Astounding Science Fiction, August, 1959, we submit, for your consideration, Anne Walker. Who’s Anne Walker? Well I don’t know. Nobody really knows, I don’t think. There is only one title, a short story called A Matter of Proportion, listed under the name Anne Walker in Project Gutenberg.
A Matter of Proportion is a snapshot of a man who, in a time of war, does a heroic thing, to the amazement of one of his comrades. Big idea: Strength of will and dedication to purpose trump seemingly insurmountable obstacles. And, oh, I like that. Give me a David and Goliath story all day!
The story introduces two features that qualify it as science fiction. The first one is the ICEG (inter-cortical encephalograph), a sort of mind-reading, sensation-sharing, buddy system used, in the story, to provide a channel of communication between soldiers in times of war. Through this device, the author allows the narrator, an observer, to experience the thoughts and sensations of his subject, the hero, thus conveying two points of view (the narrator’s panicked incredulity and the hero’s calm determination) simultaneously.
The other feature that tags the story as science fiction takes the form of the big reveal, which–spoiler alert–I will here blurt out verbatim in a quotation from the story:
“I was the first—successful—brain transplant in man.”
So that’s the science fiction of it. Walker’s description of the science of organ transplantation was naive and didn’t convince, but the idea was out there, and she had the guts to run with it, so, more power to her. What’s more? She finished the story and got it published! She lived the dream, Daddy-o!
John Racette
I commented in my previous post about the fact that our modern technological trends feature connectedness, virtual reality, and cognitive augmentation. I think it’s interesting that the story you mention, from 1959, also includes aspects of those technologies.
That would seem to make the mysterious Ms. Walker something of a visionary.