William M. Lee 22 min read

'Fallout is, of course, always disastrous, one way or another.' Asked to lead a junior achievement group, an ordinary man finds the neighborhood children have some extraordinary projects in mind.

William M. Lee's 1955 story spins sharp, funny hard-SF from gifted kids and grown-up cluelessness. Clever, wry golden-age SF. Read it for a genial tale where a well-meaning adult mentor discovers his young charges are aiming a great deal higher than birdhouses.

In its time

Published in 1955, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

22 min read (a short story, a single idea, delivered and gone).

Illustrated by

John Schoenherr