As soon as the monkey turned a stick into an instrument of labor, it turned into a man of reason. But can a person become reasonable without brandishing a stone knife, gradually turning into an atomic bomb? This will be learned by anthropologist Mont Stewart, who is leading an interstellar expedition to the Sirius system, in which the first extraterrestrial humanoid life was discovered. And will there be a solution that doesn't include giving the savages a high-carbon steel axe?