Omnilingual
by H. Beam Piper · first published 2007
7mentions
3recommended by
4HN commenters
2013–2025first – last mentioned
75% recommend25% neutral
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Some recommendations for people: Omnilingual by H. Beam Piper, known for his alternative time line stories. Beyond Lies the Wub, by Philip K Dick, a collection of his early short stories. A Princess of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The beginning…
on “Project Gutenberg's science fiction bookshelf” ↗There is an excellent short story from the 50s, "Omnilingual" by H. Beam Piper, that explores deciphering a literally alien language. It is mercifully in the public domain because it was written before copyright became infinite in the 1970s. You can read it here:…
on “The messages that survived civilisation's collapse” ↗I've always thought it was quite unfortunate that some really arcane presentation of the periodic table wasn't used in H. Beam Piper's novella "Omnilingual": https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/19445/pg19445-images.ht...
on “Picture This: The Periodic Table” ↗Well, that was H. Beam Piper's premise in his "Terro Human Future" and "Paratime" stories --- see the wonderful novella "Omnilingual" and see the story "Genesis": https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18105
on “New findings point to an Earth-like environment on ancient Mars” ↗…science such as it is, is if anything, discouraging. _Dune_ for its role in inspiring the study of ecology would seem more fitting. It's unfortunate that a didactic text such as H. Beam Piper's novella "Omnilingual" couldn't be considered instead.
on “100 Or so Books that shaped a Century of Science (1999)” ↗…https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/939760.Music_of_Many_Sph... --- I recommend folks read it in reverse chronological order, starting at the back, then working to the front and bailing when things get too quaint/old-school/golden-age. - H. Beam Piper "Omnilingual" --- this should be a part of the middle school canon, lightly updated version at: http://vrici.lojban.org/~cowan/omnilingual.html - _Foxfire_ --- a classic series what predated the "Maker" movement…
on “Show HN: Books mentioned on Hacker News in 2025” ↗I recently read the short story Omnilingual by H Beam Piper (1957). A planet becomes extinct due to climate change and a team of archaelogists are sent to study its civilisation.
on “Ask HN: What are you reading?” ↗