Only a Trillion

Only a Trillion is a collection of ten science essays and three scientific spoof articles by Isaac Asimov. It was the first collection of science essays published by Asimov. It was first published by Abelard-Schuman in 1957. A paperback edition published by Ace Books in 1976 included updates of outdated material (re-issued in 1980). The book was also published under the title Marvels of Science by Collier Books in 1962.

The title refers to the number of atoms of astatine-215 in the top 10 miles of the Earth's crust of the North and South American continents – only a trillion.

Contents

 * 1) The Atoms That Vanish (first published in Change!, 1957)
 * 2) The Explosions Within Us (original article)
 * 3) Hemoglobin and the Universe (first published in Astounding Science Fiction, Feb. 1955)
 * 4) Victory on Paper (first published in Astounding, Sept. 1955)
 * 5) The Abnormality of Being Normal (first published in Astounding, May 1956)
 * 6) Planets Have an Air About Them (first published in Astounding, March 1957)
 * 7) The Unblind Workings of Chance (first published in Astounding, April 1957)
 * 8) The Trapping of the Sun (first published in Astounding, May 1957)
 * 9) The Sea-Urchin and We (first published in Astounding, July 1957)
 * 10) The Sound of Panting (first published in Astounding, June 1955)
 * 11) The Marvellous Properties of Thiotimoline
 * 12) The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline (first published in Astounding, March 1948)
 * 13) The Micropsychiatric Applications of Thiotimoline (first published in Astounding, Dec. 1953)
 * 14) Pâté de Foie Gras (first published in Astounding, Sept. 1956)

Reception
Floyd C. Gale stated that Asimov "[a]lmost certainly had enormous fun writing this collection of articles. He staggers, frightens, amazes and, in two, fiendishly misleads his reader".

Following the publication of Only a Trillion, Asimov compiled several more science essays into the manuscript for another, similar book titled Only a Light-Year, but that book was never published, because  Only a Trillion had not sold enough copies.