No Connection

For the English rock music group, see No Connection (band).

"No Connection"
Short story by Isaac Asimov
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Science fiction
Publication
Published in	Astounding Science Fiction
Publication type	Periodical
Publisher	Street & Smith
Media type	Print (Magazine, Hardback & Paperback)
Publication date	June 1948

"No Connection" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the June 1948 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the 1972 collection The Early Asimov.

Background

Written in May 1947, "No Connection" was Asimov's first non-Foundation, non-robot series story in more than two years. John W. Campbell of Astounding Science Fiction purchased it that month.

Plot summary

In the Earth of the far distant future, humans have died out and have been replaced, at least in the Americas, by a race descended from bears. Known to themselves as Gurrow sapiens, they live peaceably in communal groupings, trading with each other and sharing communal property, monetary units and duties. Their science has advanced almost to that of pre-atomic age humans. Little is known of other lands on the planet.

Raph, a Gurrow archaeologist, learns of the arrival on the continent's eastern seaboard of an unknown race, apparently descended from chimpanzees, who resemble 'Primate Primeval', the extinct race whose existence he has been trying to prove. Their science is more advanced and they are more war-like.

It is implied that the arrivals may try to invade and colonise the lands occupied by Gurrows, and that they have developed nuclear weapons. Raph suspects that nuclear war may have been the reason why the original primates became extinct.

External links

• "No Connection" title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• "No Connection" on the Internet Archive