Short story about an infectious indestructible metal bar?












6















About 15-20 years ago I read a short story (I believe as part of a collection) which as its main plot line featured a metal bar that appeared one day. A guy picked it up and threw it in the recycling. The bar itself was indestructable and unworkable, and any metal that it touched was "infected" to have the same properties after some amount of time. So it damaged the machine that tried to process it for recycling, and turned the metal recycling machine into the same type of metal. And it spread from there.



IIRC this didn't go very well for civilization. I think one of the characters calculated how this might spread rapidly along railways, etc. and committed suicide at the end...maybe?










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    6















    About 15-20 years ago I read a short story (I believe as part of a collection) which as its main plot line featured a metal bar that appeared one day. A guy picked it up and threw it in the recycling. The bar itself was indestructable and unworkable, and any metal that it touched was "infected" to have the same properties after some amount of time. So it damaged the machine that tried to process it for recycling, and turned the metal recycling machine into the same type of metal. And it spread from there.



    IIRC this didn't go very well for civilization. I think one of the characters calculated how this might spread rapidly along railways, etc. and committed suicide at the end...maybe?










    share|improve this question







    New contributor




    Aaron Axvig is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
    Check out our Code of Conduct.























      6












      6








      6








      About 15-20 years ago I read a short story (I believe as part of a collection) which as its main plot line featured a metal bar that appeared one day. A guy picked it up and threw it in the recycling. The bar itself was indestructable and unworkable, and any metal that it touched was "infected" to have the same properties after some amount of time. So it damaged the machine that tried to process it for recycling, and turned the metal recycling machine into the same type of metal. And it spread from there.



      IIRC this didn't go very well for civilization. I think one of the characters calculated how this might spread rapidly along railways, etc. and committed suicide at the end...maybe?










      share|improve this question







      New contributor




      Aaron Axvig is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.












      About 15-20 years ago I read a short story (I believe as part of a collection) which as its main plot line featured a metal bar that appeared one day. A guy picked it up and threw it in the recycling. The bar itself was indestructable and unworkable, and any metal that it touched was "infected" to have the same properties after some amount of time. So it damaged the machine that tried to process it for recycling, and turned the metal recycling machine into the same type of metal. And it spread from there.



      IIRC this didn't go very well for civilization. I think one of the characters calculated how this might spread rapidly along railways, etc. and committed suicide at the end...maybe?







      story-identification






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      Aaron Axvig is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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      New contributor




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      Aaron AxvigAaron Axvig

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          1 Answer
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          active

          oldest

          votes


















          4














          This is probably A. E. van Vogt's "Juggernaut" (1944), which was previously asked about and answered here. Though that answer was not accepted, it is almost certainly correct.



          The story concerns the mysterious appearance of a bar of what looks like plain steel, which is collected in a wartime scrap metal drive. Metal from the batch including that bar can be shaped as normal steel, but, once fully "set" (which takes about two weeks), it cannot be remelted and has supernatural hardness (i.e. can't be bent at all):




          "As you all know, obtaining information from a metallurgist"—he paused
          and grinned inoffensively at Nadderly, whom he had invited down—"is
          like obtaining blood from a turnip. Mr. Nadderly embodies in his
          character and his science all the caution of a Scotchman who realizes
          that it’s time he set up the drinks for everybody, but who is waiting
          for some of the gang to depart.



          "I might as well warn you, gentlemen,
          that he is fully aware that any statement he has made on this metal
          might be used against him. One of his objections is that thirty days
          is a very brief period in the life of an alloy. There is an aluminum
          alloy, for instance, that requires forty days to age-harden.



          "Mr. Nadderly wishes that stressed because the original hard alloy, which
          seems to have been a bar of about two inches square by a foot long,
          has in fifteen days imparted its hardness to the rest of the bar, of
          which it is a part.



          "Gentlemen"—he looked earnestly over the
          faces—"the hardness of this metal cannot be stated or estimated. It is
          not just so many times harder than chromium or molybdenum steel. It is
          hard beyond all calculation.



          "Once hardened, it cannot be machined,
          not even by tools made of itself. It won’t grind. Diamonds do not even
          scratch it. Cannon shells neither dent it nor scratch it. Chemicals
          have no effect. No heat we have been able to inflict on it has any
          softening effect.



          "Two pieces welded together—other metal attaches to
          it readily—impart the hardness to the welding. Apparently, any metal,
          once hardened by contact with the hard metal, will impart the hardness
          to any metal with which it in turn comes into contact.



          "The process is
          cumulative and endless, though, as I have said, it seems to require
          fifteen days. It is during this fortnight that the metal can be
          worked.




          The cause of the effect is discovered too late and the "infected" metal is too widely distributed to stop its spread. The government intentionally distributes the infected metal into Europe to stop the German war machine.



          The story was originally published in the August 1944 edition of Astounding Science Fiction, and can be read online in its entirety courtesy of archive.org.






          share|improve this answer

























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            1 Answer
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            1 Answer
            1






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

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            active

            oldest

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            4














            This is probably A. E. van Vogt's "Juggernaut" (1944), which was previously asked about and answered here. Though that answer was not accepted, it is almost certainly correct.



            The story concerns the mysterious appearance of a bar of what looks like plain steel, which is collected in a wartime scrap metal drive. Metal from the batch including that bar can be shaped as normal steel, but, once fully "set" (which takes about two weeks), it cannot be remelted and has supernatural hardness (i.e. can't be bent at all):




            "As you all know, obtaining information from a metallurgist"—he paused
            and grinned inoffensively at Nadderly, whom he had invited down—"is
            like obtaining blood from a turnip. Mr. Nadderly embodies in his
            character and his science all the caution of a Scotchman who realizes
            that it’s time he set up the drinks for everybody, but who is waiting
            for some of the gang to depart.



            "I might as well warn you, gentlemen,
            that he is fully aware that any statement he has made on this metal
            might be used against him. One of his objections is that thirty days
            is a very brief period in the life of an alloy. There is an aluminum
            alloy, for instance, that requires forty days to age-harden.



            "Mr. Nadderly wishes that stressed because the original hard alloy, which
            seems to have been a bar of about two inches square by a foot long,
            has in fifteen days imparted its hardness to the rest of the bar, of
            which it is a part.



            "Gentlemen"—he looked earnestly over the
            faces—"the hardness of this metal cannot be stated or estimated. It is
            not just so many times harder than chromium or molybdenum steel. It is
            hard beyond all calculation.



            "Once hardened, it cannot be machined,
            not even by tools made of itself. It won’t grind. Diamonds do not even
            scratch it. Cannon shells neither dent it nor scratch it. Chemicals
            have no effect. No heat we have been able to inflict on it has any
            softening effect.



            "Two pieces welded together—other metal attaches to
            it readily—impart the hardness to the welding. Apparently, any metal,
            once hardened by contact with the hard metal, will impart the hardness
            to any metal with which it in turn comes into contact.



            "The process is
            cumulative and endless, though, as I have said, it seems to require
            fifteen days. It is during this fortnight that the metal can be
            worked.




            The cause of the effect is discovered too late and the "infected" metal is too widely distributed to stop its spread. The government intentionally distributes the infected metal into Europe to stop the German war machine.



            The story was originally published in the August 1944 edition of Astounding Science Fiction, and can be read online in its entirety courtesy of archive.org.






            share|improve this answer






























              4














              This is probably A. E. van Vogt's "Juggernaut" (1944), which was previously asked about and answered here. Though that answer was not accepted, it is almost certainly correct.



              The story concerns the mysterious appearance of a bar of what looks like plain steel, which is collected in a wartime scrap metal drive. Metal from the batch including that bar can be shaped as normal steel, but, once fully "set" (which takes about two weeks), it cannot be remelted and has supernatural hardness (i.e. can't be bent at all):




              "As you all know, obtaining information from a metallurgist"—he paused
              and grinned inoffensively at Nadderly, whom he had invited down—"is
              like obtaining blood from a turnip. Mr. Nadderly embodies in his
              character and his science all the caution of a Scotchman who realizes
              that it’s time he set up the drinks for everybody, but who is waiting
              for some of the gang to depart.



              "I might as well warn you, gentlemen,
              that he is fully aware that any statement he has made on this metal
              might be used against him. One of his objections is that thirty days
              is a very brief period in the life of an alloy. There is an aluminum
              alloy, for instance, that requires forty days to age-harden.



              "Mr. Nadderly wishes that stressed because the original hard alloy, which
              seems to have been a bar of about two inches square by a foot long,
              has in fifteen days imparted its hardness to the rest of the bar, of
              which it is a part.



              "Gentlemen"—he looked earnestly over the
              faces—"the hardness of this metal cannot be stated or estimated. It is
              not just so many times harder than chromium or molybdenum steel. It is
              hard beyond all calculation.



              "Once hardened, it cannot be machined,
              not even by tools made of itself. It won’t grind. Diamonds do not even
              scratch it. Cannon shells neither dent it nor scratch it. Chemicals
              have no effect. No heat we have been able to inflict on it has any
              softening effect.



              "Two pieces welded together—other metal attaches to
              it readily—impart the hardness to the welding. Apparently, any metal,
              once hardened by contact with the hard metal, will impart the hardness
              to any metal with which it in turn comes into contact.



              "The process is
              cumulative and endless, though, as I have said, it seems to require
              fifteen days. It is during this fortnight that the metal can be
              worked.




              The cause of the effect is discovered too late and the "infected" metal is too widely distributed to stop its spread. The government intentionally distributes the infected metal into Europe to stop the German war machine.



              The story was originally published in the August 1944 edition of Astounding Science Fiction, and can be read online in its entirety courtesy of archive.org.






              share|improve this answer




























                4












                4








                4







                This is probably A. E. van Vogt's "Juggernaut" (1944), which was previously asked about and answered here. Though that answer was not accepted, it is almost certainly correct.



                The story concerns the mysterious appearance of a bar of what looks like plain steel, which is collected in a wartime scrap metal drive. Metal from the batch including that bar can be shaped as normal steel, but, once fully "set" (which takes about two weeks), it cannot be remelted and has supernatural hardness (i.e. can't be bent at all):




                "As you all know, obtaining information from a metallurgist"—he paused
                and grinned inoffensively at Nadderly, whom he had invited down—"is
                like obtaining blood from a turnip. Mr. Nadderly embodies in his
                character and his science all the caution of a Scotchman who realizes
                that it’s time he set up the drinks for everybody, but who is waiting
                for some of the gang to depart.



                "I might as well warn you, gentlemen,
                that he is fully aware that any statement he has made on this metal
                might be used against him. One of his objections is that thirty days
                is a very brief period in the life of an alloy. There is an aluminum
                alloy, for instance, that requires forty days to age-harden.



                "Mr. Nadderly wishes that stressed because the original hard alloy, which
                seems to have been a bar of about two inches square by a foot long,
                has in fifteen days imparted its hardness to the rest of the bar, of
                which it is a part.



                "Gentlemen"—he looked earnestly over the
                faces—"the hardness of this metal cannot be stated or estimated. It is
                not just so many times harder than chromium or molybdenum steel. It is
                hard beyond all calculation.



                "Once hardened, it cannot be machined,
                not even by tools made of itself. It won’t grind. Diamonds do not even
                scratch it. Cannon shells neither dent it nor scratch it. Chemicals
                have no effect. No heat we have been able to inflict on it has any
                softening effect.



                "Two pieces welded together—other metal attaches to
                it readily—impart the hardness to the welding. Apparently, any metal,
                once hardened by contact with the hard metal, will impart the hardness
                to any metal with which it in turn comes into contact.



                "The process is
                cumulative and endless, though, as I have said, it seems to require
                fifteen days. It is during this fortnight that the metal can be
                worked.




                The cause of the effect is discovered too late and the "infected" metal is too widely distributed to stop its spread. The government intentionally distributes the infected metal into Europe to stop the German war machine.



                The story was originally published in the August 1944 edition of Astounding Science Fiction, and can be read online in its entirety courtesy of archive.org.






                share|improve this answer















                This is probably A. E. van Vogt's "Juggernaut" (1944), which was previously asked about and answered here. Though that answer was not accepted, it is almost certainly correct.



                The story concerns the mysterious appearance of a bar of what looks like plain steel, which is collected in a wartime scrap metal drive. Metal from the batch including that bar can be shaped as normal steel, but, once fully "set" (which takes about two weeks), it cannot be remelted and has supernatural hardness (i.e. can't be bent at all):




                "As you all know, obtaining information from a metallurgist"—he paused
                and grinned inoffensively at Nadderly, whom he had invited down—"is
                like obtaining blood from a turnip. Mr. Nadderly embodies in his
                character and his science all the caution of a Scotchman who realizes
                that it’s time he set up the drinks for everybody, but who is waiting
                for some of the gang to depart.



                "I might as well warn you, gentlemen,
                that he is fully aware that any statement he has made on this metal
                might be used against him. One of his objections is that thirty days
                is a very brief period in the life of an alloy. There is an aluminum
                alloy, for instance, that requires forty days to age-harden.



                "Mr. Nadderly wishes that stressed because the original hard alloy, which
                seems to have been a bar of about two inches square by a foot long,
                has in fifteen days imparted its hardness to the rest of the bar, of
                which it is a part.



                "Gentlemen"—he looked earnestly over the
                faces—"the hardness of this metal cannot be stated or estimated. It is
                not just so many times harder than chromium or molybdenum steel. It is
                hard beyond all calculation.



                "Once hardened, it cannot be machined,
                not even by tools made of itself. It won’t grind. Diamonds do not even
                scratch it. Cannon shells neither dent it nor scratch it. Chemicals
                have no effect. No heat we have been able to inflict on it has any
                softening effect.



                "Two pieces welded together—other metal attaches to
                it readily—impart the hardness to the welding. Apparently, any metal,
                once hardened by contact with the hard metal, will impart the hardness
                to any metal with which it in turn comes into contact.



                "The process is
                cumulative and endless, though, as I have said, it seems to require
                fifteen days. It is during this fortnight that the metal can be
                worked.




                The cause of the effect is discovered too late and the "infected" metal is too widely distributed to stop its spread. The government intentionally distributes the infected metal into Europe to stop the German war machine.



                The story was originally published in the August 1944 edition of Astounding Science Fiction, and can be read online in its entirety courtesy of archive.org.







                share|improve this answer














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