S as in Zebatinsky by Isaac Asimov Episide #295

Isaac Asimov | November 24, 2024

S as in Zebatinsky by Isaac Asimov Episide #295
Isaac Asimov

S AS IN ZEBATINSKY

Episode #295 · Written by Isaac Asimov · Narrated by Scott Miller

A physicist’s desperate search for recognition leads him to a mysterious “numerologist” who claims he can alter fate with mathematics. But when one letter changes, so might the balance of power across the world—and beyond.

Marshall Zebatinsky’s life has stalled. A brilliant nuclear physicist trapped inside a faceless government team, he longs for individuality and credit for his own ideas. His wife, searching for hope, persuades him to consult a “numerologist”—a shabby little man who seems more mathematician than mystic. What begins as an act of reluctant curiosity turns into something far more disconcerting when the man claims to possess a computer that predicts probable futures.

He asks for Zebatinsky’s data—every detail of his life—then suggests an absurdly simple fix: change the first letter of his name. “One letter,” he insists, “may shift the probabilities of your success.” Skeptical yet intrigued, Zebatinsky complies. What follows is an elegant domino effect spanning from one man’s paperwork to the highest levels of atomic-age security, and even farther—into the unseen realm of beings who treat human civilization as a game of variables.

S as in Zebatinsky is vintage Asimov at his wittiest and most unsettling. It’s a satire of Cold-War paranoia and bureaucratic logic, a commentary on individuality in the age of computation, and a sly metaphysical twist that suggests even the smallest change in data—or in destiny—can rewrite history itself.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) remains one of science fiction’s towering intellects. A biochemist by training, he brought scientific reasoning and a playful curiosity to everything he wrote. Author of The Foundation Trilogy, The Gods Themselves, and I, Robot, Asimov transformed the genre with stories that fused technology, philosophy, and irony. “S as in Zebatinsky” reflects his lifelong fascination with logic taken to its cosmic extreme—where equations, names, and even letters might determine the fate of humanity.

LISTEN TO THE STORY

Listen to S as in Zebatinsky by Isaac Asimov — a classic sci-fi tale of probability, identity, and one letter that might change the world. A vintage science fiction masterpiece.