The End of Time


One of my favorite Isaac Asimov short-short stories is about the End of the Universe.

We have all wondered what will happen when the Universe has entirely run down, all the stars have burnt out, all matter and energy have dissipated.

In other words, when the Universe reaches maximum Entropy, how will Entropy be reversed?

Asimov contemplated that trillions of years after Humanity ceases to exist, the only object remaining will be a supercomputer containing all of Mankind's knowledge, which itself would eventually run out of power and dissipate, UNLESS it figured out how to REVERSE ENTROPY.

(It's also interesting to note that Asimov never had any aliens in his stories - only humans and robots. He also feared riding in cars and flying in planes, and took the train to wherever he was going whenever he could. This, from a man who might have been the most imaginative person who ever lived, who also wrote over 200 books, both non-fiction and fiction, including a complete concordance of the Bible!)

So, the computer, a spinning golden sphere only three-feet wide, contemplated reversing entropy for millions of years, until, it finally FOUND THE ANSWER!

And then, the Computer said ...

LET THERE BE LIGHT!

The Nine Billion Names of God



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