The K-Factor is a science fiction short story by Harry Harrison, first published in 1960.

The human race has reached the stars, colonized many planets and done amazing things in all areas of scientific progress.

But humans are still humans and remain both honorable and not so honorable; some with high ideals and others with very low ones indeed.

So why hasn't war occurred in several centuries among the hundreds of planets? Has man really changed? Not on your life it hasn't! Science has given man peace but at what cost?

*“Speed never hurt anybody--it's the sudden stop at the end. It's not how much change that signals danger, but how fast it's changing.... “

The K-Factor*first appeared in AnalogDecember 1960.

Harry Max Harrison (1925-2012) was an American science fiction author. Harrison is known for his writing, particularly his humorous and satirical science fiction, such as the Stainless Steel Rat series and the novel Bill, the Galactic Hero (which satirises Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers). Harrison is also known for his novel Make Room! Make Room! (1966). The novel was the rough basis for the motion picture Soylent Green (1973).