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TIMELINE 1930-1940

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TIMELINE 1930-1940
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What happened in the world of Science Fiction between 1930 and 1940? There are 18 hotlinks here to authors, magazines, films, or television items elsewhere in the Ultimate Science Fiction Web Guide or beyond.

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Most recently updated: 10 October 1998

Executive Summary of the Decade Major Books of the Decade Major Films of this Decade Other Key Dates and Stories of this Decade Major Writers Born this Decade {to be done} Major Writers Died this Decade Hotlinks to other Timeline pages of SF Chronology Where to Go for More: 51 Useful Reference Books

Executive Summary of the Decade

"Pulp" magazines were the greatest source of affordable science fiction to readers, but more and more worthwhile books were being published. Astounding was the king of the science fiction pulps, and Unknown held the same role for fantasy, but there were many more, and a large number of spectacularly talented writers first appeared in such chaeply mass-printed magazines, often getting little more than a penny per word for their fiction. Cosmic-scale "hard SF" cosmic-scale "hard SF" began in this decade, which is anchored in "Last and First Men" (1930) by Olaf Stapledon, the brilliant Cambridge professor of philosophy, who, in his epic 2,000,000,000 year sweep, was the direct acknowledged influence on the king of hard SF, Arthur C. Clarke. "The Star Maker" (1937) by Stapledon went beyond even his own invention of the Galactic Empire, into a multi-cosmic techno-theological vision that anticipated todays scientific analysis of a universe before the Big Bang and of alternate universes with different natural laws. The big names in 1930s science fiction and fantasy novels included: Edgar Rice Burroughs, John W. Campbell, Ray Cummings, L. Spague de Camp, Robert E. Howard, L. Ron Hubbard, Aldous Huxley, C. S. Lewis, H. P. Lovecraft, Abraham Merritt, E. E. "Doc" Smith, Thorne Smith, John Taine, A. E. Van Vogt, Jack Williamson, H. G. Wells, and Philip Gordon Wylie. Major magazine authors included: Isaac Asimov, Philip Barshofsky, Harry Bates, Alfred Bester, Eando Binder, James Blish, Robert Bloch, Edgar Rice Burroughs, John W. Campbell, Stanton A. Coblentz, L. Sprague de Camp, Lester del Rey, Lloyd Arthur Eshbach, John Russell Fearn, Francis Flagg, Raymond Z. Gallun, H. L. Gold, Howard Graham, Edmond Hamilton, John Benyon Harris, Robert A. Heinlein, A. Rowley Hilliard, Neil R. Jones, David H. Keller, Frank K. Kelly, C. M. Kornbluth, Henry Kuttner, Murray Leinster, Frank Belknap Long, Captain S. P. Meek, P. Schuyler Miller,C. L. Moore, Seabury Quinn, Ross Rocklynne, Milton A. Rothman, Eric Frank Russell, Nat Schachner, Clifford Simak, Clark Ashton Smith, Leslie F. Stone, Theodore Sturgeon, J. Paul Suter, Charles R. Tanner, William F. Temple, Donald Wandrei, Stanley G. Weinbaum, Jack Williamson, and Robert H. Wilson. Comic strips such as Superman, Flash Gordon, and Buck Rogers spread science fiction concepts through a much wider audience than magazines and books. Major movies began the gradual replacement of literary science fiction with Hollywood "sci fi" in the public eye, with such blockbusters as Buck Rogers (with Buster Crabbe), Flash Gordon, Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, The Island of Lost Souls, King Kong, One Million B.C., The Phantom Empire, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, and Things to Come -- based on the novel by perhaps the dominant author of the decade: H. G. Wells. Speaking of Wells, Orson Welles has the radio event of the decade with the 1938 broadcast of "War of the Worlds." Films often suffered from seqelitus and remake-syndrome. Science Fiction fans organized in various ways, and the first World Science Fiction Conventions were held. Meanwhile, Hitler's Nazi party gained power (starting 1930), and soon leads to the annexation of Austria (1938) and the invasion of Poland (1939), which draws France and Great Britain into World War II. Paris is captured in 1940, and the same year marks Trotsky's assassination. Franklin Delano Roosevelt is U.S. president (1932 into the next decade) Return to 1930's Timeline Table of Contents

Major Books of the Decade

1930 John W. Campbell: "The Black Star Passes" 1930 Olaf Stapledon: "Last and First Men" (London: Methuen) the philosophy professor author makes an "attempt to see the human race in its cosmic setting, and to mould our hearts to entertain new values" a brilliant multi-billion-year vision of the future 1930 John Taine [Eric Temple Bell]: "The Iron Star" (New York: E.P. Dutton) Meteorite in the Congo changes men to animals 1930 Philip Gordon Wylie: "Gladiator" (New York: Knopf) unhappy life as a superman growing up, perhaps the origin of "Superman" comics 1930 John W. Campbell: "The Black Star Passes" 1931 Raymond King Cummings: "Brigands of the Moon" (Chicago: McClurg) serialized in Astounding (1930) Earth-Mars space war over Radium 1931 Raymond King Cummings: "The Exiles of Time" 1931 Andre Maurois: "The Weigher of Souls" 1931 Abraham Merritt: "The Face in the Abyss" (New York: Horace Liveright) Inca treasure hunt leads to lost land of Yu-Atlanchi 1931 E. E. Smith: "Spacehounds of IPC" 1931 John Taine (Eric Temple Bell): "Seeds of Life" 1932 Edwin Balmer & Philip Wylie: "When Worlds Collide" 1932 Raymond King Cummings: "Wandl the Invader" 1932 John Gloag: "To-Morrow's Yesterday" 1932 Aldous Huxley: "Brave New World" (London: Chatto & Windus) classic dystopia of genetic engineering, brainwashing, censorship, destruction of the family. Science Fiction about Genetic Engineering Reproduction is done in the laboratory, with people systematically conditioned for various strata of life. Sex and all the senses are the bases of media exploitation. Literature, art, and philosophy are suppressed, production and consumption are glorified, and the god is Ford (or Freud). Workers are kept content through the drug "soma", and a "savage" is kept on an Indian reservation as a museum exhibit. Bernard Marx, of the Psychological Bureau (one of the ruling Alphas) feels isolated, his Alpha Plus friend Helmholtz Watson is creatively restless, large-breasted Lenina Crowne disgusts Bernard and bores Helmholtz, so they bring the savage John onstage, protest against soma, and are summoned by Mustapha Mond, the Resident World Controller for Western Europe. The controller is an ex-radical himself, who now loves science most. Bernard is drugged, Helmholtz exiled, and John (ambivalent over Lenina) commits suicide. Harsh, ironic, fantastic, and unforgettable. 1932 Leslie Mitchell: "Three Go Back" 1932 John Taine [Eric Temple Bell]: "The Time Stream" 1933 Edwin Balmer & Philip Gordon Wylie: "When Worlds Collide" (New York: Stokes) Two planets approach Earth, one destroys it, one is our escape 1933 John Collier: "Tom's A-Cold" [US edition is titled "Full Circle" poignent post-apocalypse look at the 1990s. 1933 John Russell Fearn: "The Intelligence Gigantic" 1933 Lawrence Manning: "The Man Who Awoke" 1933 H. G. Wells: "The Shape of Things to Come" 1934 Edwin Balmer & Philip Wylie: "After Worlds Collide" 1934 Thomas Calvert: "Rebirth" 1934 Alun Llewellyn: "The Strange Invaders" 1934 A. M. Lowe: "Adrift in the Stratosphere" 1934 Leslie Mitchell: "Gay Hunter" 1934 E. E. Smith: "The Skylark of Valeron" 1934 E. E. Smith: "Triplanetary" with a communications space station in an orbit allowing contact between Earth and Venus 1934 John Taine [Eric Temple Bell]: "Before the Dawn" 1934 Jack Williamson: "The Legion of Space" 1934 H. G. Wells: "Seven Science Fiction Novels of H.G. Wells" (New York: Knopf) from "The Time Machine" (1895) through "In the Days of the Comet", these are among the best of the best 1934 Edgar Rice Burroughs: "Pirates of Venus" (Tarzana CA: self published) start of ERB's Venus seeries 1935 John Benyon [John Wyndham]: "The Secret People" 1935 John W. Campbell, Jr.: "The Mightiest Machine" 1935 John Russell Fearn: "The Liners of Time" 1935 Robert E. Howard: "Conan the Conquerer" [Fantasy] 1935 Joseph O'Neill: "Land Under England" (telepathic totalitarianism) 1935 Festus Pragnell: "The Green Man of Graypec" 1935 Herbert Read: "The Green Child" 1935 Thorne Smith: "The Circus of Dr. Lao" 1935 Olaf Stapledon: "Odd John" (London: Methuen) Mutant genius children struggle to deal with ordinary humans 1936 Karel Capek: "War with the Newts" (Prague: Fr. Borovy) satire on Nazi expansion about smart salamanders conquering Earth Science Fiction about Clones and Smart Animals 1936 Murray Leinster: "The Incredible Invasion" 1936 H. P. Lovecraft: "At the Mountains of Madness" [Fantasy] 1936 Festus Pragnell: "The Green Men of Kilsona" (London: P. Allan) scientist switches minds between his brother and subatomic green-haired ape-man 1936 Jack Williamson: "The Cometeers" 1936 John Wyndham [John Benyon]: "Planet Plane" 1937 E. C. Large: "Sugar in the Air" 1937 Andre Maurois: "The Thought-Reading Machine" 1937 Alex Raymond: "Flash Gordon in the Caverns of Mongo" -- one of the first science fiction novels to spring from the magazine and film world 1937 M. P. Shiel: "The Young Men are Coming" 1937 William Mulligan Sloane: "To Walk the Night" (New York: Farrar) woman from the future posses body of modern retarded girl, who marries a Professor, whose mysterious death exposes the secret 1937 E. E. Smith: "Galactic Patrol" 1937 Olaf Stapledon: "Star Maker" 1937 H. G. Wells: "Star-begotten: A Biological Fantasia" 1938 C. S. Lewis: "Out of the Silent Planet" 1938 Thomas Calvert McClary: "Three Thousand Years" 1938 Eden Philpotts: "Saurus" 1938 Ayn Rand: "Anthem" (London: Cassell) dystopian exposure of communism and socialism, a future where people have no names and do not know the words "I" or "my" 1938 Jack Williamson: "The Legion of Time" 1938 S. Fowler Wright: "The Adventure of Wyndham Smith" 1939 Stephen Vincent Benet: "The Devil and Daniel Webster", play (later adapted to Opera) about New Hampshire farmer Jabez Stone who sells his soul to the devil for a period of prosperity. Jabez refuses when the Devil comes to collect, and the great lawyer Daniel Webster has to defend Jabez before a jury of the worst traitors... and wins through superior oratory. 1939 L. Sprague de Camp: "Divide and Rule" 1939 L. Sprague de Camp: "Lest Darkness Fall" 1939 Aldous Huxley: "After Many a Summer" 1939 James Joyce: "Finnegans Wake" Neither Science Fiction nor Fantasy, this book subsumes both, and specifically incited the New Wave of speculative fiction three decades later -- though no one at the time could have known. James Joyce's final and most puzzling literary experiment had occupied him for 17 years, and parts of it had appeared in "Work in Progress." "Ulysses" dealt with the conscious; "Finnegans Wake" is a hand grenade tossed into the material of Fantasy, in that it is entirely about the unconscious and the semi-conscious. "Finnegans Wake" carries a single character through a summer satrurday night's sleep. It has all the mystification of a dream -- the hero's fantasies, forbidden desires, dim memories, half-conscious sensations. The dreamer is Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker, of Scaninavian descent, keeper of a public-house in Dublin. He has lost interest in his wife Maggie (who sleeps beside him), but is physically drawn towards his grown daughter, Isobel, and one of his twin boys, Jerry. In the background is the ballad about the Irishman who fell off a scaffold and was taken for dead, but came to life when the word "whiskey" (which etomologically means "water of life") was mentioned. In the background, too, is the cyclic view of history promulgated by Giambattista Vico, as well as Giordano Bruno's dialectical concept of nature. "Finnegan" is the "end-(French 'fin')again"; the book comes round full cycle starting with the later part of a sentance which is begun at the end of the book (a time-travel conceit), and towards the end Earwicker, like the ballad hero, partially wakes up from dream-death even as a man is partially renewed in his children. In addition to the experimental language, or as part of it, the book is enormously learned, abounding in polylingual puns, in allusions, myths (hence the Fantasy component), history (the seige of Sevastopol in the Crimean War is of detailed importance at one stage), and in Freudian disguises and Jungian drawings on the racial unconscious. Earwicker poses as Tristram in love with Iseult la belle, a disguise for Isobel, and more at large loves Anna Livia Plurabelle, a river (ana-upper-Liffey, near where the public-house is) standing for the feminine principle, even as the Hill of Hoeth (H.C.E. -- Howth Castle and Environs), another local landmark, is the masculine principle. In various phases, very science fictionally, the dreamer is Adam, Oliver Cromwell and other invaders, and JONATHAN SWIFT. Beside being himself an individual troubled with incestuous and homosexual fantasies, he is universal man, part of all history and myth and biological experience, his name alliterating with Here Comes Everybody and Haveth Childers Everywhere. 1939 Eric Frank Russell: "Sinister Barrier" 1939 Robert Cedric Sherriff: "The Hopkins Manuscript" (London: Victor Gollancz) Moon hits Earth, Persian conquers survivors 1939 E. E. Smith: "Grey Lensman" 1939 Stanley G. Weinbaum: "The New Adam" (Chicago: Ziff-Davis) alienated mutant superman torn between mutant wife and sexy human 1939 Jack Williamson: "One Against the Legion" 1940 Herbert Best: "The Twenty-Fifth Hour" (New York: Random House) Germ warefare after economic chaos 1940 L. Spague de Camp & Fletcher Pratt: "The Compleat Enchanter" [Fantasy] 1940 Robert A. Heinlein: "If This Goes On" 1940 L. Ron Hubbard: "Final Blackout" 1940 L. Ron Hubbard: "Typewriter in the Sky" 1940 A. E. Van Vogt: "Slan" 1940 Jack Williamson: "Darker Than You Think" Return to 1930's Timeline Table of Contents

Major Films of this Decade

With hotlinks to complete credits as shown 1930 Alraune (Daughter of Evil) [Germany] remake of 1911 film from Hanns Heinz Ewers screenplay, this time directed by Richard Oswald. Femme Fatale created by mad doctor artificially inseminating a psrostitute with ejaculate from a criminal, with a eugenics didacticism that may have influenced Hitler. 103 minutes. 1930 Just Imagine Amazingly silly notion of a 1980 as imagined in 1930, with a ludicrous Mars mission to a planet of dancing girls ruled by a fat man who never leaves his throne. People have numbers rather than names, an idea long since handled better in the Russian novel "We" by Yevgeny Zamyatin. People gulp food pills and cross streets on overhead crossways. Stars Maureen O'Sullivan, poor woman. Directed by David Butler from a David Butler, Ray Henderson, G.G. DeSylva, Lew Brown Fox screenplay. 113 minutes. Just Imagine (1930) 1931 Frankenstein James Whale directs from a screenplay by Garrett Ford, Ribert Florey, and Francis Edward Faragoh, from an adaptation by Florey and John L. Balderston of Peggy Wesley's play which in turn was based on Mary Shelley's novel. Boris Karloff is amazing in the starring role. Box office revenues were 10,000% more than production costs. 71 minutes. Frankenstein (1931) 1931 Le Fin du Monde (The End of the World) [France] Directed by Abel Gance, based on a Camille Flammarion story. A comet heads towards Earth, and societies eat, drink, and are merry... until the chaos leads to takeover by a charismatic leader. 1932 Island of Lost Souls with Charles Laughton as Dr. Moreau and Bela Lugosi as Sayer of the Law, from the H. G. Wells novel, screenwriter Philip Wylie, directed by Erle C. Kenton. 72 minutes. Island of Lost Souls (1933) 1932 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Reuben mamoulian directed from a Samuel Hoffenstein/Percy Heath screen adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novel. 98 minutes, later cut to 90, and finally reduced to 81 minutes. I'd love to see the original cut! 1932 The Testament of Dr. Mabuse [Germany] the version directed by Fritz Lang, starring Oscar Beregi, Sr., written by Fritz Lang & Thea Von Harbou The Testament of Dr. Mabuse(1932) 1932 Die Herrin von Atlantis (a.k.a. "L'Atlantide" and "Lost Atlantis" and "The Mistress of Atlantis") [Germany] Directed by G.W. Pabst, from screenplay by Ladislaus Vajda and Herman Oberlander, in turn based on 1919 novel "L'Atlantide" by Pierre Benoit. Immortal amazon woman named Antinea has 52 petrifed husbands beneath the Saharan sand dunes. 87 minutes. 1932 The Mask of Fu Manchu Directed by Charles Brabin; screenplay by Irene Kuhn, Edgar Allen Woolf, John Wllard. From Sax Rohmer novel. Stars Boris Karloff. Released at 72 minutes, most prints cut to 67 minutes. 1932 Dr.X Michael Curtiz [Casablanca] directs, screenplay by Robert Baldwin, from Howard W. Comstock/Allen C. Miller play. Really stupid story: artificial flesh Moon-obsessed doctor, but stylish and fast-paced at 77 minutes. 1933 Deluge New York is wiped out by tsunami. Based on 1928 novel of same name by S. Fowler Wright, as adapted to screen by Goodrich, directed by Felix E. Feist. 70 minutes. 1933 The Invisible Man from the H. G. Wells story, with screenplay R. C. Sherriff and an uncredited Preston Sturges, with Claude Rains as Dr. Jack Giffin, John Carradine, Walter Brennan, directed by James Whale. 71 minutes unfortunately trimmed to 56 minutes. The Invisible Man (1933) 1933 King Kong the classic, with Fay Wray as Ann Darrow, directed by Merian C. Cooper & Ernst B. Schoedsack, from screenplay by James A. Creelman & Rith Rose, in turn based on Merian C. Cooper story (maybe with story input from Edgar Wallace). 11 minutes. King Kong (1933) 1933 F.P.1 Doesn't Answer [British/German/French] Engineering drama about building of (and attempted destruction of) mid-atlantic "Floating Platform 1" airport/hotel, with Leslie Fenton, Conrad Veidt, Jill Esmond, George Merritt. Directed by Karl Hartl, From Walter Reisch and Curt Siodmak screenplay of Siodmak's 1932 novel "FP1 Antwortet Nicht." 111 minutes. F.P.1 Doesn't Answer (1933) 1933 Der Tunnel [Germany] Kurt Bernhardt directs, from screenplay adaptation by Kurt Bernhardt and Reinhart Steinbicker, based on 1913 novel "Der Tunnel" by Bernhard Kellerman. Transatlantic tunnel is built. 80 minutes. 1934 Der Herr Der Welt [Germany] {the Edge of the World} written by Georg Muhlen-Schulte, directed by Harry Piel, starring Walter Franck Der Herr Der Welt (1934) 1934 Gold [German] Written by Rolf E. Vanloo, Directed by Karl Hartl, with Hans Albers and Brigitte Helm. Science Fiction or fantasy about alchemy (lead to gold, at direction of Scottish billionaire who controls the lead business). 120 minutes. Gold (1934) 1935 The Phantom Empire the sci-fi/Western/Musical serial with Gene Autry. Directed by Otto Brower and B. Reeves Eason; from screenplay by John Rathmell and Armand Schaefer. 12 episodes. The Phantom Empire (1935) 1935 Bride of Frankenstein Bride of Frankenstein (1935) 1935 Mad Love (The Hands of Orlac) Karl Freund directs; screenplay by Guy Endore, P.J. Wolfson, John L. Balderston; based on 1920 novel "Les mains d'Orlac" ["The Hands of Orlac"] by Maurice Reanrd. Peter Lorre is brilliant as the surgeon who transplants a murderer's hands onto a lady pianist with whom he's in love. 70 minutes. 1936 Flash Gordon Directed by Frederick Stephani; screenplay by Frederick Stephani, George Plympton, Basil Dickey, Ella O'Neill; based on Alex Raymond comic strip (begun in 1934). 13-episode serial. Flash Gordon (1936) 1936 Things to Come (with screenplay by H. G. Wells and Lajos Biro) Directed by William Cameron Menzies; starring Raymond Massey, Edward Chapman, Ralph Richardson, Margaretta Scott.. 86 minutes. Things to Come (1936) 1936 The Invisible Ray with Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, better than the 1920 version, about a toxic radioactive African meteorite that conaminates those who touch it so that theu become deadly to the touch as well, and yet can help to cure blindness; written by Howard Higgin & Douglas Hodge & John Colton, directed by Lambert Hillyer. 82 minutes. The Invisible Ray (1936) 1936 The Devil-Doll from the Abraham Merritt novel "Burn Witch Burn" and the Tod Browning story "The Witch of Timbuctoo." Screenwriters included Erich von Stroheim, directed by Tod Browning, starring Lionel Barrymore (in drag) and Maureen O'Sullivan. How to shrink friends and influence people. 79 minutes. The Devil-Doll (1936) 1936 The Man Who Lived Again (a.k.a. "The Man Who Changed His Mind") [British] Directed by Robert Stevenson; screenplay by Sidney Gilliat, L. du Garde Peach, John L. Balderstone. Aged mad scientist transports his mind into body of young man who is object of affection of gorgeous girl. He is wracked by guilt, and dies tragically. 68 minutes. 1936 The Tunnel [British] (a.k.a. "Trans-Atlantic Tunnel") Directed by Maurice Elvey; screenplay by Clemence Dane and L. du Garde Peach.Remake of German transatlantic tunnel film of 1933, again based on 1913 novel "Der Tunnel." 94 minutes. 1936 Undersea Kingdom Directed by B. Reeves Eason and Joseph Kane; from screenplay by John Rathmell, Oliver Drake, Maurice Geraghty. 12 episodes of rocket-propelled submarine Atlantis nonsense with robots, ray guns, dictators, and so forth. 1936 The Walking Dead Directed by Michael Curtiz [Casablanca]. Screenplay by Peter Milne, Ewart Anderson, Lille Hayward, Robert Andrews; starring Boris Karloff as victim framed for a murder, executed, and then resurrected to teach the mafia a chilling lesson. 66 minutes. 1937 Lost Horizon Frank Capra directed this Robert Riskin adaptation of 1933 novel by James Hilton. Shangra-La. Say no more. 133 minutes, cut to 109 minutes, but you can now get the longer and better version. 1938 Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars -- 2nd film in series Ford Beebe and Robert F. Hill directed; screenplay by Ray Trampe, Norman S. Hall, Wyndham Gittens, Herbet Dolmas. 15 episodes. Ming the Merciless wants to conquer Earth to get its women (right) and its nitrogen (say what?). 1939 The Man They Could Not Hang Directed by Nick Grinde, from screenplay by Karl Brown, based on story by Leslie T. White and George W. Sayre. Remake of 1936 "The Walking Dead", and somehwat more fun, with an artificial heart for Karloff, which now seems like science fiction rather than schlock sci-fi. 1940 Buck Rogers (based on the comic strip) with Buster Crabbe, Jackie Moran, Constance Moore, directed by Ford Beebe & Saul A. Goodkind; screenplay by Norman S. Hall and Ray Trampe. 12 episodes. Buck Rogers (1940) 1940 Dr.Cyclops {to be done} 75 minutes. 1940 Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe -- 3rd film in series {to be done} 1940 The Invisible Man (sequel) {to be done} 1940 The Invisible Woman sci-fi comedy with Virginia Bruce and John Barrymore, directed by A. Edward Sutherland The Invisible Woman (1940) 1940 The Man With Nine Lives {to be done} 73 minutes. 1940 One Million B.C. the Classic cave-man meets cave-woman film (forget about the 1966 remake) directed by Hal Roach, with Victore Mature, Carol Landis, and Lon Chaney, Jr.; screenplay by Mickell Novak, George Baker, Joseph Frickert; based on story by Eugene Roach. 80 minutes. One Million B.C. (1940) 1940 The Mysterious Dr.Satan {to be done} 15 episodes. 1940 Fantasia [Walt Disney] breakthrough in feature animation, to music, mostly with fantasy themes Return to 1930's Timeline Table of Contents

Other Key Dates and Stories of this Decade

Jan 1930 John W. Campbell's first story (novelette), "When the Atoms Failed", in "Amazing Stories" Spring 1930 John W. Campbell's serial, "Islands of Space", begins in "Amazing Stories" Apr 1930 John W. Campbell's "The Metal Horde" in "Amazing Stories" May 1930 Edmond Hamilton's serial "The Universe Wreckers" begins in "Amazing Stories" Jun 1930 John W. Campbell's "Piracy Preferred" in "Amazing Stories", launching the popular Arcot, Wade, and Morey stories Aug 1930 E. E. Smith's sequel novel "Skylark Three" begins in "Amazing Stories" Nov 1930 John W. Campbell's "Solarite" in "Amazing Stories", continuing the popular Arcot, Wade, and Morey stories Fall 1930 John W. Campbell's "The Black Star Passes" in "Amazing Stories Quarterly" 1930 Frank Belknap Long's "A Visitor from Egypt" in "Weird Tales", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story, if the award had existed then (and if Worldcons had started before 1939). Feb 1931 Clayton cuts "Super-Science" from the name of "Astounding Stories of Super-Science." First story by Anthony Gilmore appears ("The Tentacles from Below"). Apr-May and June-July 1931 Brief re-emergence of Harold Hersey who nearly started pulp science fiction before Hugo Gernsback (Thrill Book in 1919) with the short-lived "Miracle Science and Fantasy Stories." Elliott Dodd drew the covers, his brother Douglas wrote the novel. July 1931 Neil R. Jones's "The Jameson Satellite" in "Amazing Stories" begins a long series of stories, later collected into 5 books, about a frozen astronaut whose brain is transplanted into a robot body by aliens Nov 1931 Anthony Gilmore's "Hawk Carse" novelette appears in "Astounding Stories." It is an obvious imitation of the "Fu Manchu" stories, but is nonetheless popular. Dec 1931 First publication by Clifford D. Simak 1931 Winston Churchill's short story "If Lee Had Not Won the Battle of Gettysburg" 1931 Lloyd Arthur Eshbach's short story "The Voice from the Ether" 1931 Edmond Hamilton's short story "The Man Who Evolved" 1931 Murray Leinster's short story "The Fifth Dimension Catapult" 1931 Captain S. P. Meek's short story "Submicroscopic" 1931 P. Schuyler Miller's short story "Tetrahedra of Space" 1931 Clifford Simak's short story "The World of the Red Sun" 1931 Clark Ashton Smith's short story "Beyond the Singing Flame" 1931 Clark Ashton Smith's short story "The City of the Singing Flame" 1931 Leslie F. Stone's short story "The Conquest of Gola" 1931 Robert H. Wilson's short story "Out Round Rigel" 1931 Jack Williamson's "Through the Purple Cloud" in "Wonder Stories", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story, if the award had existed then (and if Worldcons had started before 1939). Mar 1932 Anthony Gilmore's "The Affair of the Brains", another Hawk Carse story, appears in "Astounding Stories." May 1932 Anthony Gilmore's "The Bluff of the Hawk", yet another Hawk Carse story, appears in "Astounding Stories." Spring/Summer 1932 John W. Campbell's "Invaders from the Infinite" in "Amazing Stories Quarterly", continues the popular Arcot, Wade, and Morey stories with a mind-blowing combination of time travel, interstellar war, and a "thought amplifier" that synthesizes literally anything imaginable 7 Nov 1932 First radio broadcast of "Buck Rogers" 1932 Lloyd Arthur Eshbach's short story "The Light from Infinity" 1932 Francis Flagg's short story "The Cities of Ardathia" 1932 Raymond Z. Gallun's short story "Wave of Compulsion" 1932 John Benyon Harris' short story "The Lost Machine" 1932 Neil R. Jones' short story "The Planet of the Double Sun" 1932 David H. Keller's short story "The Thing in the Cellar" 1932 Clifford Simak's short story "The Asteroids of Gold" 1932 Charles R. Tanner's novella "Tumithak of the Corridors" 1932 Jack Williamson's short story "The Moon Era" 1932 A. Rowley Hilliard's "The Space Coffin" in "Wonder Stories", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story, if the award had existed then (and if Worldcons had started before 1939). Jan 1933 Clayton puts "Super-Science" back into the name of "Astounding Stories of Super-Science" Mar 1933 The last "Wesso" cover on "Astounding." This was the last issue of "Astounding" under Clayton, as that publisher began to collapse. Mar 1933 Laurence Manning starts "The Man Who Awoke" series in "Wonder Stories" Apr 1933 Nat Schachner's "The Revolt of the Scientists" starts in "Wonder Stories", based on the "Technocracy" movement popular in the Great Depression. Aug/Sep 1933 "Amazing" combines two issues, hinting at money problems. Oct 1933 "Amazing" shrinks from pulp to digest size, to cut costs, and stays in that smaller format thereafter. Oct 1933 "Astounding" reappears, now having been acquired by Smith & Street, and is assigned their editor F. Orlon Tremaine, assisted by Donald Hall. Nov 1933 Hugo Gernsback replaces David Lasser as editor of "Wonder Stories" with fan Charles Hornig, editor of the fanzine "The Fantasy Fan." Dec 1933 Nat Schachner's time travel story "Ancestral Voices" appears in "Astounding" with great fanfare. Winter 1933 Last issue of "Wonder Stories Quarterly" 1933 John W. Campbell's short story "The Battery of Hate" 1933 Edmond Hamilton's short story "The Island of Unreason" 1933 David H. Keller's short story "A Child is Born" 1933 Frank Kelly's short story "Into the Meteorite Orbit" 1933 C. L. Moore's short story "Shambleau" (Weird Tales) (Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story, if the award had existed then (and if Worldcons had started before 1939) 1933 J. Paul Suter's short story "The Superior Judge" 1933 Charles R. Tanner's novella "Tumithak in Shawm" 1933 Donald Wandrei's short story "A Race Through Time" 1934 Hugo Gernsback launches "the Science Fiction League" in the pages of "Wonder Stories" -- a national umbrella organization, with local chpters, for fan activity. This set in motion various groups and traditions which are still in effect. 7 Jan 1934 "Flash Gordon" comic strip begins, artist Alex Raymond, Don Moore as story developer Jan 1934 E. E. Smith's "Triplanetary" in "Amazing" later seen to be the start of the "Lensman" series Jan 1934 Start of Richard Vaughan's "Exile of the Skies" series in "Wonder Stories" Jan 1934 Donald Wandrei's "Colossus" in "Astounding" Jan 1934 Nat Schachner's "Red Mask of the Outlands" in "Astounding" 10 Feb 1934 First British science fiction pulp: "Scoops", published by Pearson's, edited by Hadyn Dimmock, covers by Drigin. Feb 1934 Thomas Calvert McClary's "Rebirth" series begins in "Astounding" Mar 1934 "Astounding" grows to 160 from 144 pages, at unchanged price Mar 1934 Jack Williamson's "Born of the Sun" in "Astounding" Apr 1934 Harry Bate's "A Matter of Size" in "Astounding" Apr 1934 Jack Williamson's "The Legion of Space" begins its 6-part serialization in "Astounding" June 1934 Murray Leinster's "Sideways in Time" in "Astounding" -- the first fictional presentation of the notion of alternate worlds branching from events in time which could have happened in either of several ways July 1934 Stanley G. Weinbaum's remarkable "A Martian Odyssey" in "Wonder" Aug 1934 E. E. Smith's "Skylark of Valeron" in "Astounding", illustrated by Elliot Dodd, who became the regular interior illustrator. Fall 1934 Last issue of "Amazing Stories Quarterly" Oct 1934 C. L. Moore's "Bright Illusion" in "Astounding" Nov 1934 Stanley G. Weinbaum's Valley of Dreams" (sequel to "A Martian Odyssey") in "Wonder" Nov 1934 Don A. Stuart's "Twilight" in "Astounding", his first publication. He was later revealed to be a pseudonym for John W. Campbell. Dec 1934 Raymond Z. Gallun's "Old Faithful" in "Astounding", a famous story of a Martian astronomer who travels to Earth, a fatal trip but one that fulfills him with the joy of finally being able to study humans close up. Dec 1934 John W. Campbell's "The Mightiest Machine" begins serialization in "Astounding." This issue has two other John W. Campbell stories ("atomic Power" and "The Irrelevant") under two different pseudonyms. 1934 Philip Barshofsky's short story "One Prehistoric Night" 1934 John Russell Fearn's short story "The Man Who Stopped the Dust" 1934 Francis Flagg's short story "The Distortion Out of Space" 1934 Howard Graham's short story "The Wall" 1934 Howard Graham's short story "The Other" 1934 David H. Keller's short story "The Lost Language" 1934 Murray Leinster's short story "The Mole Pirate" 1934 Frank Belknap Long's short story "The Last Man" 1934 Donald Wandrei's short story "Colossus" 1934 Jack Williamson's short story "Born of the Sun" 1934 David H. Keller's "The Literary Corkscrew" in "Wonder Stories", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story, if the award had existed then (and if Worldcons had started before 1939). Jan 1935 First of seven Stanley G. Weinbaum stories this year in "Astounding" Mar 1935 Murray Leinster's "Proxima Centauri" in "Astounding", the first magazine fiction about multi-generation spaceship mission June 1935 "Wonder" slashes price to 15 cents, and goes bimonthly July 1935 Start of Festus Pragnell's "The Green Men of Graypec" series in "Wonder Stories" Aug 1935 "Amazing" slips to bimonthly, and stays that way for the rest of its ownership by Teck. Nov 1935 "Wonder Stories" slips to bimonthly 1935 First "Astounding" appearance by Ross Rocklynne 1935 Harry Bates' short story "Alas, All Thinking" 1935 Raymond Z. Gallun's short story "The Son of Old Faithful" 1935 Raymond Z. Gallun's short story "Davy Jones's Ambassador" 1935 Edmond Hamilton's short story "The Accursed Galaxy" 1935 Edmond Hamilton's short story "The Cosmic Pantograph" 1935 Murray Leinster's short story "Proxima Centauri" 1935 Nat Schachner's short story "The Ultimate Metal" 1935 Don A. Stuart [John W. Campbell] short story "Night" 1935 Harl Vincent's short story "Prowlers of the Wasteland" 1935 Stanley G. Weinbaum's short story "Flight on Titan" 1935 Stanley G. Weinbaum's short story "The Red Peri" 1935 Stanley G. Weinbaum's short story "The Mad Moon" 1935 Stanley G. Weinbaum's short story "The Lotus Eaters" 1935 Stanley G. Weinbaum's short story "The Adaptive Ultimate", under the pseudonym "John Jessel" 1935 Stanley G. Weinbaum's short story "Parasite Planet" 1935 Stanley G. Weinbaum's short story "Worlds of If" 1935 Wallace West's short story "The Phantom Dictator" 1935 Jack Williamson's short story "The Galactic Circle" 1935 Frank K. Kelly's "Star Ship Invincible" in "Astounding Stories", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story, if the award had existed then (and if Worldcons had started before 1939). Feb 1936 H. P. Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness" in "Astounding" Mar/April 1936 last issue of "Wonder Stories" under Hugo Gernsback. It is sold to Standard Magazines. June 1936 H. P. Lovecraft's "The Shadow out of Time" in "Astounding" June 1936 John W. Campbell's "A Study of the Solar System" begins in "Astounding." This turns out to be a series of 18 articles, and establishes the precedent of science fact articles as a regular matter in science fiction magazines. August 1936 First issue of "Thrilling Wonder Stories" (what used to be "Wonder Stories") now owned by Standard Magazines, and edited by big-name fan Mortimer Weisinger. December 1936 "Flash Gordon's Strange Adventure" magazine 1936 John W. Campbell's short story "The Brain-Stealers of Space" 1936 John W. Campbell's short story "Uncertainty" 1936 John Russell Fearn's short story "Mathematica" 1936 Edmond Hamilton's short story "Devolution" 1936 Henry Hasse's short story "He Who Shrank" 1936 A. Macfadyen, Jr.'s short story "The Time Decelerator" 1936 C. L. Moore's short story "Tryst in Time" 1936 Nat Schachner's short story "The Isotope Man" 1936 W. K. Sonneman's short story "The Council of Drones" 1936 Leslie F. Stone's short story "The Human Pets of Mars" 1936 Stanley G. Weinbaum's short story "The Circle of Zero" 1936 Seabury Quinn's "A Rival From the Grave" in "Weird Tales", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story, if the award had existed then (and if Worldcons had started before 1939). 1937 First "Astounding" appearance by L. Sprague de Camp Jan 1937 "Detective Comics" launched Mar 1937 Willy Ley begins his series of nonfiction articles in "Astounding" with a survey of steps towards spaceflight. May 1937 "Captain Hazzard" comics launched June 1937 "Don A. Stuart" story "Forgetfulness" in "Astounding" Sep 1937 L. Sprague de Camp's "The Isolinguals" in "Astounding" Oct 1937 Gordon A. Giles [Eando Binder] story "Via Etherline" is the first of the "Via" stories of solar system exploration in "Amazing" Oct 1937 John W. Campbell starts as editor at "Astounding", coincidently having his story "Out of Night" in this issue. F. Orlin Tremaine is officially Supervising Editor, but it is Campbell who is in charge, as well as being the magazine's two most popular authors (as himself and Don A. Stuart). Dec 1937 John W. Campbell fully in control at "Astounding" 1937 John W. Campbell's short story "Other Eyes Watching" 1937 John D. Clark's short story "Minus Planet" 1937 John D. Clark's short story "Space Blister" 1937 Chan Corbett's short story "Beyond Infinity" 1937 P. Schuyler Miller's short story "The Sands of Time" 1937 W. De Witt Miller's short story "Within the Pyramid" 1937 Eric Frank Russell & Leslie Johnson's short story "Seeker of Tomorrow" 1937 Nat Schachner's short story "Past, Present and Future" 1937 Jack Williamson's short story "The Blue Spot" 1937 Edgar Rice Burroughs's "The Resurrection of Jimber Jaw" in "Argosy", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story, if the award had existed then (and if Worldcons had started before 1939). Apr 1938 Last issue of "Amazing" under Teck ownership; Teck Publications goes under. Apr 1938 L. Sprague de Camp's "Hyperpilosity" in "Astounding" Apr 1938 Henry Kuttner's first "Hollywood on the Moon" stories in "Amazing" 1938 First "Astounding" appearance by Lester del Rey ("The Faithful"), and then later that year his very influntial story "Helen O'Loy" which for the first time made robots loveable rather than dangerous 1938 First "Astounding" appearance by Malcolm Jameson ("Eviction by Isotherm") 1938 First "Astounding" appearance by Nat Schachner 1938 First "Astounding" appearance by Nelson S. Bond 1938 First "Astounding" appearance by Ray Cummings 1938 First "Astounding" appearance by P. Schuyler Miller 1938 First "Astounding" appearance by Manley Wade Wellman 1938 First "Astounding" appearance by Raymond Z. Gallun 1938 First "Astounding" appearance by E. E. "Doc" Smith 1938 First "Astounding" appearance by Harl Vincent 1938 First "Astounding" appearance by John W. Campbell 1938 First "Astounding" appearance by L. Ron Hubbard -- "The Dangerous Dimension" 1938 First "Astounding" appearance by Philip Nowlan July 1938 First "Astounding" appearance by Clifford D. Simak -- "Rule 18" about future American football and time-travel attempt to build an unbeatable team 1938 First "Astounding" appearance by Robert Moore Williams -- "Robots Return" 1938 First "Astounding" appearance by Harry Bates 1938 First "Astounding" appearance by Willey Ley 1938 First "Astounding" appearance by Horace L. Gold 1938 T. O'Connor Sloane retires, age 86, from editing "Amazing", is replaced by someone 60 years younger Aug 1938 Robert Bloch's first science fiction story "Secret of the Observatory" appears in "Amazing" Aug 1938 Arthur J. Burks' long novelette "Survival" in "Marvel", about underground survival Sep 1938 L. Ron Hubbard serial "The Tramp" begins in "Astounding" 9:00 p.m. 30 Oct 1938 Orson Welles' Martian Invasion scare Nov 1938 Arthur J. Burks' novelette "Exodus" (sequel to "Survival") in "Marvel", about underground group returning to Earth's surface 1938 Robert Bloch's short story "Slave of the Flames" 1938 L. Sprague de Camp's short story "The Merman" 1938 Ralph Milne Farley's short story "The House of Ecstasy" 1938 Raymond Z. Gallun's short story "Seeds of the Dusk" 1938 H. L. Gold's short story "A Matter of Form" 1938 Henry Kuttner's short story "The Shadow on the Screen" 1938 Seabury Quinn's short story "Roads" 1938 Ross Rocklynne's short story "The Men and the Mirror" 1938 Joel Townsley Rogers' short story "Beyond Space and Time" 1938 Clark Ashton Smith's short story "The Garden of Adompha" 1938 Don A. Stuart's short story "Dead Knowledge" 1938 Don A. Stuart's short story "Who Goes There?" 1938 William F. Temple's short story "The Smile of the Sphinx" 1938 Manly Wade Wellman's short story "Pithecanthropus Erectus" 1938 Manly Wade Wellman's short story "The Robot and the Lady" 1938 Robert Moore William's short story "Robot's Return" 1938 Jack Williamson's short story "The Dead Spot" 1938 Stanton A. Coblentz's "Exiles from the Universe" in "Unknown", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story, if the award had existed then (and if Worldcons had started before 1939). Jan 1939 "Startling Stories" launched, as a sister publication to Thrilling Wonder Stories", alternating with it in printing and distribution. Howard V. Brown does some covers, but Earle K. Bergey becomes the primary artist. Jan 1939 Stanley G. Weinbaum's "The Black Flame" in "Startling Stories" Jan 1939 Eando Binder's "I, Robot" in "Amazing" introduces the heroic robot Adam Link and a title later used by Asimov Feb 1939 Clifford D. Simak's first serial "Cosmic Engineers" begins in "Astounding" Feb 1939 First painting by Hubert Rogers as cover for "Astounding." He did three more covers that year, and then became the regular cover artist. Feb 1939 Jack Williamson's novel "After World's End"" in "Marvel", a tale of the far future Mar 1939 "Unknown" launched Mar 1939 Blue Ribbon Publications (pulps) launches "Science Fiction" magazine, edited by Charles Hornig Mar 1939 Last story ("Cloak of Aesir") by Don A. Stuart in "Astounding" Apr 1939 Last story ("One Against the Legion") by Jack Williamson of the Legion of Space serials in "Astounding" May 1939 "Fantastic Adventures" magazine launched June 1939 Last issue of British "Fantasy" June 1939 Stanley Weinbaum's posthumously published "Dawn of Flame" in "Amazing" July 1939 A. E. Van Vogt ("Black Destroyer") and Isaac Asimov ("Trends") both have first stories published, in "Astounding" Aug 1939 Robert Heinlein's "Life-Line" in "Astounding"; the first professional fiction story he wrote Aug 1939 Isaac Asimov's "Marooned off Vespa" in "Amazing", the great author's first fiction sale Aug 1939 British reprint of "Astounding" published Sep 1939 "Famous Fantastic Mysteries" launched by Munsey Sep 1939 First story ("The Ether Breathers") by Theodore Sturgeon in "Astounding" Sep 1939 British reprint of "Unknown" published Sep/Oct 1939 Munsey Publications (the major magazine chain) launches "Famous Fantastic Mysteries", edited competantly under Mary Gnaedinger, mostly reprints of good stories from "Argosy" Oct 1939 E. E. Smith begins his second "Lensman" series with "Grey Lensman" starting in "Astounding" Nov 1939 Blue Ribbon Publications ("Science Fiction") launches "Future Fiction" magazine, edited by Charles Hornig Dec 1939 A. E. Van Vogt's "Discord in Scarlet" in "Astounding" 1939 Three issues of "Superworld Comics", starring artist Frank R. Paul, an unsuccessful experiment of Hugo Gernsback 1939 Bob Kane launches "Batman" in "Detective Comics" July 4th weekend 1939: Nycon 1, the First World Science Fiction Convention, in New York (Caravan Hall), Chaired by Sam Moskowitz, Frank R. Paul as Guest of Honor, 200 members attending. 1939 H. L. Gold & L. Sprague de Camp's "None But Lucifer" in "Unknown", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the first Hugo Award for best short story, if the award had existed then 1939 Isaac Asimov's short story "Trends" 1939 Robert Bloch's short story "The Strange Flight of Richard Clayton" 1939 Nelson Bond's short story "Pilgrimage" 1939 L. Sprague de Camp's short story "The Blue Giraffe" 1939 L. Sprague de Camp's short story "The Gnarly Man" 1939 Lester del Rey's short story "The Day is Done" 1939 H. L. Gold's short story "The Trouble With Water" 1939 Robert A. Heinlein's short story "Misfit" 1939 Joseph E. Kelleam's short story "Rust" 1939 Henry Kuttner's short story "The Misguided Halo" 1939 C. L. Moore's short story "Greater Than Gods" 1939 Milton A. Rothman's short story "Heavy Planet" 1939 John Taine's short story "The Ultimate Catalyst" 1939 William F. Temple's short story "The Four-Sided Triangle" 1939 Jack Williamson's short story "Star Bright" {Each of the above 15, and some others, collected in "The Great SF Stories 1", edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg} Jan 1940 Robert A. Heinlein's "Requiem" in "Astounding" Feb 1940 Robert A. Heinlein's "If This Goes On" serial starts in "Astounding" Feb 1940 First appearance by H. B. Fyfe ("Locked Out") in "Astounding" Feb 1940 First magazine appearance by Leigh Brackett ("Martian Quest") in "Astounding" Feb 1940 "Astonishing Stories" launched, listed as "a Fictioneers Publication" but covertly by Popular Publications, and edited by teenaged fan Frederik Pohl Mar 1940 "Super Science Stories" launched, also covertly by Popular Publications, and edited by teenaged fan Frederik Pohl Mar 1940 James' Blish story "Emergency Refueling" in "Super Science Stories" marks his fiction debut Apr 1940 Malcolm Jameson's first story about space officer Bullard ("Admiral's Inspection") in "Astounding" Apr 1940 Tremendously popular serial novel "Final Blackout" by L. Ron Hubbard begins in "Astounding" May/Jun 1940 Munsey Publications' "Famous Fantastic Mysteries" slips from monthly to bimonthly July 1940 Munsey Publications' ("Famous Fantastic Mysteries") launches "Fantastic Novels" Summer 1940 Blue Ribbon Publications ("Science Fiction", "Future Fiction") launches "Science Fiction Quarterly", edited by Charles Hornig Sep 1940 First serial "Slan!" by A. E. Van Vogt begins in "Astounding" Sep 1940 Robert A. Heinlein's "Blowups Happen" in "Astounding", which is about Uranium-235 as the fuel in a nuclear power plant Oct 1940 Harry Bate's "Farewell to the Master" in "Astounding", which is later adapted into the film "The Day the Earth Stood Still" {hotlink to be done} Nov 1940 Canada launches "Uncanny Tales", mostly reprints Dec 1940 Willy Ley's "Fog" in "Astounding", under pseudonym "Robert Willey" -- one of his only works of fiction Dec 1940 "Comet Stories" launched, under editor F. Orlin Tremaine ("Astounding" editor under Smith & Street) 1940: Chicon 1, the Second World Science Fiction Convention, in Chicago (Hotel Chicagoan), Chaired by Mark Reinsberg, E. E. "Doc" Smith as Guest of Honor, 128 members attending. 1940 Harry Bates's "Farewell to the Master" in "Astounding SF", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story, if the award had existed then 1940 Robert Arthur's short story "Postpaid to Paradise" 1940 Isaac Asimov's short story "Strange Playfellow" 1940 L. Sprague de Camp's short story "The Exalted" 1940 L. Sprague de Camp's short story "The Warrior Race" 1940 Lester del Rey's short story "Dark Mission" 1940 Oscar J. Friend's short story "The Impossible Way" 1940 Willard Hawkins's short story "The Dwindling Sphere" 1940 Robert A. Heinlein's short story "Coventry" 1940 Fritz Leiber's short story "The Automatic Pistol" 1940 P. Schuyler Miller's short story "Old man Mulligan" 1940 Ross Rocklynne's short story "Into the Darkness" 1940 Ross Rocklynne's short story "Quietus" 1940 Theodore Sturgeon's short story "Butyl and the Braether" 1940 Theodore Sturgeon's short story "It" 1940 A. E. Van Vogt's short story "Vault of the Beast" 1940 Jack Williamson's short story "Hindsight" {Each of the above 16, and some others, collected in "The Great SF Stories 2", edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg} Return to 1930's Timeline Table of Contents

Major Writers Born this Decade

{to be done} 1930 J. G. Ballard 1930 Marion Zimmer Bradley 1930 Walter Breen (5 Sep 1930) 1930 D. G. Compton (19 Aug 1930) 1930 Jack Gaughan (24 Sep 1930) Artist 1930 Cherry Wilder (3 Sep 1930) 1931 Algis Budrys 1931 Alexis Gilliland (10 Aug 1931) 1931 Walt Lee (16 Aug 1931) 1931 Julian May 1931 Bob Shaw 1931 Virginia Schultheis (1 Sep 1931) 1931 Boris Strugatski 1931 Jack Wodhams (3 Sep 1931) 1931 Gene Wolfe 1932 Chester D. Anderson (11 Aug 1932) 1932 John Boardman (8 Sep 1932) 1932 Michael G. Coney (28 Sep 1932) 1932 Lee Hoffman (14 Aug 1932) 1932 J. Hunter Holly (25 Sep 1932) 1933 Jerry Pournelle (7 Aug 1933) 1933 Bjo Trimble (15 Aug 1933) 1934 Piers Anthony [Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob] (6 Aug 1934) 1934 John Brunner (24 Sep 1934) 1934 Harlan Ellison 1934 Andrew J. Offutt (16 Aug 1934) 1935 Keith Roberts (20 Sep 1935) 1935 Robert Silverberg 1936 James Odbert (6 Sep 1936) 1936 Bruce Pelz (11 Aug 1936) overweight fan 1937 Dick Eney (13 Sep 1937) 1937 Gerard Klein 1937 Joanna Russ 1937 John Sladek 1937 Roger Zelazny 1938 Ron Ellik (28 Sep 1938) 1938 Owen Hannifen (16 Sep 1938) 1938 Larry Niven 1939 Sylvia Dees (18 Aug 1939) 1939 Barry Malzberg 1939 Michael Moorcock 1939 Gerald W. Page (12 Aug 1939) 1940 Thomas M. Disch 1940 Alexei Panshin (14 Aug 1940) 1940 Norman Spinrad (15 Sep 1940) 1940 Drew Whyte (19 Aug 1940) Return to 1930's Timeline Table of Contents

Major Writers Died this Decade

1930 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Dec 1935 Stanley G. Weinbaum, age 33 (35?) of throat cancer 1937 Yevgeny Zamiatin 1938 Karel Capek 1939 Maurice Renard Return to 1930's Timeline Table of Contents Hotlinks to other Timeline pages of SF Chronology |Introduction: Overview and Summary |Prehistory: Ancient Precursors |16th Century: Ariosto and Cyrano on the Moon |17th Century: Literary Dawn |18th Century: Literary Expansion |19th Century: Victorian Explosion |1890-1910: Into Our Century |1910-1920: The Silver Age |1920-1930: The Golden Age |1930-1940: The Aluminum Age (YOU ARE HERE) |1940-1950: The Plutonium Age |1950-1960: The Threshold of Space |1960-1970: The New Wave |1970-1980: The Seventies |1980-1990: The Eighties |1990-2000: End of Millennium |2000-2010: Future Prizewinners Return to 1930's Timeline Table of Contents

Where to Go for More

51 Useful Reference Books Beyond the World Wide Web... there is the library of old-fashioned books printed on paper. I strongly recommend that you start or follow-up your explorations of this web site by consulting any or all of these outstanding sources: ALDISS: "Billion Year Spree: The True History of Science Fiction", Brian W. Aldiss (New York: Doubleday, 1973; Schocken Paperback, 1974) ALLEN: "Science Fiction Reader's Guide", L. David Allen (Centennial Press, 1974) AMIS: "New Maps of Hell", Kingsley Amis (London: Gollancz, 1960; New York: Harcourt Brace, 1960) ASH1: "Who's Who in Science Fiction", by Brian Ash (Taplinger, 1976) ASH2: "The Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction", edited by Brian Ash (Harmony Books, 1977) ASHLEY: "The History of the Science Fiction Magazine" [3 volumes] (London: New English Library, 1974) ASIMOV "Asimov on Science Fiction" (New York: Avon, 1981) ATHELING: "The Issue at Hand", "William Atheling, Jr." [James Blish] (Chicago: Advent, 1964) BARRON: "Anatomy of Wonder", edited by Neil Barron (Bowker, 1976) BAXTER: "Science Fiction in the Cinema", John Baxter (London: A. Zwemmer, 1970; New York: A. S. Barnes, 1970) BERGONZI: "The Early H.G. Wells", Bernard Bergonzi (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1961) BLEILER: "The Checklist of Fantastic Literature" Everett F. Bleiler (Chicago: Shasta, 1948) BRETNOR1: "Modern Science Fiction: Its Meaning and Future", edited by Reginald Bretnor (New York: Coward-McCann, 1953) BRETNOR2: "The Craft of Science Fiction", Reginald Bretnor (New York: Harper & Row, 1977) BRINEY: "SF Bibliographies", Robert E. Briney & Edward Wood (Chicago: Advent, 1972) CLARESON1: "SF: The Other Side of Realism", edited by Thomas D. Clareson (Gregg Press, 1978) CLARESON2: "Extrapolation, 1959-1969", edited by Thomas D. Clareson (Bowling Green, Ohio: University Popular Press, 1971) CLARKE: "The Tale of the Future", I. F. Clarke (London: The Library Association, 1961, 1972) CONTENTO: "Index to the Science Fiction Anthologies and Collections", William Contento G.K. Hall, 1978) DAY: "Index to the Science Fiction Magazine: 1926-50", Donald B. Day (Portland, Oregon: Perri Press, 1952) DeCAMP: "Science Fiction Handbook", L. Sprague DeCamp (New York: Hermitage House, 1953) ELLIK: "The Universes of E. E. Smith", Ron Ellik & Bill Evans (Chicago: Advent, 1966) EVANS: "The Index of Science Fiction Magazines", Bill Evans with Jack Speer (Denver: Robert Peterson, 1946?) FRANKLIN: "Future Perfect: American Science Fiction of the Nineteenth Century", H. Bruce Franklin (New York: Oxford University Press, 1966) FREWIN: "One Hundred Years of Science Fiction Illustration", Anthony Frewin (London: Jupiter Books, 1974) GOODSTONE: "The Pulps", Tony Goodstone (New York: Chelsea House, 1970) GUNN: "Alternate Worlds", James Gunn (Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1975) HARRISON: "John W. Campbell: Collected Editorials from Analog", Harry Harrison (Garden City NY: Doubleday, 1966) HOLMBERG: "Science Fiction History", John-Henri Holmberg (Vanersborg, Sweden: Askild & Karnekull, 1974) KNIGHT: "In Search of Wonder", Damon Knight (Chicago: Advent, 1956; enlarged 1967) KYLE: "A Pictorial History of Science Fiction", David Kyle (London: Hamlyn House, 1976) LOCKE: "Worlds Apart", edited by George Locke (London: Cornmarket Reprints, 1972) LUNDWALL: "Science Fiction: What It's All About", Sam J. Lundwall (New York: Ace Books, 1971) METCALF: "The Index of Science Fiction Magazines, 1951-1965", Norm Metcalf (J. Ben Stark, 1968) MILLIES: "Science Fiction Primer for Teachers", Suzanne Millies (Dayton OH: Pflaum, 1975) MOSKOWITZ#1: "The Immortal Storm", Sam Moskowitz (AFSO Press, 1954; Hyperion Press, 19??) MOSKOWITZ#2: "Explorers of the Infinite: Shapers of Science Fiction", Sam Moskowitz (Cleveland & New York: World, 1963) MOSKOWITZ#3: "Seekers of Tomorrow", Sam Moskowitz (Cleveland & New York: World, 1963) NESFA: "Index to the Science Fiction Magazines", New England Science Fiction Association (Cambridge MA: NESFA, 1971) PERRY: "The Penguin Book of Comics", George Perry & Alan Aldridge (London: Penguin, 1971) ROGERS: "A Requiem for Astounding", Alva Rogers (Chicago: Advent, 1964) ROTTSTEINER: "The Science Fiction Book", Franz Rottsteiner (London: Thames & Hudson, 1975) SADOUL: "Hier, L'An 2000 [Illustrations from the Golden Age of Science Fiction]", Jaxques Sadoul (Paris: Editions Denoel, 1973) STRAUSS: "The MIT Science Fiction Society's Index to the SF Magazines: 1951-64" Erwin S. Strauss (Cambridge MA: MIT Science Fiction Society, 1966) TUCK: "The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2nd Edition", Donald H. Tuck (Hobart, Tasmania: Donald H. Tuck, 1959) VERSINS: "Encyclopedie des l'utopie, des voyages extraordinaires et de la science fiction", (Lausanne: L'Age d'Homme, 1972) WAGGONER: "The Hills of Faraway", Diana Waggoner (Athenaeum, 1978) WARNER: "All Our Yesterdays", Harry Warner, Jr. (Chicago: Advent, 1969) WELLS: "Fictional Accounts of Trips to the Moon", Lester G. Wells (Syracuse NY: Syracuse University Library, 1962) WILLIAMSON: "H.G. Wells: Critic of Progress", Jack Williamson (Baltimore: Mirage Press, 1973) WOLLHEIM: "The Universe Makers", Donald A. Wollheim (New York: Harper & Row, 1971) Return to 1930's Timeline Table of Contents
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