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TIMELINE 1950-1960

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TIMELINE 1950-1960
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What happened in the world of Science Fiction between 1950 and 1960? There are 20 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: 15 November 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 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

The Space Age technically began on 4-5 October 1957 (depending what side of the International Date Line you were on) with the Soviet "Sputnik 1" satellite, which got in orbit ahead the U.S. Explorer I and after the Vanguard blew up on the launch pad. Not long afterwards, the USSR launched the dog Laika in Sputnik II (nicknamed "Muttnik"), then sent Lunk I to the moon, and returned close-up lunar photographs with Lunik III (1959). But until people went into space, it seemed to the "mundane" world as little more than a fad, and not giving reality to "that crazy Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon stuff." More people feared what rockets could deliver to targets on the ground than to destinations in the cosmos. Hence I call this "The Plutonium Age" because the threat of nuclear war, and growing fears about the effects of atomic radiation, gave a unique perspective on the nature of the modern world of of the human place upon that world. The United States exploded the first Hydrogen Bomb at Eniwetok Atoll in 1952, and a much bigger one at Bikini Island in 1954, about the same time that Edward Teller got Robert Oppenheimer declared a "security risk." The economy of the United States boomed in post-World-War-II expansion, while the rest of the world struggled to its feet. The Korean War demonstrated the stand-off between the United States, the North Vietnamese defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu, and the USSR/China communist bloc was inherent in the bipolar Cold War era, which adds instability in many places (such as the 1957 Suez crisis). Science Fiction magazines went through a boom and bust cycle. 15 magazines were launched in 1950, notably "Galaxy" and "Worlds Beyond" and "Science Fantasy." This boom peaked about 1953 (in terms of the number of titles on the news stands), clearly began to diminish in 1955, and then fell off a cliff when, in June 1957, America's largest magazine distributor, American News Company, stopped operating, leaving many magazines stranded with no way to get to subway stations, railroad stations, and some other outlets. The age of Pulp had gone the way of the dinosaur, and only those magazines that evolved were able to survive. "F&SF" (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction), for instance, carved out a niche as the most literary of SF magazines, and "Galaxy" went for a sociological/psychological flavor. Science Fiction books more than took up the slack, becoming the major medium connecting authors to readers. Important novels were published in this decade by: Brian Aldiss, Poul Anderson, Isaac Asimov, Alfred Bester, James Blish, Leigh Brackett, Ray Bradbury, Frederic Brown, Algis Budrys, John Christopher [Christopher Sam Youd], Arthur C. Clarke, Hal Clement, Mark Clifton, Hunt Collins [Evan Hunter], Edmond Cooper, L. Sprague de Camp, Lester del Rey, Philip K. Dick, Gordon Dickson, Philip Jose Farmer, Jack Finney, Randall Garrett, William Golding, Rex Gordon [Stanley Bennett Hough], James E. Gunn, Henry Kuttner, Edmond Hamilton, Robert A. Heinlein, Frank Herbert, Fred Hoyle, David Karp, Damon Knight, Cyril M. Kornbluth, Fritz Leiber, Murray Leinster, Charles Eric Maine, Harry Edmund Martinson, Richard Matheson, J. T. McIntosh, Edward Shepherd Mead, Harold Mead, Judith Merrill, Walter M. Miller, C. L. Moore, Ward Moore, Chad Oliver, Edgar Pangborn, Mark Phillips, Frederik Pohl, Frank Riley, Frank M. Robinson, Mordecai Roshwald, Eric Frank Russell, Robert Sheckley, Nevil Shute, Robert Silverberg, Clifford Simak, Theodore Sturgeon, J. R. R. Tolkein, Wilson Tucker, Jack Vance, Vercors, A. E. Van Vogt, Gore Vidal, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Manly Wade Wellman, Jack Williamson, Bernard Wolfe, Philip Wylie, John Wyndham, and Ivan Yefremov. This is the kind of opinion that starts fights in convention bars, but in my opinion, looking backwards, Robert Heinlein was the quintessential science fiction novelist of the decade, and Isaac Asimov was too busy being America's leading science writer to keep his top-rank standing in fiction. Ray Bradbury, Clifford Simak, and Theodore Sturgeon most effectively touched the reader's heart. Most readers were not yet aware that J. R. R. Tolkein had redefined the modern role of Fantasy, because his work was not yet in paperback. Arthur C. Clarke, Hal Clement, and Fred Hoyle defined the core of "Hard SF" with scientific plausibility. Robert Sheckley, Randall Garrett, and Frederic Brown wrote the gosh-darn funniest fiction, and made it look easy (it wasn't). Alfred Bester made the most blazing entry into the SF heavens, but never lived up to the dazzling promise of his first two novels. Brian Aldiss, Poul Anderson, Algis Budrys, L. Sprague de Camp, Gordon Dickson, Ward Moore, and Gore Vidal best applied their knowledge of history to project the political future. Philip K. Dick was becoming a martyr to science fiction by leading a penurious, paranoid, and painful life for the sake of novels unappreciated in their day and only available in cheap paperback editions. Movies of the 1950s began with the wonderful "Destination Moon" (1950), moved away from plausibility to emotion with "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951), and settled into simply trying to scare us with monsters. In the latter category, we had "The Thing from Another World" (1951), "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" (1953), "It Came from Outer Space" (1953), "The War of the Worlds" (1953), "Godzilla, King of the Monsters" (1954), and "Them!" (1954). By mid-decade, the audeince's appetite was ready for classics such as "1984" (1954), "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (1955), "The Time Machine" (1960), and remakes of British television: "Quatermass II (Enemy from Space)" (1955) and"The Quatermass Xperiment (The Creeping Unknown)" (1955). Next, we had a science fiction rewrite of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" -- "Forbidden Planet" (1956), a Jack Finney novel "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956), and we were then ready to turn into couch potatoes and watch television... especially "The Twilight Zone" (1960). I have information on, and hotlinks to, some 30 Science Fiction Television Series of the 1950s. This is 10 times as many as in the 1940s, when science fiction television was born. The media boom was happening, but few writers or readers paid it much attention -- it was seen as trivial entertainment for children. Return to Top of 1950s Timeline page

Major Books of the Decade

1950 Isaac Asimov: "I, Robot" (New York: Gnome Press) 9 robot stories establish Asimov's "3 laws of robotics" and robot fiction has never been the same. Asimov credits his editor, John Campbell, for suggesting, even formulating these "laws", but it was Isaac wo refined, articulated, and explained them decisively. 1950 Isaac Asimov: "Pebble in the Sky" 1950 James Blish: "Earthman, Come Home" 1950 Ray Bradbury: "The Martian Chronicles" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) the single most famous modern science fiction book; brilliant poetic language and emotion nuance in the colonization of Mars 1950 L. Sprague de Camp: "The Hand of Zei" 1950 Henry Kuttner (and unacknowledged C. L. Moore): "Fury" (New York: Grosset & Dunlap) 27th Century human exiles in domes beneath Venus oceans try to advance and settle the surface, in power-struggle between immortal elite and regular humans 1950 Edmond Hamilton: "City at World's End" 1950 Robert A. Heinlein: "Farmer in the Sky" (New York: Scribner) Homesteaders on Jovian moon Ganymede; conflict beween pioneers and bureacrats, humans and nature 1950 Robert A. Heinlein: "The Man Who Sold the Moon" (Chicago: Shasta) 6 stories establish the Future History series; great fiction 1950 Fritz Leiber: "gather, Darkness!" (New York: Pellegrini & Cudahy) science disguised as religion battles dystopian theocracy 1950 Judith Merrill: "Shadow on the Heath" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) Nuclear war against USA, from suburban viewpoint 1950 Theodore Sturgeon: "The Dreaming Jewels" 1950 A. E. Van Vogt: "The Voyage of the Space Beagle" 1950 A. E. Van Vogt: "The Wizard of Linn" 1951 Ray Bradbury: "Farenheit 451" Classic novel of an anti-intellectual pro-censorship repressive future, and the dissidents who try to protect, ultimately by rote memorization, the major works of literature. {film hotlink to be done} 1951 Ray Bradbury: "The Illustrated Man" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) linked set of republished stories, made into film starring Rod Steiger {film hotlink to be done} 1951 L. Sprague de Camp: "Rogue Queen" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) Part of "Viagens Intrplanetarias" series, satirizing romantic conventions by throwing humans into insect caste society of queens and drones 1951 Arthur C. Clarke: "Prelude to Space" (New York: World Editions) optmistic hard-SF of space travel to Moon; first fictional use of communications satellites (which Clarke invented in 1945) 1951 Arthur C. Clarke: "The Sands of Mars" (London: Sidgwick & Jackson) optmistic hard-SF of Martian colony 1951 Hal Clement: "Iceworld" Hard SF about a cold planet being explored 1951 Philip Jose Farmer: "The Lovers" groundbreaking taboo-smashing sexuality 1951 Austin Hall & Homer Eon Flint: "The Blind Spot" (Philadelphia: Prime Press) Reprint from "Argosy" magazine (1921) this is confusing but pioneering story of travel between alternate universes, or maybe occult powers, or perhaps both 1951 Robert A. Heinlein: "The Green Hills of Earth" (Chicago: Shasta) 2nd volume of Future History series; title story of "Rhysling", the blind poet of the spaceways, is basis for the "Rhysling Awards" of the Science Fiction Poetry Association 1951 Robert A. Heinlein: "The Puppet Masters" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) slug-like aliens attach and reprogram humans {film hotlink to be done} 1951 Clifford Simak: "Time and Again" (New York: Simon & Schuster) millennia of travel through alien cultures leads to mature understanding of ethical life 1951 A. E. Van Vogt: "The Weapon Shops of Isher" 1951 Philip Wylie: "The Disappearance" 1951 John Wyndham: "The Day of the Triffids" (London: Michael Joseph; Garden City NY: Doubleday) Mobile plant-creatures almost wipe out humans after everyone is blinded. Became pretty good film {hotlink to be done} Originally serialized in "Colliers" magazine. 1952 Isaac Asimov: "The Currents of Space" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) Amnesiac in future galactic empire meets girl, searches for lost identity, disovers cover-up of predicted nova that will fry his home planet. Not the best of Asimov, but pretty good anyway. 1952 Alfred Bester: "The Demolished Man" magazine appearance, see 1953 1952 Everett Franklin Bleiler & Thaddeus Eugene Dikty [editors]: "The Best Science-Fiction Stories: 1952" (New York: Frederick Fell) 4th annual reprint anthology of 18 fine stories 1952 James Blish: "Jack of Eagles" (New York: Greenberg) Fugitive finds happy ending through extrasensory powers 1952 Leigh Brackett: "The Starmen" (New York: Gnome Press) space opera of man who discovers that he's really a genetically-engineered alien, and wants to sell the secret of interstellar travel to other races who do not have the genetic capability 1952 John W. Campbell: "The Astounding Science Fiction Anthology" (New York: Simon & Schuster) 22 stories + 1 article showcase the best of the greatest magazine of its day 1952 Arthur C. Clarke: "Islands in the Sky" (Philadelphia: John C. Winston) teenage winner of quiz show gets 2-week tour of space station, and ends up near Moon also. 1952 Groff Conklin [editor]: "Invaders of Earth" (New York: Vanguard) Theme anthology of 22 aliens-on-Earth stories (late 1940s and early 1950s) 1952 Cyril Judd [pseudonym]: "Gunner Cade" 1952 Cyril M. Kornbluth: "Takeoff" 1952 Judith Merrill: "Beyond Human Ken" (New York: Random House) 21 stories anthologized by the best female anthologist, insightful selection 1952 Frederik Pohl & C.M. Kornbluth: "Space Merchants" savage prophetic satire of world dominated by advertising, marketing, commercialism (magazine appearance) 1952 Sarban [pseudonym]: "The Sound of His Horn" 1952 Clifford Simak: "City" (New York: Gnome Press) several stories are melded together to tell ultimately pessimistic tale of humanity dying off from boredom and spiritual emptiness, to be survived by the robots and dogs who loved them. Winner of 1953 International Fantasy Award. 1952 Wilson Tucker: "The Long Loud Silence" 1952 Jack Vance: "Big Planet" the inspiration for Robert Silverberg's more financially successful "Majipoor" series 1952 Vercors [pseudonym]: "You Shall Know Them" 1952 Kurt Vonnegut Jr.: "Player Piano" (New York: Scribner) Corporate culture overthrown by people who then wish to return to it as a source of meaning; sneaky philosophical satire, all too true 1952 Bernard Wolfe: "Limbo" Scientist isolated on primitive island accidently creates cult where people have their arms and/or legs surgically removed, and cybernetic protheses replacing them. 1953 Isaac Asimov: "The Caves of Steel" One of Asimov's favorites among his novels, neatly combining the Mystery genre with science fictional probes of the social implication of robotics and interstellar colonization. 1953 Alfred Bester: "The Demolished Man" (Chicago: Shasta) Bester blazed out of nowhere, the brilliant comet in the science fiction sky, and won the very first Hugo Award with this astonishing, complex, insightful cross-genre novel of telepathic detectives and criminal genius 1953 James Blish: "A Case of Conscience" Unusual theological science fiction novel, superintelligent lizard-creature visits Earth, church tries to decide if lizard's planet has experienced original sin, is Edenic, or is Satanic. 1953 Ray Bradbury: "Farenheit 451" (New York: Ballentine) classic of illiterate and media-manipulated future America slipping into book-burning dictatorship 1953 Ray Bradbury: "The Golden Apples of the Sun" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) 22-story collection, only slightly behind "The Martian Chronicles" and "The Illustrated Man" in justifiable fame 1953 Frederic Brown: "The Lights in the Sky are Stars" 1953 Arthur C. Clarke: "Against the Fall of Night" (New York: Gnome Press) alienated immortal Alvin in billion-year-old city seeks freedom, wisdom, and the stars (expanded to "The City and the Stars" in 1956) 1953 Arthur C. Clarke: "Childhood's End" (New York: Ballentine) Clarke's most famous book until "2001", about benevolent aliens who come to Earth to bootsrap human children into transcendent superbeings who can join the cosmic collective overmind, which the alien helper themselves cannot do. Your humble webmaster's ex-partner, Dr. Collins, considers this an insideously evil book, in its assault on individualism. 1953 Hal Clement: "Mission of Gravity" (magazine appearance) see 1954 1953 Lester del Rey: "Police Your Planet" 1953 Robert A. Heinlein: "Starman Jones" (New York: Scribner) Hillbilly with photographic memory catapaulted into acting as captain of luxury starship 1953 David Karp: "One" 1953 Cyril Kornbluth: "The Syndic" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) corporate culture and Capitalism challenge human civilization, but are ultimately positive 1953 Henry Kuttner (and unacknowledged C. L. Moore): "Mutant" (New York: Gnome Press), pasted togther from the 1940s-1950s "Baldy" stories, about the gradual emergence of extrasensory powers in humanity 1953 Fritz Leiber: "The Green Millennium" (New York: Abelard Press) Messiah cats bring peace on earth through odor control 1953 Ward Moore: "Bring the Jubilee" (New York: Farrar, Straus and Young) arguably the finest "alternate history" novel; the South won America's Civil War 1953 Frederik Pohl [editor]: "Star Science Fiction Stories" (New York: Ballentine) Marvelous anthology of 15 orginal stories which was the first of such "original anthology" volumes and set the standard 1953 Frederik Pohl & C.M. Kornbluth: "Space Merchants" (New York: Ballentine) savage prophetic satire of world dominated by advertising, marketing, commercialism (reprint of 1952 magazine appearance) 1953 Theodore Sturgeon: "More Than Human" (New York: Farrar, Straus and Young) Masterpiece of hurt outcasts loving and melding together psychically to become transcendental social consciousness. Winner of 1954 International Fantasy Award. 1953 John Wyndham: "The Kraken Wakes" Aliens from Jupiter invade the deepest parts of Earth's oceans. 1954 Poul Anderson: "Brain Wave" (New York: Ballentine) Our solar system drifts out of an interstellar neighborhood where intelligence was lowered, and humans plus animals all become much smarter, with subtle consequences. 1954 Isaac Asimov: "The Caves of Steel" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) Murder mystery starring human detective Elijah Baley and robot sidekick R. Daneel Olivaw, fascinatingly effective speculation on sociology of automated future 1954 Everett Franklin Bleiler & Thaddeus Eugene Dikty [editors]: "The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1954" (New York: Frederick Fell] 13 stories, intro by Fritz Leiber, index of 1949-54 volumes in series 1954 Hal Clement: "Mission of Gravity" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) Breakthgrough book that set the standard for "hard SF" with realistic chemistry, physics, geology, biology, as human explorers have first contact with aliens on planet with hundreds of times Earth gravity 1954 Mark Clifton & Frank Riley: "They'd Rather Be Right" Hugo Award for Best SF Novel of the Year 1954 William Golding: "Lord of the Flies" (London: Faber & Faber) Atomic War, kids try to escape by plane, plane crashes on island, anarchy repeats the horros of the wrecked civilization 1954 Robert A. Heinlein: "Starbeast" A boy and his alien -- the giant, intelligent "Lummox" 1954 Richard Matheson: "I Am Legend" 1954 J. T. McIntosh: "One in Three Hundred" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) Darwinian selection as fraction of 1% of humans can survive the sun's nova to escape to Mars 1954 J. T. McIntosh: "Born Leader" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) Nuclear power plants leak radiation, Earth is dying, lovely planet Mundis 14 light years away is settled, but cultural conflict erupts 1954 Edward Shepherd Mead: "The Big Ball of Wax" (New York: Simon & Schuster) Comic look at Big Business suppressing and trivializing the fruits of science, technology, and engineering 1954 Chad Oliver: "Shadows in the Sun" (New York: Ballentine) Small town in Texas is covert base of super-society of interstellar origin; man who finds out must prepare humanity for galactic UN membership; uses author's expertise as Anthropologist 1954 Edgar Pangborn: "A Mirror for Observers" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) Martians covertly on Earth plant the seeds of moral enlightenment; philosophical examination of what it means for a man to be "good"; I see this as a science fictional equivalent of C. S. Lewis' theological fantasy "The Screwtape Letters." Winner of 1954 International Fantasy Award. 1954 Frederk Pohl & C. M. Kornbluth: "Gladiator-at-Law" 1954 J. R. R. Tolkein: "The Lord of the Rings" the biggest (I mean best) Fantasy trilogy of all, which unfortunately has spawned a thousand shoddy imitations. Worth reading and re-reading, as many fans do. 1954 Donald Tuck: "Handbook of Science Fiction and Fantasy" (nonfiction) 1954 Wilson Tucker: "Wild Talent" 1954 Gore Vidal: "Messiah" Death cult begins in California and sweeps the world in this sharp satire on religion and modern life. 1955 Poul Anderson: "The Long Way Home" 1955 Isaac Asimov: "The End of Eternity" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) Man of time-travelling empire overturns his own eternal society because of the love of a mortal woman. Can History be changed? In this novel, yes. Should it be? We start out thinking "yes" but end up believeing "Hell, no!" 1955 Isaac Asimov: "The Martian Way and Other Stories" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) collects 4 of The Good Doctor's stories from 3 magazines 1955 Leigh Brackett: "The Long Tomorrow" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) Strong early post-atomic-holocaust novel 1955 James Blish: "Earthman, Come Home" (New York: Putnam) 3rd of 4 books in "Cities in Flight Series", where a space-travelling New York City under resourceful Mayor Amalfi confronts other starfaring cities (pastes together novelettes written and magazine-published 1950-1953) 1955 Leigh Brackett: "The Long Tomorrow" 1955 Ray Bradbury: "The October Country" (New York: Ballentine) Combines science fiction and fantasy stories, each one a gem. 1955 Arthur C. Clarke: "Earthlight" (New York: Ballentine) Hard SF on Moon of 22nd Century, expanded from novellette in "Thrilling Wonder Stories" (1951) 1955 Philip K. Dick: "Solar Lottery" (New York: Ace) Heroic yet ordinary humans battle Big Business, dictatorship, terrorists, and criminals. This time, Dick finds a happy ending; his later works are more ambiguous, but inevitably worth reading. 1955 Jack Finney: "The Body Snatchers" adapted to the film "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" {film hotlink to be done} 1955 James E. Gunn: "This Fortress World" 1955 Robert A. Heinlein: "Tunnel in the Sky" (New York: Scribner) High school students from future overpopulated Earth travel through stargate to be trained/tested for interstellar pioneering, but atrsgate fails and they are stranded, having to create their own society; filled with ethical, sociological, and psychological insight rare for a "juvenile" novel 1955 Frank Herbert: "Under Pressure" (magazine appearance) see 1956 1955 Damon Knight: "Hell's Pavement" 1955 Cyril Kornbluth: "Not This August" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) Russia and China conquer America, but Billy Justin and otherfreedom fighters take back their land 1955 Charles Eric Maine: "Timeliner" (London: Hodder & Stoughton) Murder meets time travel; was a story "Highway i" in "Authentic" magazine (1953) which was turned into a play, and then novelized. 1955 Harold Mead: "The Bright Phoenix" (London: Michael Joseph) Dystopian post-atomic-holocaust novel of failed try to reunite world 1955 Eric Frank Russell: "Call Him Dead" 1955 Theodore Sturgeon: "A Way Home" (New York: Funk & Wagnalls) 11 of his beautiful stories collected here, all really about the human heart in conflict with itself 1955 Jack Williamson & James E. Gunn: "Star Bridge" 1955 John Wyndham: "The Chrysalids" 1956 [anonymously edited]: "Sometime, Never" (London: Eyre & Spottiswoode) 3 novella collection with remarkable William Golding, Mervyn Peake, and John Wyndham fiction 1956 Isaac Asimov: "The Naked Sun" sequel to "Caves of Steel", about a planet with a small population of super-rich people supported by swarms of robots. Socially adapted to isolation, meetings face-to-face are rare and stressful, making both sex and murder rather tricky. 1956 Alfred Bester: "Tiger! Tiger!" (London: Sidgwick & Jackson) sub-average spaceman survives accident and betrayal, becoming obsessed and driven survivor, eventually a virtual superman. Astonishing, colorful, powerful, filled with skewed views of decadent culture needing to be straightened out by humans with conviction; post-modernist prose-poems abound. Revised American edition, under title "The Stars My Destination" published a year later (1957) 1956 James Blish: "They Shall Have Stars" (London: Faber & Faber) part of "Cities in Flight" quartet, in this book the "Spindizzy Drive" is developed and refined 1956 John Christopher [Christopher Sam Youd]: "The Death of Grass" (London: Michael Joseph) Corn, wheat, and rice wiped out by plague; eco-catastrophe was filmed {hotlink to be done}. U.S. title "No Blade of Grass" 1956 Arthur C. Clarke: "The City and the Stars" (New York: Harcourt Brace) alienated immortal Alvin in billion-year-old city seeks freedom, wisdom, and the stars (expanded from "Against the Fall of Night" of 1953) 1956 Hunt Collins [Evan Hunter]: "Tomorrow's World" (New York: Avalon) Expanded from "Malice in Wonderland" which was in "If" magazine (1954). Drug cults attempt to overthrown U.S. government, sort of predicted punk scene and narcoterrorism. Also published under title "Tomorrow and Tomorrow" (New York: Pyramid Books, 1956) 1956 Lester del Rey: "Nerves" (New York: Ballentine) Book publication of 1942 magazine story of nuclear power planet failure; details are wrong, but overall story is a remarkable prediction of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl situations 1956 Philip K. Dick: "The World Jones Made" (New York: Ace) Heisenberg's Uncertainty Effect applied to precongition, I would say, as a man can see a year into the future, but his predictions warp society and change that very future 1956 Rex Gordon [Stanley Bennett Hough]: "No Man Friday" (London: Heinemann) First Mars explorers have fatal accident, one man survives. U.S. title is "First on Mars." 1956 Robert A. Heinlein: "The Door into Summer" Novel correctly predicted what we would today call CAD (Computer Aided Design), in combining cryonics and time travel and romance 1956 Robert A. Heinlein: "Double Star" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) Won Hugo Award; 2nd rate actor impersonates interplanetary president. When the real guy dies, the fake must take his place permanently, and ends up doing a better job, without ever giving away his secret. "The Prisoner of Zenda" as science fiction. 1956 Robert A. Heinlein: "Time for the Stars" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) Pair of telepathically-linked twins make graphic Einstein's "twin paradox" as one goes in interstellar spaceship and ages slowly while other stays home, ages, dies, and telepathic link continues over generations. 1956 Frank Herbert: "The Dragon in the Sea" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) first novel by author later famous for "Dune", also known under titles "Under Pressure" and "21st Century Sub." Paranoid psychological pressure, political pressure, and hydraulic pressure all apply as subs tow oil during American/Eastern Axis geopolitical conflict. Vivid; detailed. 1956 Richard Matheson: "The Man Who Shrank" adapted to the film "The Incredible Shrinking Man" {film hotlink to be done} 1956 Judith Merrill [editor]: "S-F: The Year's Greatest Science-Fiction and Fantasy" (New York: Gnome) 18 stories, intro by Orson Welles; high literary standard 1956 Frederik Pohl: "Slave Ship" Vietnamese cult almost takes over the world; people take genetically engineered germs as recreational drugs 1956 Frank M. Robinson: "The Power" 1957 Poul Anderson & Gordon Dickson: "Earthman's Burden" 1957 Isaac Asimov: "The Naked Sun" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) Sequel to "The Caves of Steel"; human-robot detective team unravel murder msystery on sparsely-settled planet of rich agoraphobes 1957 James Blish: "The Seedling Stars" (New York: Gnome Press) Biocybernetic adaptation of humans to alien worlds' environments, Blish's "Pantropy" series is collected here. Includes the brilliant story "Surface Tension" which may have been the key story that turned your humble webmaster into a science fiction author. 1957 Hal Clement: "Cycle of Fire" 1957 Arthur C. Clarke: "The Deep Range" (New York: Harcourt Brace) Meticulously researched and believable novel of human coloniziation of seabed for undersea resources 1957 Stanton Coblentz: "Hidden World" (New York: Avalon) Satire of human cultural and political foibles set among conflicting underground settlements; reprint of 1930s magazine publication; re-released as "In Caverns Below" (1975) 1957 Philip K. Dick: "Eye in the Sky" 1957 Philip Jose Farmer: "The Green Odyssey" (New York: Ballentine) witty sword & sorcery parody set on Mars 1957 Jack Finney [Walter Braden Finney]: "The Third Level" (New York: Rinehart) Collection of his stories, mostly on time travel and the past, by the author better known for "Time and Again" and the novel "The Body Snatchers" amde into the film "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" 1957 Robert Heinlein: "Citizen of the Galaxy" Eliminating slavery in a human galaxy is the focus of this coming-of-age novel (the beggar boy discovers that he is heir to a vast fortune) 1957 Fred Hoyle: "The Black Cloud" (London: Heinemann; New York: Harper & Row) Astronomer author pens unique First Contact novel with huge intelligent interstellar cloud organism. Interesting analysis of social implications of First Contact, and of human intelligence being increased by an alien to facilitate improved communications. 1957 Fritz Leiber: "The Big Time" wonderful time-travel time-war novel 1957 Harry Edmund Martinson: "Aniara: A Review of Man in Time and Space" (Stolkholm, Sweden: Bonnier) Novel as series of 102 poems of the apaceship Aniara, hit by meteors en route to Mars, lost between the stars, with a turbulently evolving claustrophobic society; made into very successful opera; English translation of book rejected as inadequate by author 1957 C. L. Moore: "Doomsday Morning" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) Near-future machiavellian conflict and revolt against communications monopoly 1957 Chad Oliver: "The Winds of Time" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) Extraterrestrials come to Earth 15 millennia ago, in suspended animation, and are now awakening with help from human 1957 Fred Pohl: "Slave Ship" (New York: Ballentine) Futurist/author Fred Pohl was the only American to forecast that the Vietnamese might defeat America, as in this novel they conquer much of the Orient, and can only be defeated by an alien approach; an under-rated novel 1957 Frederik Pohl & C. M. Kornbluth: "Wolfbane" 1957 Robert Randall [Robert Silverberg & Randall Garrett]: "The Dawning Light" 1957 Nevil Shute: "On the Beach" bestselling novel of nuclear holocaust, successfully adapted to film {hotlink to be done} 1957 Jack Vance: "Big Planet" (New York: Avalon) Terrestrial agent chasing interstellar fugitive with delusions of grandeur is stuck on metal-poor low-gravity giant planet, with Vance's inimitable style as we move through one bizarre subculture after another on a sort of mega-India; was the inspiration for Robert Silverberg's more recent hits in the "Majipoor" series 1957 A. E. Van Vogt: "Empire of the Atom" (Chicago: Shasta) First 5 stories in "Gods" series combined as novel -- companion to "The Wizard of Linn" (1962) 1957 John Wyndham: "The Midwich Cuckoos" (London: Michael Joseph) familiar through film adaptation as "The Village of the Damned" {hotlink to be done} 1958 Brian W. Aldiss: "Non-Stop" (London: Faber & Faber) Multigeneration starship with society having evolved over centuries until people don't know they're on a starship: this idea was first used by A. E. Van Vogt ("Fra Centaurus") and Robert Heinlein ("Universe") and most recently by Gene Wolfe. Aldiss gave this idea his own spin. 1958 Poul Anderson: "We Have Fed Our Sea" Hugo nominee. 1958 James Blish: "The Triumph of Time" (New York: Avon) The "Cities in Flight" series ends, along with the entire universe, in 4004 A.D. This concludes after "They Shall Have Stars" (1956), "A Life for the Stars" (1962), and "Earthman, Come Home" (1955). In Great Britain, it was entitled "A Clash of Symbols." 1958 James Blish: "A Case of Conscience" (New York: Ballentine) Theological first contact novel; a super-smart dinosuarian alien comes to Earth, is a social hit, and the question is whether or not his species have experience Original Sin. Hugo Award winner for Best SF Novel of the Year. 1958 Algis Budrys: "Who?" (New York: Pyramid Books) Cold War subtext to novel of lab-accident-injured physicist with metal face built for him by Russians, no longer trusted by the USA. Hugo nominee. 1958 Arthur C. Clarke: "The Other Side of the Sky" (New York: Harcourt Brace) 24 of Clarke's stories collected from before the 1960s, a few slight, most memorable, two or three timeless classics. 1958 Edmond Cooper: "Deadly Image" (New York: Ballentine) Post-nuclear-holocaust society leans too heavily on android slaves, teeters on edge of revolution. Carefully thought through. 1958 Robert A. Heinlein: "Have Spacesuit Will Travel" Boy wins spacesuit [which Heinlein helped to invent!] in Skyway Soap slogan competition, and is swept into interstellar adventure, where he defends Earth against dubious aliens in a galactic courtroom drama. Hugo nominee. 1958 Robert A. Heinlein: "Methuselah's Children" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) Future History book #4, with people bred for near-immortality clash with regular humans, and must escape to interstellar horizons. The sequel, years later, is "Time Enough For Love" (1973) with the same hero, Lazarus Long. 1958 Fritz Leiber: "The Big Time" Fritz Leiber wrote this with production as a one-act play in mind. Marvellous time-travel romp, supposing that there has always been/will always be a war throughout the universe between two factions ("Snakes" and "Spiders") both of which have humans and aliens, the humans being those who are snatched from the moment of their deaths. Won the 1958 Hugo Award presented at the Los Angeles Solacon; from 1959 the Hugos were for works published in the previous year, hence there are two Hugo Award novels for 1958. 1958 Richard Matheson: "A Stir of Echoes" (Philadelphia: Lippincott). Someone is hypnotized and told that no more inhibitions will constrain the mind. The subject tehn develops previously suppressed paranormal capabilities, which hurt more than help. 1958 Robert Sheckley: "Immortality Delivered" (New York: Avalon) Released more widely as "Immortality, Inc." by Bantam (1959), this book has one-way mental time-travel by a man dying in a contemprary car crash and now alive in an immortality-based society of 2110 A.D., which is used to comment slyly on our own time, with typical droll Shecklian wit. 1958 Robert Sheckley: "Time Killer" Hugo nominee. 1959 Poul Anderson: "Virgin Planet" (New York: Avalon) The Psychotechnic series continues with a man marooned on an all-woman world of survivors from a centuries-earlier space wreck. Parts of this appeared in "Venture" magazine (1957) 1959 Isaac Asimov: "Nine Tomorrows" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) 9 stories plus 2 poems. Asimov told me that he was not competant to evaluate poetry, but he co-authored at least two volumes of it, and wrote books about poets such as Lord Byron. 1959 Algis Budrys: "The Falling Torch" (New York: Pyramid Books) Recently released in a revised edition as "Falling Torch", this novel takes a dramatic, ironic, and philosophical look at how the stressed-out alienated outsider can sometimes become the irreplaceable leader of history, where a young man born en route to the Centauri system returns to Earth to fight the occupying but benign "Invaders." Budrys shows acute psychological insight and an unblushing analysis of politico-military realities. 1959 Edmond Cooper: "Seed of Light" (London: Hutchinson) Another generation-ship novel (like Heinlein's "Universe" or Aldiss' "Non-Stop), with 10 survivors of a ravaged Earth seek a new world on which to go forth and multiply 1959 Gordon Dickson: "Dorsai!" Hugo nominee, introduces a multi-culture interstellar future which spans many novels eventually, and explores Dickson's philosphy of History. 1959 Robert A. Heinlein: "The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag" (Hicksville NY: Gnome Press) collects half a dozen of Heinlein's stories, most notably the ultimate time-travel paradoxes of "All You Zombies" and the reducto ad absurdum of solpisism in "They." 1959 Robert A. Heinlein: "Starship Troopers" (New York: Putnam) His most controversial and politically adult novel until "Stranger in a Strange Land", this superior space war novel is a huge-budget film in 1997 Hugo Award for Best SF Novel of 1959. Filmed: Starship Troopers 1959 Murray Leinster: "The Pirates of Ersatz" Hugo nominee. 1959 Walter M. Miller: "A Canticle for Leibowitz" Extraordinary novel about theocratic future after nuclear war attempting to rediscover technology based on fragmentary notes. 1959 Mark Phillips: "That Sweet Little Old Lady", Hugo nominee. 1959 Frederik Pohl & Cyril M. Kornbluth: "Wolfbane" (New York: Ballentine) Extraterrestrial conquest of Earth; the ETs want us to make their food for them. People fight free of these hungry rulers. 1959 Mordecai Roshwald: "Level Seven" (London: Hutchison) Popular in the mainstream world, and blurbed by anti-war nobel-laureates, this is a nuclear holocaust dystpia, set near the end in an advanced fallout shelter. 1959 Robert Silverberg: "Starman's Quest" (Hicksville NY: Gnome Press) Almost identical relativistic plot as Heinlein's "Time for the Stars" (1956) Pair of twins make graphic Einstein's "twin paradox" as one goes in interstellar spaceship and ages slowly while other stays home, ages, dies. 1959 Kurt Vonnegut, Jr,: "The Sirens of Titan" (New York: Dell) The most unabashedly science-fictional of Vonnegut's popular novels, this also spoofs SF assumptions. The immortal Tralfamadoreans create and guide the human race solely to provide them with a necessary spare part for their spaceship. Tragicomic trashing of religion, free will, destiny, and our place in the cosmos. Hugo nominee. 1959 Manly Wade Wellman: "The Dark Destroyer" (New York: Avalon) Humans revolt against conquering "Cold People"; revised from "Nuisance value" in "Astounding" (1938) 1959 Ivan Yefremov: "Andromeda" (Moscow: The Foreign Language Publishing House) Socialist/Communist space opera of high quality 1960 Brian Aldiss: "Galaxies Like Grains of Sand" (New York: New American Library) 1960 Poul Anderson: "The High Crusade" Group of knights in armor capture alien spaceship, set out to conquer the galaxy. Great fun, often optioned for movies but never filmed, alas. Hugo nominee. 1960 Algis Budrys: "Rogue Moon" (Greenwich CT: Fawcett) Weird alien maze construct on Moon is deadly to all explorers, so scientists send one copy after another of a superman with a death wish, by matter transmitter, to penetrate the mystery. Hugo nominee. 1960 Mark Clifton: "Eight Keys to Eden" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) 1960 L. Sprague de Camp: "The Glory That Was" (New York: Avalon) 1960 Gordon Dickson: "Dorsai" 1960 Philip Jose Farmer: "Strange Relations" (New York: Ballentine) 1960 Harry Harrison: "Deathworld" (New York: Bantam) Hugo nominee. 1960 Walter M. Miller: "A Canticle for Leibowitz" (Philadelphia: Lippincott) Hugo Award, required reading in many college courses, an absolute classic not to be missed. 1960 Robert P. Mills [editor]: "The Best from Fantasy & Science Fiction, Ninth Series" (Garden City NY: Doubleday) 1960 Theodore Sturgeon: "Venus Plus X" (New York: Pyramid Books) Sex and love from an unusual angle. Hugo nominee. Return to Top of 1950s Timeline page

Major Films/Television of this Decade

With hotlinks to thumbnail reviews where shown Science Fiction Television of the 1950s 1950 Destination Moon 1950 The Man in the White Suit 1951 The Day the Earth Stood Still The Day the Earth Stood Still 1951 When Worlds Collide 1951 The Thing from Another World The Thing from Another World 1953 The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms 1953 Invaders from Mars Invaders from Mars Award-winning web-site by Ron Hunt about the "Sci-Fi Cult Classic" starring Jimmy Hunt, Arthur Franz, and Helena Carter: * introduction * film plot & info * thumbnail images * the comic strip * the original Script * reviews and qrticles * link to the 1986 remake page * trivia * related links * thanks and disclaimers * awards and comments * where to buy/rent the video 1953 It Came from Outer Space 1953 It: The Terror from Outer Space It: The Terror from Outer Space 1953 The War of the Worlds The War of the Worlds 1954 Godzilla, King of the Monsters 1954 Them! Them! 1954 Nineteen-Eightyfour 1955 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 1955 Quatermass II (Enemy from Space) 1955 The Quatermass Xperiment (The Creeping Unknown) 1955 This Island Earth This Island Earth 1956 The Day the World Ended The Day the World Ended 1956 Earth vs. the Flying Saucers Earth vs. the Flying Saucers 1956 Forbidden Planet Forbidden Planet 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1956 It Conquered the World It Conquered the World 1957 The Incredible Shrinking Man The Incredible Shrinking Man 1958 Attack of the 50-Foot Woman Attack of the 50-Foot Woman 1958 I Married a Monster from Outer Space I Married a Monster from Outer Space 1958 The Fly The Fly 1958 The Wonderful Invention 1959 Son of the Fly Son of the Fly 1960 The Twilight Zone [TV] 1960 The Time Machine 1960 Village of the Damned Reviews of 1950's SF Movies Return to Top of 1950s Timeline page

Major Writers Born this Decade

1950 William Barton (28 Sep 1950) 1950 John D. Berry (8 Aug 1950) 1950 James P. Blaylock 1950 David Brin 1950 Richard Byers (21 Sep 1950) 1950 Bruce Coville 1950 Steve Erickson 1950 Karl Hansen 1950 Patrick Harpur 1950 Sue Harrison 1950 Walter G. Irwin (22 Sep 1950) 1950 Ken Kato, pseudonym of ? 1950 John Katzenbach 1950 John J. Kessel 1950 James P. Killus 1950 Tappan (Wright) King 1950 Jeanne Larsen 1950 Michael Swanwick 1950 Richard Thornley 1951 A. A. Attanasio 1951 Brian Attebery 1951 Greg Bear (20 Aug 1951) 1951 Nancy Varian Berberick 1951 Stephen Briggs 1951 Orson Scott Card 1951 Charles de Lint 1951 Bruce Fergusson 1951 Robert Frazier 1951 Esther M. Friesner 1951 Gregory Frost 1951 Patricia Geary 1951 James L. Haley 1951 Barbara Hambly (28 Aug 1951) 1951 Deborah Turner Harris 1951 Geraldine Harris 1951 Mark Harrison 1951 Simon Hawke, pseudonym then legal name of Nicholas Valentin Yermakov 1951 Van Ikin 1951 Steve Jackson 1951 Judith Katz 1951 Donald Keller (1 Sep 1951) 1951 Leigh Kennedy 1951 Beth Meacham 1951 Jonathan Vos Post, the Webmaster of the Ultimate Science Fiction Web Guide, 3-time Nebula Award semi-finalist, co-author with Ray Bradbury, co-editor with Arthur C. Clarke, co-broadcaster with Isaac Asimov. Jonathan has over 820 publications, presentations, and broadcasts to his credit. This includes some 30 short stories and over 200 science fiction/fantasy poems. 1951 Scott Siegel 1951 Paul B. Thompson 1951 Vivian Vane Velde 1951 Charles Vess 1952 Douglas Adams 1952 Robin Bailey 1952 Clive Barker 1952 Claire Bell 1952 Pamela Belle 1952 Jean Berman (27 Aug 1952) 1952 Thomas F. Deitz 1952 Ian Dennis 1952 Debra Doyle 1952 Diane Duane 1952 Jane S. Fancher 1952 Josteine Gaarder 1952 Diana Gabaldon 1952 Stephen Laws 1952 Brad Linaweaver (1 Sep 1952) 1952 Tim Powers 1952 Kim Stanley Robinson 1952 Chuck Rothman (22 Aug 1952) 1952 Darrell Schweitzer (27 Aug 1952) 1952 Allan Scott 1952 Vikram Seth 1952 Lisa Tuttle (16 Sep 1952) 1952 R. D. Zimmerman, full name Robert Dingwall Zimmerman 1953 Alexander Baliol 1953 Stephen Bowkett 1953 Pat Cadigan 1953 Ivanir Calado 1953 Mary Corran 1953 Kara Dalkey 1953 Pamela Dean, pseudonym of Pamela Dyer-Bennett 1953 Clayton Emery 1953 Christopher Fowler 1953 Mark Frost 1953 Raymond B. Harris 1953 Steve Jackson: psuedonym of Steven Gary Jackson 1953 A. F. Kidd 1953 David Langford 1953 Thomas Ligotti 1953 Terri Moore (25 Sep 1953) 1953 Paul Stinson (5 Sep 1953) 1954 Iain Banks 1954 Maya Kaathryn Bonhoff 1954 Alan Brennert 1954 Louis de Bernieres 1954 Gavin Claypool (22 Aug 1954) Caltech alumnus 1954 Guy Gavriel Kay 1954 Victor Koman (9 Aug 1954) 1954 Michael Kube-McDowell (29 Aug 1954) 1954 Randall D. Larson 1954 James D. Macdonald 1954 Bruce Sterling 1954 Ralph E. Vaughan (16 Sep 1954) 1955 Kim Antieau 1955 Gael Baudino 1955 Scott Bradfield 1955 Steven Brust 1955 Brenda W. Clough 1955 Susan Dexter 1955 Scott Edelman 1955 Doris Egan 1955 Geoffrey Farrington: pseudonym of Geoffrey Smith 1955 Gregory Feeley 1955 Cheryl J. Franklin 1955 Michael J. Friedman 1955 Maggie Furey 1955 Karen Haber 1955 Jeanette Holloman (30 Aug 1955) 1955 Barbara Lagowski 1955 Paul J. McAuley 1955 Daniel Sernine: pseudonym of Alain Lortie 1955 Will Shetterly 1955 Judith Tarr 1955 Eva C. Whitley (6 Aug 1955) 1956 Chris Barkley (25 Aug 1956) 1956 Gillian Bradshaw 1956 Alan Brenner 1956 Storm Constantine 1956 Hugh Cook 1956 Joe Dever 1956 Rick Kennett 1956 Philip Kerr 1956 Katharine Eliska Kimbriel 1957 Roger McBride Allen 1957 Ron Dee (21 Aug 1957) 1957 Stefan R. Dziemianowicz 1957 John M. Ford 1957 Elizabeth Hand 1957 Richard Kadrey 1957 Daniel Kane 1957 Jody Lynn Nye 1957 Sharon Shinn 1958 Lisa A. Barnett 1958 Frank Catalano (9 Sep 1958) 1958 William R. Eakin 1958 David Honigsberg (13 Sep 1958) 1958 [John] Andrew Keith 1958 James Lasdun 1958 Robert Neville: pseudonym of Shaun Hutson 1958 John R. Palmer (15 Aug 1958) 1959 Nancy A. Collins 1959 Greg Costikyan 1959 Greg Cox 1959 Nigel Findley 1959 Mary Kirchoff 1959 Kim Newman 1959 Mark Wm Richards (27 Sep 1959) 1959 Michael Scott 1960 Lucy Cullyford Babbitt 1960 John Gregory Betancourt 1960 Steven R. Boyett 1960 Bob Eggleton (13 Sep 1960) Artist 1960 Paul R. Fisher 1960 Marc Laidlaw 1960 Melissa Scott 1960 Julie Dean Smith Return to Top of 1950s Timeline page

Major Writers Who Died this Decade

1950 Eric Blair [wote as George Orwell] 1950 D. K. Broster 1950 Edgar Rice Burroughs 1950 George Bernard Shaw 1950 Olaf Stapledon 1951 G. P. Baker 1951 Algernon Blackwood 1951 Ganpat, pseudonym of Martin Lewis Alan Gompertz 1952 Margaret Wise Brown 1952 Norman Douglas 1955 Bryan Berry, age 25 1956 Walter de la Mare 1957 Nikos Kazantzakis 1957 Robert Lawson 1958 Walter R. Brooks 1958 Cyril Kornbluth, heart attack, age 35 1958 Henry Kuttner, heart attack, age 42 1959 Coningsby W. Dawson 1960 Albert Camus 1960 Warwick Deeping 1960 Boris Pasternak More {to be done} Return to Top of 1950s Timeline page

Other Key Dates of this Decade

1950: a boom year in science fiction magazines, with 25 titles adding to 110 distinct issues on the news stands 1950 Grosset & Dunlap starts a series of science fiction books, including Henry Kuttner's "Fury" 1950 Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas' "The Magazine of Fantasy" renamed "The Magazine of Fantasy of Science Fiction", often known by the abbreviation "F&SF", one of the two major magazines of this decade (along with "Galaxy") Jan 1950 Edmond Hamilton's "City at World's End" in "Startling Stories" Mar 1950 L. Ron Hubbard's serial "To the Stars" begins in "Astounding" (later published by Ace Books as "Return to Tomorrow") Apr 1950 James Blish's "Okie" in "Astounding", part of the Cities In Flight series May 1950 L. Ron Hubbard's "Dianetics, the Evolution of a Science" in "Other Worlds" Summer 1950 Richard Matheson's "Born of Man and Woman" in "F&SF" July 1950 Cyril Kornbluth's "Little Black Bag" in "Astounding" 1950: NorWesCon, the Eighth World Science Fiction Convention, in Portland, Oregon (Multnomah Hotel), Chaired by Donald B. Day, Anthony Boucher as Guest of Honor, 400 members attending. 1950 James Blish's "Bindlestiff" in "Astounding SF", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story Aug 1950 H. Beam Piper's "Last Enemy" in "Astounding", a paratime story Sep 1950 H. R. Van Dongen's cover art debut on "Super Science Stories" Oct 1950 H. L. Gold launches "Galaxy Science Fiction" magazine, the other of the two major magazines of this decade (along with "F&SF") Oct 1950 Groff Conklin's book review column begins in "Galaxy Science Fiction" (and runs through Oct 1955) Oct 1950 Willy Ley's science column begins in "Galaxy Science Fiction" (and runs until he died in 1969) 1951 "Le Rayon Fantastique" is launched in France, one of the major French book publishing lines for science fiction Jan 1951 L. Ron Hubbard's "Dianometry" in "Astounding" further publicizes Dianetics Jan 1951 Isaac Asimov's 3-part serial "Tyrann" begins in "Galaxy", picked up as the Doubleday book "The Stars Like Dust" Feb 1951 Ray Bradbury's "The Fireman" in "Galaxy", eventually expanding to "Farenheit 451" for the book publication by Ballentine Mar 1951 Lester del Rey's "Wind Between the Worlds" in "Galaxy" Apr 1951 Cyril Kornbluth's "The Marching Morons" in "Galaxy" Jun 1951 Edgard Pangborn's "Angel's Egg" in "Galaxy" 1951 Ray Palmer publishes in "Other Worlds" 2-part serial by "Captain A. V. G." [probably Palmer himself) called "I Flew in a Flying Saucer." This fuels the growing UFO frenzy, and soon the magazine stops printing explicit fiction and renames itself "Flying Saucers." 1951: Nolacon I the Ninth World Science Fiction Convention, in New Orleans, Louisiana (St.Charles Hotel), Chaired by Harry B. Moore, Fritz Leiber as Guest of Honor, 190 members attending. 1951 John D. MacDonald's "Common Denominator" in "Galaxy", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story Sep 1951 Robert A. Heinlein's serial "The Puppet Masters" begins in "Galaxy" Sep 1951 "Thrilling Wonder Stories" loses Sam Merwin as editor, replaced by Samuel Mines Oct 1951 Sam Merwin also quits editing "Startling" Oct 1951 P. Schuyler Miller begins his influential book review column "The Reference Library" in "Astounding" (which created the term "Hard Science fiction" and continued until his death in 1974 Oct 1951 Hal Clement's serial "Iceworld" begins in "Astounding" 1952 The book publisher Winston launches a series of science fiction books, six per season, before being folded into Holt, Rinehart and Winston 1952 Donald A. Wollheim starts as editor at Ace, and strategizes launch of a science fiction book line: the "Ace Doubles" 1952 Ian Ballentine quits Bantam Books and starts his own publishing company (harcover and paperback) including science fiction Jan 1952 Alfred Bester's timeless serial "The Demolished Man" begins in "Galaxy" Jun 1952 Frederik Pohl & Cyril Kornbluth's serial "Gravy Planet" begins in "Galaxy", later published by Ballentine as the novel "The Space Merchants" 1952: TASFIC, the Tenth World Science Fiction Convention, in Chicago, Illinois (Hotel Morrison), Chaired by Julian C. May, Hugo Gernsback as Guest of Honor, 870 members attending. 1952 William Tenn's "Firewater" in "Astounding SF", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story Aug 1952 Philip Jose Farmer's groundbreaking sex-based story "The Lovers" in "Startling Stories" Nov 1952 H. L. Gold sells "Galaxy Science Fiction" magazine to the Guinn Publishing Company, which leaves him in nearly total control of its contents and operations Nov 1952 Ward Moore's "Begin the Jubilee" in "F&SF", later expanded to the alternate history book Nov 1952 Lester del Rey's "Stacked Deck" in "Amazing" Dec 1952 Clifford Simak's serial "Ring Around the Sun" begins in "Galaxy" 1953 Ballentine Books poublishes its first science fiction title: "Star Science Fiction Stories" (edited by Frederik Pohl) as its 16th book. 1953 the magazine boom continues; Lester del Rey counts 36 titles published in 1953 for 174 total issues -- which he claims "was the largest number ever reached" 1953 Doubleday launches the Science Fiction Book Club, a discount-priced marketing system previously proven in the Mystery genre 1953 Sam Moskowitz begins the world's first college course in Science Fiction, at City College of New York Extension School, obtaining Isaac Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein as guest lecturers Apr 1953 Hal Clement's superb serial "Mission of Gravity" begins in "Astounding", and is still considered the paradigmatic "Hard SF" novel Apr 1953 Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s fiction debut "Unready to Wear" in "Galaxy" 1953: the Eleventh World Science Fiction Convention, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Bellevue-Straford Hotel), Chaired by Milton Rothman, Willy Ley as Guest of Honor, 750 members attending. The first HUGO AWARDS are given. 1953 The French science fiction magazine "Fiction" and the French edition of "Galaxy" ("Galaxie") are launched. 1953 Damon Knight's "Four in One" in "Galaxy", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story Sep 1953 James Blish's theological serial "A Case of Conscience" begins in "If" Oct 1953 Isaac Asimov's serial "The Caves of Steel" begins in "Galaxy" 1954 The French science fiction book imprint "Presence du futur" is launched Jan 1954 Evan Hunter's "Malice in Wonderland" in "If" Apr 1954 Frederik Pohl's "The Midas Plague" in "Galaxy" May 1954 Robert Heinlein's serial "Star Lummox" in "Galaxy", later the book "The Star Beast" from Scribner's 1954: SFCon, the Twelfth World Science Fiction Convention, in San Francisco, California (Sir Francis Drake Hotel), Chaired by Lester Cole and Gary Nelson, John W. Campbell as Guest of Honor, 700 members attending. 1954 Theodore Sturgeon's "The Golden Helix" in "Thrilling Wonder", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story Aug 1954 Tom Godwin's "The Cold Equations" in "Astounding" -- one of the most discussed short stories of all time 1955 the American magazine boom begins to collapse, with "Planet", "Startling", and "Thrilling Wonder Stories" all ending publication 1955 the German science fiction magazine "Utopia Magazin" is launched Mar 1955 George O. Smith's serial "Highways in Hiding" begins in "Imagination" Apr 1955 Walter M. Miller's "A Canticle for Leibowitz" begins in "F&SF" 1955: Clevention, the Thirteenth World Science Fiction Convention, in Cleveland, Ohio (Manger Hotel), Chaired by Nick Falasca and Noreen Falasca, Isaac Asimov as Pro Guest of Honor, Sam Moskowitz as Mystery Guest of Honor, 380 members attending. 1955 Shirley Jackson's "One Ordinary Day, With Peanuts" in "F&SF", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story Oct 1955 Groff Conklin's book review column is concluded in "Galaxy Science Fiction" (started Oct 1950) Oct 1955 Cordwainer Smith's "The Game of Rat and Dragon" in "Galaxy" Nov 1955 Frank Herbert's serial "Under Pressure" begins in "Astounding" 1956 the German science fiction pulp series "Luna" is launched 1956 Hans Stefan Santesson succeeds Sam Moskowitz at the world's first college course in Science Fiction (started 1953 at City College of New York Extension School) Feb 1956 Robert A. Heinlein's serial "Double Star" begins in "F&SF" Jun 1956 John W. Campbell's pseudo-nonfiction "Psionic Machines--Type One" in "Astounding" about "the Hieronymous Machine" which puportedly combined electricity and paranormal effects, coining the word "psionics" later abbreviated "psi" 1956: NewYorCon (Nycon II), the Fourteenth World Science Fiction Convention, in New York, (Biltmore Hotel), Chaired by David A. Kyle, Arthur C. Clarke as Guest of Honor, 78 members attending. 1956 Poul Anderson's "The Man Who Came Early" in "F&SF", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story Oct 1956 Alfred Bester's serial "The Stars My Destination" begins in "Galaxy" Oct 1956 Isaac Asimov's serial "The Naked Sun" begins in "Astounding", a sequel to "The Caves of Steel." Oct 1956 Robert A. Heinlein's serial "The Door Into Summer" begins in "F&SF" Nov 1956 Frederik Pohl's novelette "The Man Who Ate the World" in "Galaxy" 1957 the German science fiction book series "Terra" is launched 1957 the German science fiction magazine "Galaxis" (an edition of "Galaxy") is launched 1957 Ted Dikty teaches perhaps the second college course in Science Fiction, at University College, University of Chicago 1957 Donald Bensen appointed Editor at Pyramid Books, and concentrates on science fiction 1957 Damon Knight and Lester del Rey (who'd worked together at the Milford Conferences) launch "Science Fiction Forum" for professional writers. It leads to the later creation of SFWA: Science Fiction Writers of America Feb 1957 H. Beam Piper's "Omnilingual" in "Astounding" {hotlink to be done} Mar 1957 Tom Godwin's "Too Soon to Die" in "Venture", later expanded to the novel "Space Prison" published by Pyramid Apr 1957 Kate Wilhelm's "The Mile Long Spaceship" in "Astounding" Apr 1957 Poul Anderson's "Call Me Joe" in "Astounding" June 1957 Philip Jose Farmer's "Night of Light" in "F&SF" June 1957 America's largest magazine distributor, American News Company, stops operating, leaving many magazines stranded with no way to get to subway stations, railroad stations, and some other outlets. Many magazine publishers failed to be paid by American News Company for issues previously printed 1957: Loncon I, the Fifteenth World Science Fiction Convention, in London, England (King's Court Hotel), Chaired by Ted Carnell, John W. Campbell, Jr., as Guest of Honor, 268 members attending. 1957 Kate Wilhelm's "The Mile-Long Spaceship" in "Astounding SF", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story 5 October 1957 The Soviet Union orbits "Sputnik 1", the first artificial satellite, and the real space program begins. Science fiction is reappraised by the public at large. Oct 1957 Frederik Pohl & Cyril Kornbluth's serial "Wolfbane" begins in "Galaxy" 1958 In Germany, Walter Ernsting begins editing the "Terra-Sonderband" series of books. He had started the "Utopia" imprint 5 years earlier. 1958 The French magazine of science fiction in translation, "Satellite", is launched. 1958 Eshbach sells his inventory to Mertin Greenberg, who distributes these books along with other Gnome inventory Feb 1958 Poul Anderson's serial "The Man Who Counts" begins in "Astounding", introducing the character NIcholas van Rijn, later published by Ace as "War of the Wing Men" May 1958 Hal Clement's serial "Close to Critical" begins in "Astounding" 1958: Solacon, the Sixteenth World Science Fiction Convention, in Los Angeles, California, physically, but by Mayoral Proclamation in South Gate, California (Alexandria Hotel), Chaired by Anna S. Moffatt, Richard Matheson as Guest of Honor, 322 members attending. 1958 Cyril M. Kornbluth's "Two Dooms" in "Venture", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story Oct 1958 Murray F. Yaco's pseudo-nonfiction "Divining Rod, Standard Equipment" in "Astounding" Oct 1958 Clifford Simak's "The Big Front Yard" in "Astounding" 1959 Scribner's foolishly alienates Robert A. Heinlein who had done a dozen profitable books for them; he switches to G. P. Putnam & Sons May 1959 Gordon Dickson's serial "Dorsai!" begins in "Astounding" 1959: Detention, the Seventeenth World Science Fiction Convention, in Detroit, Michigan (Pick-Fort Shelby Hotel), Chaired by Roger Sims and Fred Prophet, Poul Anderson as Pro Guest of Honor, John Berry as Fan Guest of Honor, 371 members attending. 1959 Alfred Bester's "The Pi Man" in "F&SF", Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story Dec 1959 John W. Campbell's pseudo-nonfiction editorial on "The Dean Drive" in "Astounding", a purported means of converting eccentrically-mounted counter-rotary motion into unidirectional motion, capable of pushing a spaceship without expelling any reaction mass 1960 "Astounding" gradually changes its name to "Analog" 1960 The science fiction magazine field in America continues to implode, down from 13 titles and 131 issues in 1959 to 9 titles with 67 issues in 1960 (Lester del Rey's count) 1960 The Columbia magazine chain ("Future", "Science Fiction", "Original Science Fiction") collapses and dies Jan 1960 Harry Harrison's serial "Deathworld" begins in "Astounding" 1960: Pittcon, the Eighteenth World Science Fiction Convention, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, (Penn-Sheraton Hotel), Chaired by Dirce Archer, James Blish as Guest of Honor, 568 members attending. The Hugo Awards and Nominations included: Best SF Short Fiction Poul Anderson's short story "The Longest Voyage" (winner) Pauline Ashwell's short story "The Lost Kafoozalum" (Analog) (Richard Lupoff contends that this should have won the Hugo Award for best short story) Theodore Sturgeon's short story "Need" Philip Jose Farmer's short story "Open to Me, My Sister" July 1960 Poul Anderson's wonderful serial "High Crusade" begins in "Analog" Dec 1960 Algis Budrys' short novel "Rogue Moon" in "F&SF" later expanded for book publication Other major short fiction of the year: 1960 Brian Aldiss' short story "Old Hundredth" 1960 Kinglsey Amis' short story "Hemingway in Space" 1960 Christopher Anvil's short story "A Rose by Other Name" 1960 Frederic Brown's short story "Abominable" 1960 Rosel George Brown's short story "David's Daddy" 1960 Reginald Bretnor's short story "The man on Top" 1960 John Brunner's short story "Report on the Nature of the Lunar Surface" 1960 Holley Cantine's short story "Double, Double, Toil and Trouble" 1960 Arthur C. Clarke's short story "I Remember Babylon" 1960 Elizabeth Emmett's short story "Enchantment" 1960 Howard Fast's short story "The Large Ant" 1960 Zenna Henderson's short story "Something Bright" 1960 Marshall King's short story "Beach Scene" 1960 Richard McKenna's short story "Mine Own Ways" 1960 Dean McLaughlin's short story "The Brotherhood of Keepers" 1960 Ward Moore's short story "The Fellow Who Married the Maxill Girl" 1960 R. C. Phelan's short story "Something Invented Me" 1960 William Sambrot's short story "Creature of the Snows" 1960 Henry Slesar's short story "Chief" 1960 Joseph Whitehill's short story "In the House, Another" 1960 Bernard Wolfe's short story "The Never Ending Penny" {the above 21 stories appear in Judith Merrill [editor] "Year's best SF: Sixth Annual Edition"} Return to Top of 1950s Timeline page

Where to Go for More

51 Useful Reference BooksÑ 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 Top of 1950s Timeline page

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