Far out on the galactic Rim, where . . . (oops!, a false start.) The patient brought into the observation ward was a large specimen -- about one thousand pounds mass, Conway estimated -- and resembled a giant upright pear.*
But Lonvellin, the ELPH patient, has a much smaller insiderkick. 'Resident Physician' was later subsumed into the novel Star Surgeon, which had the unfortunate effect of making it into an almost 'invisible' story. Whites BIG ALIEN/little alien idea probably had germinated from multiple re-readings of Needle (1950) by Hal clement. Conway to O'Mara: ". . . An intelligent, amoebic life-form, an organized collection of sub-microscopic, virus-type cells, would make the most efficient doctor obtainable." Nanotechnology, in all but name.
*In future, all first lines will be quoted from the book version of any story later made part of a fix-up novel.
In magazines
| Title | Language | Editor | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
New Worlds 110, September 1961 | English | John Carnell | September 1961 |
In anthologies
In James White's books
| Title | Type | Year | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Star Surgeon | Fix-up novel | 1963 |
|
Beginning Operations | Omnibus | 2001 |
NEW WORLDS No 110,September 1961 GALACTIC EMPIRES Vol 1, Ed Brian Alldis, /Futura, Autumn 1976 GALACTIC EMPIRESWeidenfield & Nicholson, London, hardcover IMPERIOS GALaCTICO 2,Editorial Bregeura SA, Barcelona, 1977 GALACTIC EMPIRES 1, Avon Books pb Edition, $2.25, February 1979. GALACTIC EMPIRES combined Vols 1 & 2, Arrow Books, £4-99, 1988 Star Surgeon
ISFDB title record (CC BY 4.0).