machine on once again, in order to destroy it, Shumway quietly drops the evidence into an incinerator set into the wall nearby and exits Stiles' home via a glass elevator. Adaptation/ Origin of Title Within the story, Stiles says that he chose the name "Toynbee Convector" for his machine, being inspired by "a historian named Toynbee": ... that fine historian who said any group, any race, any world that did not run to seize the future and shape it was doomed to dust away to the grave, in the past. This is a reference to Arnold J. Toynbee, who proposed that civilisation must respond to a challenge in order to flourish. This allusion is made more explicit in the television adaptation, written by Bradbury himself for The Ray Bradbury Theater. In this adaptation, first broadcast in 1990, Stiles refers to Toynbee by his full name and quotes directly from the author. The episode starred James Whitmore (as Stiles) and Michael Hurst (as Roger Shumway). See also Self-fulfilling prophecy Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius Toynbee tiles References External links 1984 short stories Science fiction short stories Short stories by Ray Bradbury Short fiction about time travel Works originally published in Playboy