Mobius strip ( Mobius strip ) ( English “A Subway Named Moebius” ) is a science-fiction story by Armin Deutsch . It was first published in the journal Astounding Science Fiction in 1950. It was first published in Russian in the journal Science and Life in 1969 (translation by T. Shinkar ).
| Mobius strip | |
|---|---|
| A subway named mobius | |
 First edition of the story | |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Author | Armin Deutsch |
| Original language | English |
| Date of first publication | December 1950 |
Content
Story
In the Boston subway, train number 86 departed from Park Street station, but did not appear at the next station or depot, disappearing without a trace with the driver and about 350 passengers.
A professor of algebra from Harvard University, Roger Tupelo, after reading in the newspapers about what happened, comes to the main manager of the city underground, Calvin White, to communicate his hypothesis of the disappearance of the train. According to Tupelo, after the opening of the new Boylston line, the topological properties of the Boston Underground changed and the train fell into a different dimension . Taking him for a madman, White escorts Tupelo.
However, it soon became clear to White that the train was indeed somewhere in the subway. So, the composition No. 86 is periodically recorded by automation in different parts of the subway, it consumes electricity, but no one sees it, although its noise is heard. Calvin White calls Roger Tupelo and asks for help finding a train. After many meetings, including congressional hearings, it was not possible to find a solution to how to return the train. The only thing that was decided was not to close the new line, in the hope that the train would return.
It takes two months. One morning, heading to the university, Tupelo takes the subway and notices that the passenger is reading a newspaper that is dated the day the train disappeared. He runs around the car, checks the dates of newspapers with other passengers, and some of them also have newspapers two months old. Tupelo pulls on the signal cord and the train stops. The mathematician announces to the passengers and the driver that two months have already passed and asks to check his words by looking at the date of the newspapers from the passengers who entered the carriage at the previous station. Tupelo runs out into the tunnel and runs to the phone, which communicates with the main subway department. He reports that the 86th train was finally found and all the passengers are alive and well. Having met with White, Roger Tupelo asks him to close the Boyleston line, but White answers: “Late. Twenty-five minutes ago, train number 143 disappeared between Eglston and Dorchester stations. ”
Prizes, nominations
- In 2001, the story was nominated for the 1951 Hugo Retrospective Award [1] .
Films
Based on the story, feature films were shot:
- Mobius strip (film, 1988) (USSR)
- Mobius (film 1993) (Germany)
- Mobius (film 1996) (Argentina)
- Mobius 17 (Germany, 2005).
Editions
- Astounding Science Fiction Magazine, December 1950.
- Anthology "Omnibus of Science Fiction", 1952 [2] [3] .
- Anthology "Strange Travels in Science Fiction", 1953 [3] .
- Anthology "Fantasia Mathematica", 1958 [4] [2] .
- Anthology "Best SF4", ed. Edmund Crispin, Faber and Faber, 1965.
- Anthology "One Hundred Years of Science Fiction", ed. Damon Knight , 1968 [3] .
- Anthology "Where Do We Go from Here?", Eds. A. Azimov , 1971 [4] [5] .
- Anthology "Laughing Space", 1982 [3] .
- Anthology "The Great SF Stories 12 (1950)", ed. A. Azimov , M. Greenberg, 1983 [3] .
- Anthology Isaac Asimov Presents the Golden Years of Science Fiction: Sixth Series, ed. A. Azimov , M. Greenberg, 1988.
Translations
To Russian
- Mobius strip (per. T. Shinkar). // Journal " Science and Life " No. 12, 1969. P. 102-109 [4] .
- Mobius strip (per. T. Shinkar). // Anthology "Five Green Moons" - M .: Mir, 1978 [4] .
- Mobius strip (per. T. Shinkar). // Anthology "The Difficult Problem" - M .: Mir, 1982 [4] .
- Mobius strip (per. T. Shinkar). // Anthology "Fantastic Inventions" - M .: Mir, 1991. S. 282-301 [4] .
To Italian
- “Una metropolitana che si chiama Moebius” (trans. Cesare Scaglia) // Journal “Urania # 302”, Feb 1963 [3] .
- “Una metropolitana chiamata Moebius” (trans. Cesare Scaglia) // Anthology “Il passo dell'ignoto”, 1972 [3] .
Into Hungarian
- "A Möbius-metró." // Anthology "Galaktika 4: Tudományos-fantasztikus antológia", 1973 [3] .
To Czech
- "Podzemní dráha Möbius". // Anthology "Těžká planeta", 2002.
Notes
- ↑ 1951 Retro Hugo Awards
- ↑ 1 2 According to the Internet Book List (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment January 2, 2014. Archived on May 14, 2016.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 According to ISFDB
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 According to the website of the "Science Fiction Laboratory"
- ↑ Scan of the story in the anthology "Where Do We Go from Here?"