Omnilingual
Encyclopedia
"Omnilingual" is a science fiction short story written by H. Beam Piper
.
It made its first appearance in the February 1957 issue of Astounding Science Fiction.
to Mars
discovers a deserted city, the remains of an advanced civilization that died out 50,000 years ago. The human scientists recover books and documents left behind, and are puzzled by their contents. Earnest young archeologist Martha Dane deciphers a few words, but the real breakthrough comes when the team explores what appears to have been a university in which the last few civilized Martians made their last stand. Inside, they find a "Rosetta Stone
": the periodic table
of the elements. The story builds tension from the scepticism of the rest of the team, mostly male, as well as from Ms. Dane's competitive, spotlight-seeking team-mate, Tony Lattimer.
H. Beam Piper
Henry Beam Piper was an American science fiction author. He wrote many short stories and several novels. He is best known for his extensive Terro-Human Future History series of stories and a shorter series of "Paratime" alternate history tales.He wrote under the name H. Beam Piper...
.
It made its first appearance in the February 1957 issue of Astounding Science Fiction.
Synopsis
An expedition from EarthEarth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
to Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
discovers a deserted city, the remains of an advanced civilization that died out 50,000 years ago. The human scientists recover books and documents left behind, and are puzzled by their contents. Earnest young archeologist Martha Dane deciphers a few words, but the real breakthrough comes when the team explores what appears to have been a university in which the last few civilized Martians made their last stand. Inside, they find a "Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone is an ancient Egyptian granodiorite stele inscribed with a decree issued at Memphis in 196 BC on behalf of King Ptolemy V. The decree appears in three scripts: the upper text is Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle portion Demotic script, and the lowest Ancient Greek...
": the periodic table
Periodic table
The periodic table of the chemical elements is a tabular display of the 118 known chemical elements organized by selected properties of their atomic structures. Elements are presented by increasing atomic number, the number of protons in an atom's atomic nucleus...
of the elements. The story builds tension from the scepticism of the rest of the team, mostly male, as well as from Ms. Dane's competitive, spotlight-seeking team-mate, Tony Lattimer.
Appearances
Omnilingual has been reprinted several times since its original publication.- Prologue to Analog (1962, Doubleday)
- Analog Anthology (1965, Dobson)
- Great Science Fiction Stories About MarsGreat Science Fiction Stories About MarsGreat Science Fiction Stories About Mars is a 1966 anthology of science fiction short stories edited by T. E. Dikty and published by Fredrick Fell. Most of the stories had originally appeared in the magazines Startling Stories, Argosy, Thrilling Wonder Stories, Amazing Stories, Super Science...
(1966, Fredrick Fell) - Apeman, Spaceman (1968, Doubleday)
- Mars, We Love You (1971, Doubleday)
- Where Do We Go from Here? (1971, Doubleday)
- The Days After Tomorrow (1971, Little Brown)
- Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow... (1974, Rinehart & WinstonHolt, Rinehart and WinstonHolt McDougal is an American publishing company, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, that specializes in textbooks for use in secondary schools. Holt, Rinehart and Winston was a division of Harcourt Education...
) - Science Fiction Novellas (1975, ScribnerCharles Scribner's SonsCharles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing a number of American authors including Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Stephen King, Robert A. Heinlein, Thomas Wolfe, George Santayana, John Clellon...
) - FederationFederation (H. Beam Piper)Federation is a collection of short stories written by H. Beam Piper, and edited by John F. Carr. The book was published in 1981 by Ace Books, and again in 1982, 1983 and 1986. Most of these stories take place in the early part of his Terro-Human Future History....
(1981, AceAce BooksAce Books is the oldest active specialty publisher of science fiction and fantasy books. The company was founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn, and began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns...
) - The Great SF Stories: 19 (1957) (1989, DAWDAW BooksDAW Books is an American science fiction and fantasy publisher, founded by Donald A. Wollheim following his departure from Ace Books in 1971. The company therefore claims to be "the first publishing company ever devoted exclusively to science fiction and fantasy." The first DAW Book published was...
) - The World Turned Upside Down (2005, BaenBaen BooksBaen Books is an American publishing company established in 1983 by long time science fiction publisher and editor Jim Baen. It is a science fiction and fantasy publishing house that emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, military science fiction, and fantasy...
)
External links
- Discover How Archaeologists Translated Secret Martian Writings! - A short review of the story at BestScienceFictionStories.com.
- Unofficial edited version