The story was shaped by "Astounding" editor John W. Campbell, who sent "Cold Equations" back to Godwin three times before he got the version he wanted, because "Godwin kept coming up with ingenious ways to save the girl!" In a 2019 essay in "Locus", author Cory Doctorow criticized Campbell's decision as one to turn the story "into a parable about the foolishness of women and the role of men in guiding them to accept the cold, hard facts of life." In 2016, Campbell biographer Alec Nevala-Lee noted that the story was published at a time when Campbell had embraced contrarianism, on the basis that (in Campbell's words) there was "no viewpoint that has zero validity — though some have very small validity, or very limited application"; Nevala-Lee also revealed that Campbell described the story as a "gimmick on the proposition 'Human sacrifice is absolutely unacceptable.' So we deliberately, knowingly and painfully sacrifice a young, pretty girl… and make the reader accept that it is valid!"