The Dechronization of Sam Magruder: A Novel [Hardcover]

George Gaylord Simpson (Author), Joan Simpson Burns (Editor), Arthur C. Clarke (Introduction), Stephen Jay Gould (Afterword)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1996

A newly discovered novella written by the century's greatest paleontologist blends exciting science fiction with meaningful philosophy as it describes the adventures of a man from 2162 who is suddenly transported back to the Jurassic era of prehistory.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This intelligent, if conventional time-travel yarn, which was found by the daughter of the eminent paleontologist Simpson (d. 1984), shows some of the crusty wit of his idiosyncratic autobiography, Concessions to the Improbable. Simpson tells the tale of Sam Magruder, a 22nd-century scientist who slips back to the late Cretaceous period. In this "Crusoe of the Cretaceous," as Clarke dubs it in his appreciative introduction, Magruder's struggle to maintain his mental composure in utter isolation is as important as his struggle for survival among the saurians. In the manner of H.G. Wells's Time Machine, the tale is framed by present-day (in this case, 22nd-century) interlocutors, who try to make sense of Magruder's record, which has been found by a geologist. Simpson uses the story to advance his preferred hypotheses about dinosaurs, most notably that they were cold-blooded and slow (a vision that has come under increasing attack since the 1960s, according to Gould's afterword), but he doesn't sacrifice storytelling to pedantry. When Magruder is shocked at the gleaming white teeth of a T-rex?he'd previously known only fossil-brown?the thought is shocking to the reader, too. The end, which involves an epiphany Sam has when trapping small, shrew-like mammals for their fur, is comic and oddly moving at once: he realizes, with a sense of both awe and the ridiculous, that the creature is his "Great-grandpa."
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Reporters we expect to stash their unpublished Great American Novel in the desk drawer, but famous scientists? Such was the fate of this quaint sf novella by Simpson, a pathbreaking paleontologist who died in 1984. The setup is simple: in the twenty-second century, some academics gather to read an astounding discovery--chiseled writing on eight stone slabs excavated from Cretaceous Period slate. It's the testimony of Sam Magruder, researcher of a quantum theory of time who--shazamm!--slips between quanta and falls into a dinosaur-infested swamp, with no way back to the future. As Earth's only human, Magruder faces cosmic loneliness and despair; but as a scientist he grasps the chance to observe the dinos and settle for future paleontologists the controversies about their appearance and behavior. More than a whimsical survival yarn about a castaway, Simpson's charming tale also touches motifs prominent in the sf genre (e.g., time travel) and receives a deserved publicity boost with a preface and postscript by Arthur Clarke and Stephen Jay Gould, respectively. Gilbert Taylor

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 136 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (January 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312139632
• ISBN-13: 978-0312139636
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,687,243 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Review of "The Dechronization of Sam Magruder, February 12, 2000

By 

Someone (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dechronization of Sam Magruder: A Novel (Paperback)

The Dechronization of Sam Magruder is an intriguing story of science and adventure. It is about a scientist who constructs a time machine, is accidentally transported to the dinosaur age and is, as you may have guessed, unable to return. The story is an account of this journey through his eyes and the eyes of the future...

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars De-chronicalization of George G. Simpson, September 20, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Poland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dechronization of Sam Magruder: A Novel (Paperback)

An excellent book, even though it has its flowing horribly compromised by old-fashioned theories (e.g. Simpson says dinosaurs are cold-blooded), for it was written on the last decade. I'd give two reasons for you to read it : the explanations concerning chronology (a future discipline) are very neat; and it has a highly philosophical content. Stephen Gould's posface is nearly undispensable while understanding the text.

Worht reading; specially for fans of the so-called "hard SF"...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth a look, especially for the essays included., September 2, 2005

By 

Peter D. Tillman (Taos, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dechronization of Sam Magruder: A Novel (Paperback)

This slim novella, by the late and distinguished paleontologist, was
found in his papers after his death. It's just so-so as fiction, in my
opinion, but the book is worth your attention for the two elegant essays
included. The first, by Arthur C. Clarke, outlines the history of time-travel
stories, and includes more recommendations for classic dinosaur tales.
Sir Arthur notes, with admirable succintness, that "the most convincing
argument against [real] time travel is the remarkable scarcity of [real]
time travellers."

Stephen Jay Gould was a student of Simpson's, and contributes a
graceful and elegaic essay on Simpson's novella, career and life --
which, I must say, I enjoyed more than the story. An exceptional
piece, not to be missed if you have any interest in Gould or Simpson.

Simpson's novella does have its charms -- it has a nice mock-
Victorian club-story opening, not unlike Clarke's Tales from the
White Hart, and is oddly compelling despite the amateurish writing.
Sam Magruder, a chronologist in 2162, is accidentally "dechronized"
into the late Cretaceous, with no possibility of rescue, and spends the
rest of his life evading, eating and studying dinosaurs. It's certainly
not "the best time travel story since HG Wells" as the cover blurb
avers, but it's worth a look. Sadly, the story's paleontology is
now quite out of date.

Peter D. Tillman
Consulting Geologist, Tucson & Santa Fe (USA)
(Review first published in the Arizona Geological Society newsletter, 1-02)