The Nine Billion Names of God

E112596

science fiction short story short story

"The Nine Billion Names of God" is a classic science fiction short story by Arthur C. Clarke that explores themes of religion, technology, and the end of the universe through a Tibetan monastery's quest to list all possible names of God.

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All labels observed (2)

Label	Occurrences
The Nine Billion Names of God canonical	2
The Nine Billion Names of God and Other Stories	1

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	science fiction short story ⓘ short story ⓘ
author	Arthur C. Clarke ⓘ
authorNationality	British ⓘ
centralTheme	apocalypse and end of the universe ⓘ faith versus rationalism ⓘ limits of human understanding ⓘ relationship between religion and technology ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United Kingdom ⓘ
exploresConcept	computational enumeration of divine names ⓘ intersection of Eastern religion and Western technology ⓘ
featuresCharacterGroup	Tibetan monks ⓘ computer technicians ⓘ
featuresTechnology	computer ⓘ
firstPublicationYear	1953 ⓘ
firstPublishedIn	Star Science Fiction Stories No. 1 ⓘ
genre	science fiction ⓘ
hasKeyEvent	completion of the list of divine names ⓘ
hasKeyObject	electronic computer ⓘ starry sky ⓘ
hasMainLocationType	religious institution ⓘ
hasMoralOrMessage	human skepticism may not grasp cosmic purposes ⓘ
hasMotif	clash of worldviews ⓘ cosmic revelation ⓘ countdown to an ending ⓘ
hasNarrativeTone	philosophical ⓘ quietly ironic ⓘ
hasReligiousContext	Buddhism ⓘ Tibetan Buddhism ⓘ
hasTimeSetting	20th century ⓘ
hasTitleWordCount	6 ⓘ
includedInCollection	The Nine Billion Names of God self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: The Nine Billion Names of God and Other Stories The Other Side of the Sky ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
length	short story ⓘ
literarySignificance	considered a classic of science fiction ⓘ frequently anthologized ⓘ
notableEnding	stars begin to go out ⓘ
originalForm	magazine anthology story ⓘ
originalMedium	print ⓘ
plotElement	belief that listing all names of God will end the universe ⓘ monastery commissions a computer to list all possible names of God ⓘ
publisherOfFirstEdition	Ballantine Books ⓘ
setting	Himalayas ⓘ Tibetan monastery ⓘ
structure	third-person narrative ⓘ
timePeriodOfWriting	early 1950s ⓘ

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Arthur C. Clarke → notableWork → The Nine Billion Names of God ⓘ

The Other Side of the Sky → containsWork → The Nine Billion Names of God ⓘ

The Nine Billion Names of God → includedInCollection → The Nine Billion Names of God self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: The Nine Billion Names of God and Other Stories