The Book That Saved the Earth Summary

The story is set in the distant 25th Century where a historian is narrating a tale of past glories. She is especially excited about the 20th Century which was also called as the ‘the century of books”.

The name was not just because there were many excellent books written in that era but particularly due to a special incident. On that day a book saved the planet and human race from an alien invasion from Mars.

Starting the narration, the historian informs the reader about the leader or commander-in-chief of the Martians called Think Tank. His wise advisor is called Noodle.

They commanded a space probe to land on the Earth and explore its mysteries in order to plan their assault. The invaders were obnoxious and arrogant and considered themselves far superior than humans whom they called ‘Earthlings’.

The probe team consisted of Captain Omega, Sergeant Oop and Lieutenant Iota. The first place they entered was the Central Public Library. Looking at the building and its contents, Think Tank believed that it was a place that sold food.

The books were some sort of sandwiches for him. Trying to ascertain one Martian even bit off a piece from one book. Noodle then quipped that they were communication devices for ears. But since they did not make any sounds, he corrected himself and claimed that they were visual communication devices.

The team decided to use some intelligence-enhancing capsules and tried decoding the text in one of the books. They opened a book of nursery rhymes with Mother Goose on the cover.

Iota read one rhyme and thought humans had taught their animals the mystery of music while Omega read the nursery rhyme which hinted that humans knew both mining and farming.

Finally, Oop opened and read the rhyme called, Humpty Dumpty’. The picture of Humpty Dumpty was similar to the appearance of Think Tank, the Martian leader.

Furthermore, the story had Humpty Dumpty having a great fall which Think Tank assumed as a direct threat to his Martian thrown. Frightened by the prospect of a human invasion, Think Tank ordered the probe to return instantly and left the planet without any sign.

The historian further tells the audience that few centuries later the human race contacted their Martian neighbors once again and entered a peaceful arrangement of co-existence and friendship. Martians had a new leader by then, the wise and compassionate Noodle.

Humans also developed impressive and grand libraries on Mars to inculcate a love for reading in Martians. However, they could never get their hands on one particular book, the book with ‘Mother Goose’ on the cover.