Skip to main content
Back to list
Short story Β· Isaac Asimov Β· 1941

Nightfall

Plot

On Lagash, a planet orbiting six suns where darkness is unknown, scientists predict an eclipse bringing total darkness for the first time in 2,049 years. Historical records suggest civilization collapses and rebuilds in cycles tied to these eclipses. As darkness falls and the stars appear, the overwhelming sight drives the population mad and civilization burns.

Themes for 2026

  • β€’Cyclical vs linear progress
  • β€’Scientific knowledge vs religious belief (Apostles of Flame)
  • β€’Fear of the unknown
  • β€’Whether civilizations inevitably rise and fall
  • β€’Fragility of progress

Cross-subject hooks

  • β†’Science: astronomy, predictive science
  • β†’History (Succession): cyclical civilization collapse
  • β†’Special Area: civilizational mistakes that recur

Debate angles

  • βš–Is human progress fundamentally cyclical?
  • βš–Can a civilization prepare for an event it has never experienced?

Quotes worth knowing

  • "If only one world in a trillion has six suns, then perhaps the people on that world will go mad once every two thousand years." (paraphrased)
  • "Stars!"

Study questions

  1. Asimov was challenged by Emerson's claim that men would worship the stars if they appeared once a millennium. How does the story answer Emerson?
  2. Is the Apostles of Flame cult right, wrong, or something else?
  3. If you knew the eclipse was coming, what would you do that the Lagashians did not?

Ask the AI tutor

Single-question tutor grounded in this book. Be specific β€” the more you anchor your question, the better the answer.

Try one of these