The Quincunx of Time

The Quincunx of Time is a short science fiction novel by James Blish. It is an extended version of a short story entitled "Beep", published by Galaxy Science Fiction magazine in 1954. The novel form was first published in 1973. Late in the 21st century, a device called the Dirac communicator promises instantaneous communication across interstellar distances. This would allow Earth security, headed by one Robin Weinbaum, to keep the peace. Before ... More

The Quincunx of Time is a short science fiction novel by James Blish. It is an extended version of a short story entitled "Beep", published by Galaxy Science Fiction magazine in 1954. The novel form was first published in 1973. Late in the 21st century, a device called the Dirac communicator promises instantaneous communication across interstellar distances. This would allow Earth security, headed by one Robin Weinbaum, to keep the peace. Before one of the devices can even reach a far-away system, someone starts producing predictions that suggest they have advance knowledge of Dirac communications. Eventually it is realized that the new technology incorporates a way of learning about future events. The result is a lengthy discussion of free will versus determinism. A quincunx can mean a group of trees—and specifically a set of five trees arranged at the vertexes of a pentagon in the manner of the Academy of Plato in Ancient Greece. Robin Weinbaum compares the new technology to being...

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