There are stories that may cause a reawakening in people curious about the aftermath of a scare on biological weapons or the aftermath of a civilization, which destroys itself through unknown conflicts. One has to do with a recent scientific discovery that was predicted in the 19th century and the other is a projection of how the earth might look like centuries down the road if man is all to keen on ruining the environment and the human race dies out. What would have been considered, as unreal science fiction is actually plausible given that it is narrow minded to think that in the entire universe, mankind is the only kind of being that has been able to explore space or has dominated over other forms of life.

The story regarding a biological weapon was written By H.G. Wells and called “The Stolen Bacillus.” It was written many years before the anthrax scare and the thought of sending lethal spores through the mail. Intrigue is developed in the story on how bacteria can be used as a weapon.

Such was the case for the story that H.G. Wells wrote many years back about a person who enters the study of a doctor and steals his bacterial secret. The doctor runs after the person wildly and is unable to reach the person before the vial that he holds is broken and he is carrying the lethal agent on his person. The thief becomes a martyr in the story.

Another story written by Clarke called “History Lesson”, informs the reader of the coming of visitors from Venus. Civilization on the Earth has disappeared after having attempted to leave some traces of their presence behind. The new visitors, represented as reptiles find reels of transparent photo containing tape. On closer examination they discover that Walt Disney is behind the creation of this tape.

The message from these stories is that we are just as exposed in society as we used to be, there will always somebody who will seek attention through means such as bacteria. Also if we do not protect our environment we may end up much as Clarke wrote in his story. Visitors may not come from somewhere in this solar system but they may find out that we have not been able to live together as humanity if we keep on the same self-destructive road.