Maxima Library

One thing economists and SF writers can agree on is that predicting futures is risky business!

Science fiction readers know the modern world owes much to H. G. Wells—but few realize just how much!

Even if you think everything should be done through Channels, some things require a little more subtlety…

Some things are obviously too dangerous to do for fun. But with a little help…

If a cat can’t be stuffed back into its bag, can it be tamed?

Paradoxically, the ongoing search for better ways to store information makes it harder and harder to read old records. But if the incentive is strong enough…

“Behold the tortoise—he maketh no progress unless he sticketh out his neck!”

Mother Nature will tell anyone who asks the right questions—but those who ask them first still have an advantage!

Most technologies have many applications, both good and bad. And sometimes it’s hard to tell…

Sometimes the most important part of doing a job is knowing when to stay out of someone else’s way…

Maybe there is something to be said for Proper Introductions…

We hope this is a bit far-fetched—but is it really?

Warriors and statesmen will always find ways to outdo their opponents—and sometimes themselves!

“Virtual” and “reality” each have their own advantages—and traps.

There’s always been a fundamental gap between nomadic and settled folk—and with interstellar nomads, the gap gapes even wider…

Most folks like to think of themselves as sitting on the pinnacle of evolution. Participating in it as an ongoing process is a lot less comfortable!

Growth has an inescapable corollary…

A wise being takes advantage of all opportunities—but that doesn’t mean what you might think!

A wise businessman does not impose prejudices on his customers…

Virginia Kent, Pulitzer prize-winning reporter, snapped off a string of pictures with her Leica camera, then looked up at the ship she’d photographed, her breath misting in the North Greenland air.

Obviously, this is purest fantasy—or is it?

One of the saddest parts of old age is seeing old loves die and recede into the past. And when you’re really old, that picks up a whole new level of meaning…

Sometimes, when brute force won’t work, you have to be sneaky…

Can too much knowledge be a dangerous thing?

It’s been said that the pupil should surpass the master…

A travel destination that most would find quite unappealing might have a very special attraction for some…

Chance, like politics, can make strange bedfellows.

Establishing an economic symbiosis between species isn’t easy, but it can be worth the effort.

Coming soon to a store near you—but use it with care!

When is an imitation good enough?

Life requires compromise, and science requires patience…

There’s such a thing as too much togetherness…

“Might makes right” is a tempting slogan. But does multiplying one side of the equation automatically multiply the other?

There’s more than one way… and leave it to Sam to find it!

Limits are comfortable, in a way—but seldom permanent.

Determined people will do almost anything to gain a competitive edge. But there’s one thing they’d better remember…

There’s more than one way to win a race…

Many people find fulfillment in their work, but not always the kind they expected.

Evidence of things past may be much subtler than expected…

Music hath charms, all right—but charm is in the ear of the beholder!

There’s more than one. way to skin a cat—or recruit a spacefarer.

“Top level” contact is not necessarily the most important kind…

As a society evolves, it creates the need for new kinds of moral decisions—and they’re seldom simple.

As the old adage says, “First you’ve got to get their attention…”

Success? Failure?

It’s all how you look at it. Right?

“If it feels good, it is good…” Oh, yeah?