Talk:Superiority (short story)

I wonder how this story compares with Computer War by Mack Reynolds? --204.4.131.140 (talk) 09:45, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

What about a citation for the claim that it (the story) was required reading at West Point? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.228.251.248 (talk) 10:04, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

In the copy of the story ('The Sentinel (The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke Book 2)') that I have on my Kindle, Arthur C Clarke states:

'Superiority' was inspired -- if that is not too pretentious a word -- by the German V2 rocket programme. With 20/20 hindsight, it is now clear that the Third Reich's attempts to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile, which was too late to have any major influence on World War II, sapped its resources and contributed to the Allied victory.

Soon after publication 'Superiority' was inserted into the Engineering curriculum of MIT -- to warn the graduates that the Better is often the enemy of the Good -- and the Best can be the enemy of both, as it is always too late.

And I must confess that the two characters in this little squib were based on Dr Wernher von Braun and General Walter Dornberger, both of whom later became good friends. To put the record straight, may I say that Wernher was nothing like the Dr Strangelove image many people have of him: he had a wonderful sense of humour and was greatly liked b all those who worked under him -- Germans and Americans.

--Rpapo (talk) 10:43, 27 April 2016 (UTC)

The plot either misses or misstates a key point: all of the new technology worked both in theory and in the lab. The problems all came from the fact that they were deployed before they were properly tested. I'd be happy to add that, but except for pointing to an on-line copy of the story itself, I've no idea where to find a proper citation. JDZeff (talk) — Preceding undated comment added 20:33, 3 January 2024 (UTC)