Misfit

Misfit is a science fiction short story by Robert A. Heinlein. It was first published in the November 1939 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. One of the earliest of his Future History stories, it was later included in the collections Revolt in 2100 and The Past Through Tomorrow. The story concerns Andrew Jackson Libby (here nicknamed Pinky, for his red hair, but later nicknamed Slipstick), a boy from Earth with extraordinary mathematical abilit... more

Misfit is a science fiction short story by Robert A. Heinlein. It was first published in the November 1939 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. One of the earliest of his Future History stories, it was later included in the collections Revolt in 2100 and The Past Through Tomorrow. The story concerns Andrew Jackson Libby (here nicknamed Pinky, for his red hair, but later nicknamed Slipstick), a boy from Earth with extraordinary mathematical ability but meager education. Finding few opportunities on Earth, he joins the Cosmic Construction Corps a future military-led version of the Civilian Conservation Corps, employing out of work youths to colonize the Solar System. With a group of other inexperienced youths he is assigned to a ship travelling to the Asteroid belt, where they will move an asteroid into near-Earth orbit. Pinky comes to the Captain's attention during the process of blasting holes in the asteroid for rocket engines, when he discovers a mistake in the calculations,... less