| An American math student in Canada in 1964 obtains help from his math professor, Chan Davis, to avoid being drafted into the military during the Vietnam War, which had already killed his uncle. The math research that Davis is working on allows the student to travel forwards in time to 2014 (allowing for some in-jokes about how things had changed in a half-century) and also back in time (allowing him to save his uncle).
There are unexpected consequences of his attempts to change the course of time, which ironically is to be expected.
To me, the most interesting aspect of this story is the professor character and his connection to mathematical fiction.
In reality, Chandler "Chan" Davis is a mathematician who moved to Canada after being imprisoned in the United States for his refusal to cooperate with the House Unamerican Activities Committee.
He writes science fiction under the name "Chan Davis", including the story The Statistomat Pitch, which is included in this database.
Davis also has co-organized a wonderful series of writing workshops. I was fortunate enough to have been able to attend one of them and the book which was produced by the participants is also included in this database of mathematical fiction.
DeFilippo's story was published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction's November-December 2014 issue (#716). |
