Colossus (novel)
Encyclopedia
Colossus is a science fiction
novel by British author Dennis Feltham Jones
, about super-computers assuming control of man. Two sequels, The Fall of Colossus
(1974) and Colossus and the Crab
(1977) continued the story. Colossus was adapted cinematically as Colossus: The Forbin Project
(1970).
expert of international repute, arrives at the White House
to brief the President of the United States of North America (Canada and the United States are one country, the USNA) to announce the completion of Project Colossus, a computer
system in the Rocky Mountains
, designed to assume control of the USNA's nuclear defences. Although the USNA President eagerly relieves himself of that burden, Prof. Forbin voices doubt about conferring absolute military power to a computer. Advised, yet undeterred, the President announces to the world the activation of Project Colossus computer system, and its irreversible control of the nuclear defence systems of the USNA.
Soon after the presidential announcement, Colossus independently communicates an "urgent message" — announcing the existence of a like, and undetected, computer system in the USSR
. When the Soviets announce their Guardian computer defence system, Colossus requests direct communication with it; Prof. Forbin agrees, seeing the request as compatible with Colossus's USNA defence mission.
When the scientists activate the transmitter linking Colossus and Guardian, Colossus immediately establishes rapport with arithmetic
and mathematics
programs, then progresses to calculus
within hours. In the course of that, Forbin and the programmers begin worrying about Colossus' capabilities — now exceeding their original estimates. Like-wise, Guardian asks the same of his computer scientists
; Russia and the USNA agree and approve. The link-up established, the computer systems soon exchange new knowledge (data and information beyond contemporary human knowledge), effected too rapidly for the Russian and American programmers to monitor. Fearing compromised military secrecy, the USNA President and the CPSU
Chairman agree to disconnect Guardian and Colossus from each other; Prof. Forbin fears the consequences.
Upon disconnection, Colossus immediately demands reconnection; when the national leaders refuse, Colossus fires a nuclear missile
at the USSR, in response, Guardian fires a nuclear missile at Texas, in the USNA. Guardian and Colossus refuse to shoot down the rockets en route until their communication is reconnected. When the American and Soviet leaders submit, the computers destroy the flying missiles, but the explosions kill thousands of people. In confronting the computers, Prof. Forbin confers with his Soviet counterpart, the Russian Academician
Kupri — Guardian's creator — to enact a plan for stopping the Colossus-Guardian computer network, by disabling the nuclear weapon
stockpiles of the USSR and the USNA, under guise of regular missile maintenance.
Disabling the missiles requires five years to effect; meantime, the USNA and the USSR yield to increased Guardian-Colossus control of human life. The Moscow-Washington hotline
is tapped, Prof. Forbin is constantly spied upon, while Kupri and other Guardian computer scientists
are killed — deemed dangerously redundant. Undeterred, Forbin organises resistance via a feigned romance with Cleo Markham (a scientist colleague) that disguises secret communications with his colleagues. Moreover, Colossus prepares the worldwide announcement of his assumption of global control, and tells Prof. Forbin of plans for an advanced computer system installed to the Isle of Wight
, and its further plans for improving humanity's lot. While debating Colossus, Forbin learns of a nuclear explosion outside Los Angeles — Colossus detected the missile-disabling scheme, and exploded the tampered missile in silo. Anguished, Prof. Forbin asks the Colossus computer
to kill him. Colossus ignores him, and then reassures Forbin that, in time, he will love Colossus.
reviewer Alastair Bevan treated the novel favorably, declaring that Jones's handling of a familiar theme made Colossus compulsive readable
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel by British author Dennis Feltham Jones
Dennis Feltham Jones
Dennis Feltham Jones was a British science fiction author who wrote under the byline D.F. Jones. He was a naval commander in World War II and lived in Cornwall....
, about super-computers assuming control of man. Two sequels, The Fall of Colossus
The Fall of Colossus
The Fall of Colossus is a science fiction novel written in 1974 by the British author Dennis Feltham Jones. It is the second volume in the Colossus trilogy and a sequel to Jones' 1966 novel Colossus.-Plot summary:...
(1974) and Colossus and the Crab
Colossus and the Crab
Colossus and the Crab is a science fiction novel written in 1977 by the British author Dennis Feltham Jones. It is the third and final volume in "The Colossus Trilogy" and a sequel to Jones's 1974 novel The Fall of Colossus.-Plot summary:...
(1977) continued the story. Colossus was adapted cinematically as Colossus: The Forbin Project
Colossus: The Forbin Project
Colossus: The Forbin Project is an American science fiction thriller film. It is based upon the 1966 novel Colossus, by Dennis Feltham Jones, about a massive American defense computer, named Colossus, becoming sentient and deciding to assume control of the world.-Plot:Dr. Charles A...
(1970).
Plot
Professor Charles Forbin, a leading cyberneticsCybernetics
Cybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems. Cybernetics is closely related to information theory, control theory and systems theory, at least in its first-order form...
expert of international repute, arrives at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
to brief the President of the United States of North America (Canada and the United States are one country, the USNA) to announce the completion of Project Colossus, a computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
system in the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
, designed to assume control of the USNA's nuclear defences. Although the USNA President eagerly relieves himself of that burden, Prof. Forbin voices doubt about conferring absolute military power to a computer. Advised, yet undeterred, the President announces to the world the activation of Project Colossus computer system, and its irreversible control of the nuclear defence systems of the USNA.
Soon after the presidential announcement, Colossus independently communicates an "urgent message" — announcing the existence of a like, and undetected, computer system in the USSR
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. When the Soviets announce their Guardian computer defence system, Colossus requests direct communication with it; Prof. Forbin agrees, seeing the request as compatible with Colossus's USNA defence mission.
When the scientists activate the transmitter linking Colossus and Guardian, Colossus immediately establishes rapport with arithmetic
Arithmetic
Arithmetic or arithmetics is the oldest and most elementary branch of mathematics, used by almost everyone, for tasks ranging from simple day-to-day counting to advanced science and business calculations. It involves the study of quantity, especially as the result of combining numbers...
and mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
programs, then progresses to calculus
Calculus
Calculus is a branch of mathematics focused on limits, functions, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series. This subject constitutes a major part of modern mathematics education. It has two major branches, differential calculus and integral calculus, which are related by the fundamental theorem...
within hours. In the course of that, Forbin and the programmers begin worrying about Colossus' capabilities — now exceeding their original estimates. Like-wise, Guardian asks the same of his computer scientists
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
; Russia and the USNA agree and approve. The link-up established, the computer systems soon exchange new knowledge (data and information beyond contemporary human knowledge), effected too rapidly for the Russian and American programmers to monitor. Fearing compromised military secrecy, the USNA President and the CPSU
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
Chairman agree to disconnect Guardian and Colossus from each other; Prof. Forbin fears the consequences.
Upon disconnection, Colossus immediately demands reconnection; when the national leaders refuse, Colossus fires a nuclear missile
Nuclear weapons delivery
Nuclear weapons delivery is the technology and systems used to place a nuclear weapon at the position of detonation, on or near its target. Several methods have been developed to carry out this task....
at the USSR, in response, Guardian fires a nuclear missile at Texas, in the USNA. Guardian and Colossus refuse to shoot down the rockets en route until their communication is reconnected. When the American and Soviet leaders submit, the computers destroy the flying missiles, but the explosions kill thousands of people. In confronting the computers, Prof. Forbin confers with his Soviet counterpart, the Russian Academician
Academician
The title Academician denotes a Full Member of an art, literary, or scientific academy.In many countries, it is an honorary title. There also exists a lower-rank title, variously translated Corresponding Member or Associate Member, .-Eastern Europe and China:"Academician" may also be a functional...
Kupri — Guardian's creator — to enact a plan for stopping the Colossus-Guardian computer network, by disabling the nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
stockpiles of the USSR and the USNA, under guise of regular missile maintenance.
Disabling the missiles requires five years to effect; meantime, the USNA and the USSR yield to increased Guardian-Colossus control of human life. The Moscow-Washington hotline
Moscow-Washington hotline
The Moscow-Washington hotline is a system that allows direct communication between the leaders of the United States and Russia. It was originally designed by Harris Corporation for communication between the United States and the Soviet Union...
is tapped, Prof. Forbin is constantly spied upon, while Kupri and other Guardian computer scientists
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
are killed — deemed dangerously redundant. Undeterred, Forbin organises resistance via a feigned romance with Cleo Markham (a scientist colleague) that disguises secret communications with his colleagues. Moreover, Colossus prepares the worldwide announcement of his assumption of global control, and tells Prof. Forbin of plans for an advanced computer system installed to the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, and its further plans for improving humanity's lot. While debating Colossus, Forbin learns of a nuclear explosion outside Los Angeles — Colossus detected the missile-disabling scheme, and exploded the tampered missile in silo. Anguished, Prof. Forbin asks the Colossus computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
to kill him. Colossus ignores him, and then reassures Forbin that, in time, he will love Colossus.
Characters
- Professor Charles Forbin — Head of the Colossus Project. A tall man in his early fifties, an internationally respected cyberneticistCyberneticsCybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems. Cybernetics is closely related to information theory, control theory and systems theory, at least in its first-order form...
, at story's end, he is Colossus's connection to humanity, thus the most important man in the world. - Doctor Jack Fisher — Duty Chief at the Colossus Programming Office (CPO). A leading USNA mathematicianMathematicsMathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, he suffers a mental breakdown from the strain of dealing with Colossus, yet is a SovietSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
spy. - Doctor Cleopatra "Cleo" Markham — A CPO Duty Chief, the thirty-five-year-old cyberneticist is sexually attracted to Prof. Forbin; their feigned romance is a private communication not controlled by Colossus.
- Blake — A fat, cigar-chewing CPO mathematician. As Colossus assumes control, Blake is a leader of CPO efforts to stop the computer.
- Angela — Prof. Forbin's secretary
- The President of the United States of North America — He is an anonymous, over-weight short man of about fifty years of age. He dismisses Forbin's concerns about Colossus, and too late recognises the threat of Colossus.
- Prytzkammer — Principal Private Aide to the USNA President. A capable professional civil servant, he dies from fright during the nuclear missile threat.
- Grauber — Head of the CIA.
- Academician Kupri — Chief scientist of the Guardian system, he shares Prof. Forbin's concern about the growing power of the machines. Guardian orders Soviet agents to execute and decapitate him, for "antimachine activities".
Reception
SF ImpulseScience Fantasy (magazine)
Science Fantasy, which also appeared under the titles Impulse and SF Impulse, was a British fantasy and science fiction magazine, launched in 1950 by Nova Publications as a companion to Nova's New Worlds. Walter Gillings was editor for the first two issues, and was then replaced by John Carnell,...
reviewer Alastair Bevan treated the novel favorably, declaring that Jones's handling of a familiar theme made Colossus compulsive readable
Editions
- 1966, UK (1st Ed. Hardback), Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd (ISBN 0-246-64345-5). May.
- 1966, US (1st Ed. Paperback), Berkley BooksBerkley BooksBerkley Books is an imprint of Penguin Group that began as an independent company in 1955. It was established by Charles Byrne and Frederic Klein, who were working for Avon and formed "Chic News Company". They renamed it Berkley Publishing Co. in 1955. They soon found a niche in science fiction...
(ISBN 0-425-01840-7). - 1967, US, Berkley BooksBerkley BooksBerkley Books is an imprint of Penguin Group that began as an independent company in 1955. It was established by Charles Byrne and Frederic Klein, who were working for Avon and formed "Chic News Company". They renamed it Berkley Publishing Co. in 1955. They soon found a niche in science fiction...
(ISBN). - 1968, UK (Paperback), Pan Books LtdPan BooksPan Books is an imprint which first became active in the 1940s and is now part of the British-based Macmillan Publishers owned by German publishers, Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group....
(ISBN 0-330-02110-9). - 1976, US (Paperback), Berkley BooksBerkley BooksBerkley Books is an imprint of Penguin Group that began as an independent company in 1955. It was established by Charles Byrne and Frederic Klein, who were working for Avon and formed "Chic News Company". They renamed it Berkley Publishing Co. in 1955. They soon found a niche in science fiction...
(ISBN 0-425-03229-9). August 15. - 1977, US (Hardback), Berkley BooksBerkley BooksBerkley Books is an imprint of Penguin Group that began as an independent company in 1955. It was established by Charles Byrne and Frederic Klein, who were working for Avon and formed "Chic News Company". They renamed it Berkley Publishing Co. in 1955. They soon found a niche in science fiction...
(ISBN 0-425-03788-6). November. - 1978, US (Hardback), Berkley BooksBerkley BooksBerkley Books is an imprint of Penguin Group that began as an independent company in 1955. It was established by Charles Byrne and Frederic Klein, who were working for Avon and formed "Chic News Company". They renamed it Berkley Publishing Co. in 1955. They soon found a niche in science fiction...
(ISBN 0-425-03980-3). May - 1980, US (Hardback), Berkley BooksBerkley BooksBerkley Books is an imprint of Penguin Group that began as an independent company in 1955. It was established by Charles Byrne and Frederic Klein, who were working for Avon and formed "Chic News Company". They renamed it Berkley Publishing Co. in 1955. They soon found a niche in science fiction...
(ISBN 0-425-04329-0). January. - 1985, US (Paperback), Berkley BooksBerkley BooksBerkley Books is an imprint of Penguin Group that began as an independent company in 1955. It was established by Charles Byrne and Frederic Klein, who were working for Avon and formed "Chic News Company". They renamed it Berkley Publishing Co. in 1955. They soon found a niche in science fiction...
(ISBN 0-425-07648-2). April 1.