Sci Fi short story from the 80's

[Erik_Lerouge]

Science fiction from the 80's or earlier, read it paperback (in a collection?) many years ago.

The story begins like "I had walked through the desert and I had died many times." It is a sort of alien lifeform that takes over a human being, and as soon as that human being dies he is transferred to the nearest living human.

He walks around the world aimlessly, driven by an instinct. He inspires strokes of geniuses to those near him (like Newton and Einstein), and in the end it is revealed that he kind of helped mankind to the technological point of space travel. Then he manage to hide in a rocket before launch (by killing someone?) and the short story ends by him launching into space and finally the instinct tells him that he is heading home.

My memories may be incorrect on the details, it's 30 years since I read it.

Author or title anyone?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Erik_Lerouge]

Science fiction from the 80's or earlier, read it paperback (in a collection?) many years ago.

The story begins like "I had walked through the desert and I had died many times." It is a sort of alien lifeform that takes over a human being, and as soon as that human being dies he is transferred to the nearest living human.

He walks around the world aimlessly, driven by an instinct. He inspires strokes of geniuses to those near him (like Newton and Einstein), and in the end it is revealed that he kind of helped mankind to the technological point of space travel. Then he manage to hide in a rocket before launch (by killing someone?) and the short story ends by him launching into space and finally the instinct tells him that he is heading home.

My memories may be incorrect on the details, it's 30 years since I read it.

Author or title anyone?

Thanks in advance!

Oh, I forgot to say it's a short story

 

[Erik_Lerouge]

Bump. No one?

 

[TomMazanec]

Sounds familiar but if I can pinpoint it I would be a grey Asian mongoose.

 

[otistdog]

Can you remember any other details that might help to identify the story? Some questions that might prompt you:

• Is there any indication of the alien's physical form? Is there any physical form at all?
• Does the alien die during the course of the story? How is the process of taking over a person accomplished?
• Is there any indication of which desert is being traversed? Or the country in which the desert is located?
• Is there any indication of the rocket's destination? If not, how does the alien know that it is going home?
• Does the alien intentionally inspire these advances, or does it happen automatically somehow due to the alien's presence?
• How long has the alien been hanging around on Earth? What's the earliest time period or historical figure that is mentioned?
• In which language was the story written?
• Can you remember any other stories from the same collection? Any details about the cover?
• Can you remember any details about the author? Male or female? Nationality or ethnicity? Had you ever read anything by this author before?

 

[JunkMonkey]

Sounds familiar but if I can pinpoint it I would be a grey Asian mongoose.

Achingly familiar to me too.