A Touch of E Flat

"A Touch of E Flat" by Joe Gibson is a science fiction story from the late 1950s that looks at what happens when science gives us powerful new things. Professor Albert Jamieson Cooling, who knows a lot about nuclear physics and biochemistry, makes a gun that doesn't kill; instead, it puts people to sleep. Cooling thinks this invention can stop violence and make the world safer. But he soon realizes that bad people could use his Cooling gun for their own purposes. He's stuck trying to do what's right but also worrying about what could go wrong. The story goes back and forth between Cooling's own worries, his attempts to keep the gun safe, and his dealings with the police as he tries to handle the unexpected results of turning his idea into reality. The book makes us think about whether scientists should be held responsible for how their inventions are used.