Otis Eldredge is a character of Isaac Asimov's science-fiction short story "Trends".
About Eldredge[]
Otis Eldredge is a powerful evangelist and political agitator who opposes John Harman’s rocket experiments.
Eldredge leads a movement that condemns spaceflight as sinful and dangerous, mobilizing public opinion and influencing newspapers such as the Clarion to denounce Harman. On the day of the Prometheus launch, Eldredge leads a mostly hostile crowd, which becomes the target of Shelton’s sabotage, resulting in 28 deaths. Even after his injury and later death in 1976, Eldredge's followers continue to control Congress and the Federal Scientific Research Investigatory Bureau, enforcing laws that restrict independent scientific research. His opposition establishes the social and political obstacles that Harman must overcome to achieve the first human Moon flight.