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The Next Tenants

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"The Next Tenants"
Short story by Arthur C. Clarke
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s)Science fiction
Publication
Published in Satellite Science Fiction
Publication typeMagazine
PublisherRenown Publications
Publication dateFebruary 1957
Chronology
SeriesTales from the White Hart
 
The Pacifist
 
Moving Spirit
Atomic bomb explosion in the background with a termite going about business as usual, underground, in the foreground.

"The Next Tenants" is a science fiction short story by British writer Arthur C. Clarke, first published in 1956 and included in several collections of Clarke's writings, including Tales from Planet Earth and Tales from the White Hart.[1]

The story describes the discovery by the protagonist of a "mad scientist" living on a remote Pacific island, preparing for what he feels is humanity's inevitable self-destruction. The scientist decides that termites represent the best chance for a terrestrial species to form a stable civilization, and so is training a colony of termites in the use of technology. While the protagonist believes the scientist to be crazy, he wonders whether he may, after all, be right.

References

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  1. ^ Clarke, Arthur C. (1957). Tales from the White Hart. London: Ballantine Books. p. Forward.
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