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"Greater Than Gods" is a 10,000 word short story written by C.L. Moore (Catherine L. Moore). It was first published in the July, 1939 issue of Astounding Science Fiction.

Spoiler Warning: Plot details and/or information about the ending follow. If you wish to enjoy the work first, stop reading here and return at another time.

Plot

Bill Cory is a scientist, working at a time when more women are being born than men, and no one knows why, though Bill is working toward a solution. At the same time, Bill is faced with a dilemma in his personal life, wondering which of two women he should marry—Marta, a fellow scientist, or Sallie, a beautiful but more frivolous woman. In his office one day, Bill is contacted by one of his future descendants from after his marriage to Sallie. From this conversation Bill sees what the future holds—the birth/gender problem never gets solved, and society evolves into a matriarchal society, with no wars or violence, but also with no ambition. Technological progress stops, and to Bill this is a horrific outcome.

Then Bill is contacted by another future descendant, this one a male child descended from him and Marta. This offspring reveals that after his marriage to Marta, Bill continued working on the gender problem, and eventually found a tentative solution. On Marta’s insistence, he released the solution to the world, restoring gender balance. The only problem is that the solution was incomplete; the boys being born through this new solution were unusually docile and obedient. The result is a society that is fascist and dictatorial.

Bill is in a dilemma, not knowing which of the two futures he should prefer. In the end, he picks a third option, with unknown consequences; he proposes to his secretary, and forgoes any marriage to Marta or Sallie.

Additional Notes

This story has been reprinted in, among other places, Isaac Asimov Presents The Great SF Stories 1 (1939).