) notices that some words on a sign are spelled archaically. He looks at the other time traveller, sees a butterfly stuck to the bottom of his shoe, and shoots him. We're left with the sense that the oddly spelled sign is the tip of the iceberg, and that history might be a fragile thing. I don't remember war *or* pestilence appearing explicitly. -- Melinda Shore ..!ihnp4!gargoyle!sphinx!shor University of Chicago Computation Center Staff.Melinda%chip@UChicago.Bitnet
howard@sfmag.UUCP (H.M.Moskovitz) (07/17/85)
> Whew! Boy does this one bring back memories. The story you refer > to is at least 35 years old. It was a short story in a collection > by Heinlen(I think). The hero of the story left his time with > everything running smoothly and everyone happy. When he returns, > everything is in a mess - war, pestilence, etc.. All because he > stepped on that butterfly. I read the story many years ago and > have thought about it every time one of these back to the future > stories comes up. Someday, when the weather cools, I will go up > in the attic and see if I still have the collection the story > came from. > T. C. Wheeler Actually, Heinlein had a book called "Time Enough for Love" that has a similar flavor to Back To The Future but with a little Heinlein-type kick. A great book and a big one too! I highly reccommend it to anyone who like BTTF. -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Howard Moskovitz AT&T Info. Systems attunix!howard
waltt@tekecs.UUCP (Walt Tucker) (07/18/85)
> > From: tw8023@pyuxii.UUCP (T Wheeler) > > It was a short story in a collection > > by Heinlen(I think). The hero of the story left his time with > > everything running smoothly and everyone happy. When he returns, > > everything is in a mess - war, pestilence, etc.. All because he > > stepped on that butterfly. > > It could have been by Heinlein, but methinks it was actually by > Bradbury. At any rate, the time travellers return from their jaunt to > the age of the dinosaurs , and one (the guide, I believe) notices that > some words on a sign are spelled archaically. He looks at the other > time traveller, sees a butterfly stuck to the bottom of his shoe, and > shoots him. We're left with the sense that the oddly spelled sign is > the tip of the iceberg, and that history might be a fragile thing. I > don't remember war *or* pestilence appearing explicitly. Actually, the story does give you a little more information than that. When the travelers leave, it is a time of national turmoil and right after a major national election. The heads of the two parties attempting to gain national power represent democracy and totalitarianism ideals (many parallels to pre WWII germany during late 1920s here). When the time travellers left, everyone was rejoicing because the democratic party had won over the "neo-nazi" totalitarian party, who was trying to gain power. When the time travellers return, the letters on the sign are oddly spelled . Then someone asks about the election. It seems the totalitarian party was elected over the other party, the head of the "neo-nazi" party had his former opposition put to death, and the county was now in a quasi-militaristic state. -- Walt Tucker Tektronix, Inc. The "time safari" takes you back in time to kill a dinosaur. This, of course, costs large sums of money, and only dinosaurs that were going to die in the next few minutes are actually killed. The time travellers must stay in a spec lets you
comstock@tymix.UUCP (Dave Comstock) (07/19/85)
>I remember once reading a > All he does is step out of his machine, look around then get back in, but > doing so he accidentally kills a butterfly. When he gets back to the > "present" things are radically different. (Of course the farther back one > goes, the more drastic the effects of the visit.) Does anyone remember > this story, and the author/title? Thanks. > -- > Joe Arceneaux > Lafayette, LA > {akgua, ut-sally}!usl!jla
comstock@tymix.UUCP (Dave Comstock) (07/20/85)
The disaster that occurred in the book was the election of a Hitler-like
dictator. As I recall, the time travellers left on their journey just before
an important election between a man that everyone felt would be a good leader
and the despot. The title, which I am sure was something like "A Sound Of
Thunder", was the last line of the story, and I still have a vivid
recollection of that final line.
David Comstock Tymnet, Inc.
...decvax!ucbvax!hplabs!oliveb!tymix!comstockcramer@kontron.UUCP (Clayton Cramer) (07/25/85)
> In article <588@usl.UUCP> jla@usl.UUCP (Joe Arceneaux) writes: > > > > present which are not mentioned in the film. I remember once reading a > > short story about a time traveler who goes back to check out the dinosaurs. > > All he does is step out of his machine, look around then get back in, but > > doing so he accidentally kills a butterfly. When he gets back to the > > "present" things are radically different. (Of course the farther back one > > goes, the more drastic the effects of the visit.) Does anyone remember > > this story, and the author/title? Thanks. > > -- > > Joe Arceneaux > > Author is definately Ray Bradbury and the name is.... uh.... "Time > Safari" I think. > -- > > UUCP: ...{decvax,ihnp4,allegra}!seismo!trwatf!root - Lord Frith > ARPA: trwatf!root@SEISMO > > "There is not a single McDonald's in Garrett County" Actually, there is a better story along these same lines. I don't remember the title, (I *think* Asimov wrote it), but it starts out in a classroom with a bunch of students watching the professor demonstrate that time travel *can't* alter anything; nothing relies so heavily on any one event for the future to be significantly changed. As demonstration, the professor starts a pendulum swinging back and forth through a time travel device which moves back a million years on every swing. Of course, by the end of the demonstration, a couple dozen swings later (with detailed descriptions of that caterpillar being killed, which causes A, then B, then C, then D, and so on), nothing has changed, at least that anyone realizes. It's just that all the students and the professor are now intelligent reptiles! The whole story is only a couple of pages.