On an Earth devoid of humanity, a race of intelligent bears makes two uncomfortable discoveries between which there appears to be no connection: a race of intelligent apes on another continent, and the archaeological remains of another race of intelligent apes which appears to have destroyed itself.

This is among the earliest of Asimov’s anti-nuclear war cautionary tales from the 1940’s and 1950’s, and like most of them, rather heavy-handed. Its main merits are the bears themselves and their society, but even that cannot quite overcome the painfully obvious message Asimov is trying to hammer home.

Found In

	The Early Asimov
	The Asimov Chronicles