The Nine Billion Names of God (1953) short story

Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008), one of my favorite science fiction authors, like several other sci-fi authors, has written his share of short stories and novels around the general theme of planetary destruction, the destruction of civilization as we know it, or far-future societies on the verge of experiencing their end. One of his best short stories, first published in 1953, on the theme of not just planetary destruction but the destruction of the universe is "The Nine Billion Names of God." In this story Tibetan monks utilize modern technology (a device Clarke calls an Automatic Sequence Computer) to complete their list of all the names of God. When their work is done, the world will end.