7

This is a really short story, one page at most.

A man invents a portable device that creates an impenetrable force field.
To test it, he sneaks into a nuclear test site, and

the force field resists the nuclear blast, but the force of the explosion throws the inventor off the planet.

As additional information, something in the wording of the title of the story made me think that it may be part of a series or a chapter of a larger work.

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1
  • I remember this too, great story.
    – Alan B
    Jul 20 '14 at 11:51
7

You are, of course referring to Fredric Brown's "Great Lost Discoveries II - Invulnerability", originally collected in his unusually titled 'Nightmares and Geezenstacks' anthology.

It was part of a series of stories subverting three common sci-fi tropes; invulnerability, invisibility and immortality.

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5
  • You misspelled Fredric. By the way, according to the ISFDB page you linked to, the story was first published in the February 1961 issue of Gent.
    – user14111
    May 23 '14 at 10:09
  • Actually, the title of that magazine was probably The Gent.
    – user14111
    May 23 '14 at 10:19
  • Originally published in The Gent. Originally collected in the book mentioned
    – Valorum
    May 23 '14 at 10:47
  • Yes, I know. Your answer is accurate as far as it goes. I just thought that, if you're going to say where it was first collected, you might as well also say where it was first published. With a shot of the cover of that issue, if you can find one.
    – user14111
    May 23 '14 at 10:57
  • Thanks, that was the one! I'll try to find the other two.
    – x86tux
    May 23 '14 at 17:18

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