giANTS

"giANTS" is a 1979 science fiction short story by Edward Bryant. It was first published in Analog Science Fiction.[1]

Synopsis

An elderly scientist explains why he hates ants, and why he is participating in a secret government project to increase the size of invasive ants. He explains that the "square-cube law" demands that an ever-increasingly size-mutated ant will at some point collapse under its own mass. The square-cube law and forced mutation is used to thwart a South American giant ant invasion.

Reception

"giANTS" won the Nebula Award for Best Short Story of 1979,[2] and was nominated for the 1980 Hugo Award for Best Short Story.[3] Gary Westfahl has noted that the story is based on the fact that giant insects "would be unable to walk or sustain themselves".[4]

References
  1. giANTS at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
  2. 1979 Nebula Awards, at Science Fiction Writers of America; retrieved May 31, 2017
  3. 1980 Hugo Awards, at TheHugoAwards.org; retrieved May 31, 2017
  4. The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders, Volume 1, edited by Gary Westfahl; page 245; published 2005 by Greenwood Publishing Group
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