destruction threatens the body. And so, "The Republic has no need of men
of science."

Emergency can take any form. Here is a story in which the mechanical
foundation of our culture is threatened. Whether the means of this
threat, as I have pictured it, could possibly occur, I do not know. I
know of no reason why it could not, if circumstances were right.

But more important, this is what happens to a small, college town caught
up in such disaster. How quickly do its people dispense with their men
of science and turn to superstition and mob rule for hope of survival?

It is perhaps not so apparent to those of us who have grown up with it,
but we have witnessed in our own time, under threat of calamity, the
decline of science before a blight of crash-priority engineering
technology. Today, we hear it faintly whispered, "The Republic has no
need of men of science."

Insofar as he represents the achievements of our race over the great
reaches of time, the scientist will always be needed if we are to retain
the foothold we have gained over Nature. The witch doctors and the
fortunetellers clamor for his niche and will gladly extend their
services if we wish to change our allegiance.

The story of THE YEAR WHEN STARDUST FELL is not a story of the distant
future or of the remote past. It is not a story of a never-never land
where fantastic happenings take place daily. It is a story of my town
and yours, of people like you and me and the mayor in townhall, his
sheriff on the corner, and the professor in the university--a story that
happens no later than tomorrow.

R. F. J.

Chapter 1. _The Comet_

The comet was the only thing in the whole sky. All the stars were
smothered by the light of its copper-yellow flame, and, although the sun
had set two hours ago, the Earth was lit as with the glow of a
thunderous dawn.

In Mayfield, Ken Maddox walked slowly along Main Street, avoiding
collisions with other people whose eyes were fixed on the object in the
sky. Ken had spent scores of hours observing the comet carefully, both
by naked eye and with his 12-inch reflecting telescope. Still he could
not keep from watching it as he picked his way along the street toward
the post office.

The comet had been approaching Earth for months, growing steadily to
bigger proportions in the sky, but tonight was a very special night, and
Mayfield was watching with increased awe and half-dread--as were
hundreds of thousands of othe