91-483: Hugo Gernsback ( / ˈ ɡ ɜːr n z b æ k / ; born Hugo Gernsbacher , August 16, 1884 – August 19, 1967) was a Luxembourgish-American editor and magazine publisher whose publications included the first science fiction magazine , Amazing Stories . His contributions to the genre as publisher were so significant that, along with the novelists Jules Verne and H. G. Wells , he is sometimes called "The Father of Science Fiction". In his honor, annual awards presented at
182-493: A Eurocon was held in San Marino). Since its foundation in 2013, the association World SF Italia coordinates the organization the annual national convention (Italcon) and awards (Premio Italia – with thirty- two categories across media – and Premio Vegetti – best Italian novel and essay). Since the late 1930s, SF fans have organized conventions , non-profit gatherings where the fans (some of whom are also professionals in
273-668: A bedsheet science fiction magazine were " A Martian Odyssey " by Stanley G. Weinbaum and "The Gostak and the Doshes" by Miles Breuer , who influenced Jack Williamson. "The Gostak and the Doshes" is one of the few stories from that era still widely read today. Other stories of interest from the bedsheet magazines include the first Buck Rogers story , Armageddon 2419 A.D , by Philip Francis Nowlan , and The Skylark of S pace by coauthors E. E. Smith and Mrs. Lee Hawkins Garby , both in Amazing Stories in 1928. There have been
364-419: A character in the novel) which is a sly self-parody verging on a self-tuckerization. The 1991 SF novel Fallen Angels by Larry Niven , Jerry Pournelle and Michael Flynn constitutes a tribute to SF fandom. The story includes a semi-illegal fictional Minneapolis Worldcon in a post-disaster world where science, and thus fandom, is disparaged. Many of the characters are barely tuckerized fans, mostly from
455-494: A contemptuous crook who stiffed his writers but paid himself $ 100K a year as President of Gernsback Publications) has been clearly established. Jack Williamson , who had to hire an attorney associated with the American Fiction Guild to force Gernsback to pay him, summed up his importance for the genre: At any rate, his main influence in the field was simply to start Amazing and Wonder Stories and get SF out to
546-417: A cover by Frank R. Paul illustrating Off on a Comet by Jules Verne . After many minor changes in title and major changes in format, policy and publisher, Amazing Stories ended January 2005 after 607 issues. Except for the last issue of Stirring Science Stories , the last true bedsheet size sf (and fantasy) magazine was Fantastic Adventures , in 1939, but it quickly changed to the pulp size, and it
637-550: A fan-maintained bibliography at the New England Science Fiction Association's website; some of it is about science fiction fandom, some not. In Robert Bloch 's 1956 short story, "A Way Of Life", science-fiction fandom is the only institution to survive a nuclear holocaust and eventually becomes the basis for the reconstitution of civilization. The science-fiction novel Gather in the Hall of
728-955: A few unsuccessful attempts to revive the bedsheet size using better quality paper, notably Science-Fiction Plus edited by Hugo Gernsback (1952–53, eight issues). Astounding on two occasions briefly attempted to revive the bedsheet size, with 16 bedsheet issues in 1942–1943 and 25 bedsheet issues (as Analog , including the first publication of Frank Herbert 's Dune ) in 1963–1965. The fantasy magazine Unknown , also edited by John W. Campbell, changed its name to Unknown Worlds and published ten bedsheet-size issues before returning to pulp size for its final four issues. Amazing Stories published 36 bedsheet size issues in 1991–1999, and its last three issues were bedsheet size, 2004–2005. Astounding Stories began in January 1930. After several changes in name and format ( Astounding Science Fiction , Analog Science Fact & Fiction , Analog ) it
819-411: A forum for the modern genre of science fiction in 1926 by founding the first magazine dedicated to it, Amazing Stories . The inaugural April issue comprised a one-page editorial and reissues of six stories, three less than ten years old and three by Poe , Verne , and Wells . He said he became interested in the concept after reading a translation of the work of Percival Lowell as a child. His idea of
910-621: A housewife, and Moritz Gernsbacher, a winemaker. His family was Jewish. Gernsback emigrated to the United States in 1904 and later became a naturalized citizen . He married three times: to Rose Harvey in 1906, Dorothy Kantrowitz in 1921, and Mary Hancher (1914–1985) in 1951. In 1925, he founded radio station WRNY , which was broadcast from the 18th floor of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City. In 1928, WRNY aired some of
1001-478: A hundred or so attendees to heavily programmed events with four to six or more simultaneous tracks of programming, such as WisCon and Worldcons. Commercial shows dealing with SF-related fields are sometimes billed as 'science fiction conventions,' but are operated as for-profit ventures, with an orientation towards passive spectators, rather than involved fans, and a tendency to neglect or ignore written SF in favor of television, film, comics, video games, etc. One of
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#17327870173901092-1357: A hydraulic fishery ( U.S. patent 2,718,083 ), in 1955. Gernsback published a work entitled Music for the Deaf in The Electrical Experimenter describing the Physiophone, a device which converted audio into electrical impulses that could be detected by humans. He advocated this device as a method for allowing the deaf to experience music. Other patents held by Gernsback are related to: Incandescent Lamp, Electrorheostat Regulator, Electro Adjustable Condenser, Detectorium, Relay, Potentiometer , Electrolytic Interrupter, Rotary Variable Condenser, Luminous Electric Mirror, Transmitter, Postal Card, Telephone Headband, Electromagnetic Sounding Device, Submersible Amusement Device, The Isolator , Apparatus for Landing Flying Machines, Tuned Telephone Receiver, Electric Valve, Detector, Acoustic Apparatus, Electrically Operated Fountain, Cord Terminal, Coil Mounting, Radio Horn, Variable Condenser, Switch, Telephone Receiver, Crystal Detector, Process for Mounting Inductances, Depilator , Code Learner's Instrument. Novels: Short stories: Magazines edited or published: Science fiction magazine A science fiction magazine
1183-473: A leaning towards the fantastic were Thrill Book (1919) and Weird Tales (1923), but the editorial policy of both was aimed much more towards weird-occult fiction than towards sf." Major American science fiction magazines include Amazing Stories , Astounding Science Fiction , Galaxy Science Fiction , The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine . The most influential British science fiction magazine
1274-535: A list of qualifying magazine and short fiction venues that contains all current web-based qualifying markets. The World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) awarded a Hugo Award each year to the best science fiction magazine , until that award was changed to one for Best Editor in the early 1970s; the Best Semi-Professional Magazine award can go to either a news-oriented magazine or a small press fiction magazine. Magazines were
1365-426: A movement, a social force; this was probably decisive for the subsequent history of the genre. Gernsback created his preferred term for the emerging genre, "scientifiction", in 1916. He is sometimes also credited with coining "science fiction" in 1929 in the preface of the first Science Wonder Stories , although instances of "science-fiction" (mostly, but not always, hyphenated) have been found as far back as 1851, and
1456-400: A perfect science fiction story was "75 percent literature interwoven with 25 percent science". As an editor, he valued the goal of scientific accuracy in science fiction stories: "Not only did Gernsback establish a panel of experts——all reputable professionals from universities, museums, and institutes—to pass judgment on the accuracy of the science; he also encouraged his writers to elaborate on
1547-441: A process that ends with vote by current Convention members. They originated and acquired the "Hugo" nickname during the 1950s and were formally defined as a convention responsibility under the name "Science Fiction Achievement Awards" early in the 1960s. The nickname soon became almost universal and its use legally protected; "Hugo Award(s)" replaced the longer name in all official uses after the 1991 cycle. In 1960 Gernsback received
1638-467: A screen, and many of them pay little or nothing to the authors, thus limiting their universe of contributors. However, multiple web-based magazines are listed as "paying markets" by the SFWA , which means that they pay the "professional" rate of 8c/word or more. These magazines include popular titles such as Strange Horizons , InterGalactic Medicine Show , and Clarkesworld Magazine . The SFWA publishes
1729-710: A separate existence as cultural institutions within specific geographic regions. Several have purchased property and maintain ongoing collections of SF literature available for research, as in the case of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society , the New England Science Fiction Association , and the Baltimore Science Fiction Society . Other SF Societies maintain a more informal existence, meeting at general public facilities or
1820-424: A special Hugo Award as "The Father of Magazine Science Fiction". The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted him in 1996, its inaugural class of two deceased and two living persons. Science fiction author Brian W. Aldiss held a contrary view about Gernsback's contributions: "It is easy to argue that Hugo Gernsback ... was one of the worst disasters to hit the science fiction field ... Gernsback himself
1911-524: A term meaning to drop out of SF related community activities, with the implication to Get A Life . The word is derived via the acronym for "get away from it all". A related term is fafiate , for "forced away from it all". The implication is that one would really rather still be involved in fandom, but circumstances make it impossible. Two other acronyms commonly used in the community are FIAWOL (Fandom Is A Way Of Life) and its opposite FIJAGH (Fandom Is Just A Goddamned Hobby) to describe two ways of looking at
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#17327870173902002-479: A trip. In New York City, David Lasser , Gernsback's managing editor, nurtured the birth of a small local club called the Scienceers, which held its first meeting in a Harlem apartment on 11 December 1929. Almost all the members were adolescent boys. Around this time, a few other small local groups began to spring up in metropolitan areas around the United States, many of them connecting with fellow enthusiasts via
2093-593: A website). In 1963, the first Trieste Festival of Science Fiction Cinema took place, anticipating the first conventions as an opportunity for a nationwide social gathering. Informal meetings were organized in Milan, Turin and Carrara between 1965 and 1967. In 1972, the first European convention, Eurocon, was organized in Trieste, during which an Italia Award was also created. Eurocon was back in Italy in 1980 and 2009 (in 1989
2184-467: Is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although formal clubs such as the Futurians (1937–1945) and the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (1934–present) are recognized examples of organized fandom). Most often called simply "fandom" within
2275-464: Is a publication that offers primarily science fiction , either in a hard-copy periodical format or on the Internet. Science fiction magazines traditionally featured speculative fiction in short story , novelette , novella or (usually serialized ) novel form, a format that continues into the present day. Many also contain editorials , book reviews or articles, and some also include stories in
2366-645: Is held over the Easter weekend. Committee membership and location changes year-to-year. The license to use the Eastercon name for a year is awarded by votes of the business meeting of the Eastercon two years previously. There are a variety of other local or intermittent conventions run by fandom, such as the series of Mexicons that ran from 1984 to 1994. There are substantially larger events run by UK media fandom and commercial organisations also run "gate shows" (for-profit operations with paid staff.) The UK has also hosted
2457-517: Is known for clichés such as stereotypical female characters, unrealistic gadgetry, and fantastic monsters of various kinds. However, many classic stories were first published in pulp magazines. For example, in the year 1939, all of the following renowned authors sold their first professional science fiction story to magazines specializing in pulp science fiction: Isaac Asimov , Robert A. Heinlein , Arthur C. Clarke , Alfred Bester , Fritz Leiber , A. E. van Vogt and Theodore Sturgeon . These were among
2548-515: Is made up of acronyms , blended words, obscure in-jokes, and standard terms used in specific ways. Some terms used in fanspeak have spread to members of the Society for Creative Anachronism ("Scadians"), Renaissance Fair participants ("Rennies"), hacktivists , and internet gaming and chat fans, due to the social and contextual intersection between the communities. Examples of fanspeak used in these broader fannish communities include gafiate ,
2639-418: Is still published today (though it ceased to be pulp format in 1943). Its most important editor, John W. Campbell, Jr. , is credited with turning science fiction away from adventure stories on alien planets and toward well-written, scientifically literate stories with better characterization than in previous pulp science fiction. Isaac Asimov 's Foundation Trilogy and Robert A. Heinlein 's Future History in
2730-821: The Greater Los Angeles area . Mystery writer Sharyn McCrumb 's Bimbos of the Death Sun and Zombies of the Gene Pool are murder mysteries set at a science-fiction convention and within the broader culture of fandom respectively. While containing mostly nasty caricatures of fans and fandom, some fans take them with good humor; others consider them vicious and cruel. In 1994 and 1996, two anthologies of alternate history science fiction involving World Science Fiction Conventions, titled Alternate Worldcons and Again, Alternate Worldcons , edited by Mike Resnick were published. A.E. van Vogt 's 1940 novel Slan
2821-467: The Hugo Awards are bestowed, and attendance can approach 8,000 or more. SF writer Cory Doctorow calls science fiction "perhaps the most social of all literary genres", and states, "Science fiction is driven by organized fandom, volunteers who put on hundreds of literary conventions in every corner of the globe, every weekend of the year." SF conventions can vary from minimalist "relaxacons" with
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2912-532: The L5 Society , among many others. Some groups exist almost entirely within fandom but are distinct and cohesive subcultures in their own rights, such as filkers , costumers , and convention runners (sometimes called " SMOFs "). Fandom encompasses subsets of fans that are principally interested in a single writer or subgenre, such as Tolkien fandom , and Star Trek fandom (" Trekkies "). Even short-lived television series may have dedicated followings, such as
3003-648: The Science Correspondence Club . In May 1930 the first science-fiction fan magazine, The Comet , was produced by the Chicago branch of the Science Correspondence Club under the editorship of Raymond A. Palmer (later a noted, and notorious, sf magazine editor) and Walter Dennis. In January 1932, the New York City circle, which by then included future comic-book editors Julius Schwartz and Mort Weisinger , brought out
3094-428: The Society for Creative Anachronism , gaming , and furry fandom , sometimes referred to collectively as "fringe fandoms" with the implication that the original fandom centered on science-fiction texts (magazines and later books and fanzines) is the "true" or "core" fandom. Fandom also welcomes and shares interest with other groups including LGBT communities, libertarians , neo-pagans , and space activist groups like
3185-591: The World Science Fiction Convention are named the " Hugos ". Gernsback emigrated to the U.S. in 1904 and later became a citizen. He was also a significant figure in the electronics and radio industries, even starting a radio station, WRNY, and the world's first magazine about electronics and radio, Modern Electrics . Gernsback died in New York City in 1967. Gernsback was born in 1884 in Luxembourg City , to Berta (Dürlacher),
3276-452: The 1920s to experiment themselves to improve the technology. WRNY was often used as a laboratory to see if various radio inventions were worthwhile. Articles that were published about television were also tested in this manner when the radio station was used to send pictures to experimental television receivers in August 1928. The technology, however, required sending sight and sound one after
3367-422: The 1940s, Hal Clement 's Mission of Gravity in the 1950s, and Frank Herbert 's Dune in the 1960s, and many other science fiction classics all first appeared under Campbell's editorship. By 1955, the pulp era was over, and some pulp magazines changed to digest size . Printed adventure stories with colorful heroes were relegated to the comic books. This same period saw the end of radio adventure drama (in
3458-473: The Planets , by K.M. O'Donnell (aka Barry N. Malzberg ), 1971, takes place at a New York City science-fiction convention and features broad parodies of many SF fans and authors. A pair of SF novels by Gene DeWeese and Robert "Buck" Coulson , Now You See It/Him/Them and Charles Fort Never Mentioned Wombats are set at Worldcons; the latter includes an in-character "introduction" by Wilson Tucker (himself
3549-507: The Rat". Barry Malzberg has said: Gernsback's venality and corruption, his sleaziness and his utter disregard for the financial rights of authors, have been well documented and discussed in critical and fan literature. That the founder of genre science fiction who gave his name to the field's most prestigious award and who was the Guest of Honor at the 1952 Worldcon was pretty much a crook (and
3640-720: The U.S. were involved in amateur radio. In 1913, he founded a similar magazine, The Electrical Experimenter , which became Science and Invention in 1920. It was in these magazines that he began including scientific fiction stories alongside science journalism, including his novel Ralph 124C 41+ , which he ran for 12 months from April 1911 in Modern Electrics . Hugo Gernsback started the Radio News magazine for amateur radio enthusiasts in 1919. He died at Roosevelt Hospital ( Mount Sinai West as of 2020) in New York City on August 19, 1967, at age 83. Gernsback provided
3731-496: The United States). Later attempts to revive both pulp fiction and radio adventure have met with very limited success, but both enjoy a nostalgic following who collect the old magazines and radio programs. Many characters, most notably The Shadow, were popular both in pulp magazines and on radio. Most pulp science fiction consisted of adventure stories transplanted, without much thought, to alien planets. Pulp science fiction
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3822-479: The Worldcon several times, most recently in 2014. News of UK events appears in the fanzine Ansible produced by David Langford each month. The beginning of an Italian science fiction fandom can be located between the late 1950s and early 1960s, when magazines such as Oltre il Cielo and Futuro started to publish readers’ letters and promote correspondences and the setting-up of clubs in various cities. Among
3913-678: The annual national Swedish con. An annual prize is awarded to someone that has contributed to the national fandom by the Alvar Appeltoffts Memorial Prize [ sv ] Fund. SF fandom in the UK has close ties with that in the US. In the UK there are multiple conventions. The largest regular convention for literary SF (book-focused) fandom is the British National convention or Eastercon . Strangely enough this
4004-548: The community, it can be viewed as a distinct subculture , with its own literature and jargon ; marriages and other relationships among fans are common, as are multi-generational fan families. Science fiction fandom started through the letter column of Hugo Gernsback 's fiction magazines. Not only did fans write comments about the stories—they sent their addresses, and Gernsback published them. Soon, fans were writing letters directly to each other, and meeting in person when they lived close together, or when one of them could manage
4095-687: The cost of publishing a print magazine, and as a result, some believe the e-zines are more innovative and take greater risks with material. Moreover, the magazine is internationally accessible, and distribution is not an issue—though obscurity may be. Magazines like Strange Horizons , Ideomancer , InterGalactic Medicine Show , Jim Baen's Universe , and the Australian magazine Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine are examples of successful Internet magazines. (Andromeda provides copies electronically or on paper.) Web-based magazines tend to favor shorter stories and articles that are easily read on
4186-503: The editorship of Cele Goldsmith , Amazing and Fantastic changed in notable part from pulp style adventure stories to literary science fiction and fantasy. Goldsmith published the first professionally published stories by Roger Zelazny (not counting student fiction in Literary Cavalcade ), Keith Laumer , Thomas M. Disch , Sonya Dorman and Ursula K. Le Guin . There was also no shortage of digests that continued
4277-403: The fans of Joss Whedon 's Firefly television series and movie Serenity , known as Browncoats . Participation in science fiction fandom often overlaps with other similar interests, such as fantasy role-playing games , comic books and anime , and in the broadest sense fans of these activities are felt to be part of the greater community of SF fandom. There are active SF fandoms around
4368-422: The fantasy and horror genres. Malcolm Edwards and Peter Nicholls write that early magazines were not known as science fiction: "if there were any need to differentiate them, the terms scientific romance or 'different stories' might be used, but until the appearance of a magazine specifically devoted to sf there was no need of a label to describe the category. The first specialized English-language pulps with
4459-438: The fanzine Nuovi Orizzonti , was soon to become a writer for I Romanzi del Cosmo . During subsequent years fanzines continued to function as training grounds for future editors and writers, and the general trend was towards improved quality and life expectancy (e.g. The Time Machine run for 50 issues starting in 1975, Intercom for 149 issues between 1979 and 1999, before its migration to the web as an e-zine until 2003, then as
4550-412: The field) meet to discuss SF and generally enjoy themselves. (A few fannish couples have held their weddings at conventions.) The 1st World Science Fiction Convention or Worldcon was held in conjunction with the 1939 New York World's Fair , and has been held annually since the end of World War II . Worldcon has been the premier convention in fandom for over half a century; it is at this convention that
4641-496: The first fanzines, Futuria Fantasia was cyclostyled in Milan in 1963 by Luigi Cozzi (later to become a filmmaker), its title paid homage to Ray Bradbury's fanzine by the same name; L’Aspidistra , edited by Riccardo Leveghi in Trento starting in 1965 featured contributions by Gianfranco de Turris, Gian Luigi Staffilano, and Sebastiano Fusco, future editors of professional magazines and book series; also Luigi Naviglio, editor in 1965 of
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#17327870173904732-534: The first issue of their own publication, The Time Traveller , with Forrest J Ackerman of the embryonic Los Angeles group as a contributing editor. In 1934, Gernsback established a correspondence club for fans called the Science Fiction League , the first fannish organization. Local groups across the nation could join by filling out an application. A number of clubs came into being around this time. LASFS (the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society )
4823-452: The first television broadcasts. During the show, audio stopped and each artist waved or bowed onscreen. When audio resumed, they performed. Gernsback is also considered a pioneer in amateur radio . Before helping to create science fiction, Gernsback was an entrepreneur in the electronics industry , importing radio parts from Europe to the United States and helping to popularize amateur "wireless". In April 1908 he founded Modern Electrics ,
4914-645: The first users of computers, email, personal computers and the Internet. Many professional science fiction authors started their interest in science fiction as fans, and some still publish their own fanzines or contribute to those published by others. A widely regarded (though by no means error-free) history of fandom in the 1930s can be found in Sam Moskowitz 's The Immortal Storm: A History of Science Fiction Fandom (Hyperion Press, 1988, ISBN 0-88355-131-4 ; original edition The Atlanta Science Fiction Organization Press, Atlanta, Georgia 1954). Moskowitz
5005-588: The former League chapters which were spun off was the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society , which served as a model for subsequent SF societies formed independent of the League history. Science-fiction societies, more commonly referred to as "clubs" except on the most formal of occasions, form a year-round base of activities for science-fiction fans. They are often associated with an SF convention or group of conventions, but maintain
5096-531: The homes of individual members, such as the Bay Area Science Fiction Association . As a community devoted to discussion and exploration of new ideas, fandom has become an incubator for many groups that started out as special interests within fandom, some of which have partially separated into independent intentional communities not directly associated with science fiction. Among these groups are comic book fandom, media fandom ,
5187-460: The largest of these is the annual Dragon*Con in Atlanta, Georgia with an attendance of more than 20,000 since 2000. In the United States, many science-fiction societies were launched as chapters of the Science Fiction League and, when it faded into history, several of the original League chapters remained viable and were subsequently incorporated as independent organizations. Most notable among
5278-533: The largest readership among radio magazines in radio broadcasting's formative years. He edited Radio News until 1929. For a short time he hired John F. Rider to be editor. Rider was a former engineer working with the US Army Signal Corps and a radio engineer for Alfred H. Grebe , a radio manufacturer. However, Rider would soon leave Gernsback and form his own publishing company, John F. Rider Publisher , New York around 1931. Gernsback made use of
5369-493: The magazine to promote his interests, including having his radio station's call letters on the cover starting in 1925. WRNY and Radio News were used to cross-promote each other, with programs on his station often used to discuss articles he had published, and articles in the magazine often covering program activities at WRNY. He also advocated for future directions in innovation and regulation of radio. The magazine contained many drawings and diagrams, encouraging radio listeners of
5460-413: The most important science fiction writers of the pulp era, and all are still read today. After the pulp era, digest size magazines dominated the newsstand. The first sf magazine to change to digest size was Astounding , in 1943. Other major digests, which published more literary science fiction, were The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction , Galaxy Science Fiction and If . Under
5551-423: The only way to publish science fiction until about 1950, when large mainstream publishers began issuing science fiction books. Today, there are relatively few paper-based science fiction magazines, and most printed science fiction appears first in book form. Science fiction magazines began in the United States, but there were several major British magazines and science fiction magazines that have been published around
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#17327870173905642-400: The other rather than sending both at the same time, as WRNY only broadcast on one channel. Such experiments were expensive, eventually contributing to Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing Company going into bankruptcy in 1929. WRNY was sold to Aviation Radio, who maintained the channel part-time to broadcast aviation weather reports and related feature programs. Along with other stations sharing
5733-432: The place of fandom in one's life. Science-fiction fans often refer to themselves using the irregular plural "fen": man/men, fan/fen. As science fiction fans became professional writers, they started slipping the names of their friends into stories. Wilson "Bob" Tucker slipped so many of his fellow fans and authors into his works that doing so is called tuckerization . The subgenre of " recursive science fiction" has
5824-504: The placing of a blot on the memory of a justly honored man." Gernsback combined his fiction and science into Everyday Science and Mechanics magazine, serving as the editor in the 1930s. In 1954, Gernsback was awarded an Officer of Luxembourg's Order of the Oak Crown , an honor equivalent to being knighted . The Hugo Awards or "Hugos" are the annual achievement awards presented at the World Science Fiction Convention , selected in
5915-500: The preface itself makes no mention of it being a new term. In 1929, he lost ownership of his first magazines after a bankruptcy lawsuit. There is some debate about whether this process was genuine, manipulation by publisher Bernarr Macfadden , or a Gernsback scheme to begin another company. After losing control of Amazing Stories , Gernsback founded two new science fiction magazines, Science Wonder Stories and Air Wonder Stories . A year later, due to Depression-era financial troubles,
6006-604: The public newsstands—and to name the genre he had earlier called "scientifiction." Frederik Pohl said in 1965 that Gernsback's Amazing Stories published "the kind of stories Gernsback himself used to write: a sort of animated catalogue of gadgets". Gernsback's fiction includes the novel Ralph 124C 41+ ; the title is a pun on the phrase "one to foresee for many" ("one plus"). Even though Ralph 124C 41+ has been described as pioneering many ideas and themes found in later SF work, it has often been neglected due to what most critics deem poor artistic quality. Author Brian Aldiss called
6097-412: The pulp phenomenon, like the comic book, was largely a US format. By 2007, the only surviving major British science fiction magazine is Interzone , published in "magazine" format, although small press titles such as PostScripts and Polluto are available. During recent decades, the circulation of all digest science fiction magazines has steadily decreased. New formats were attempted, most notably
6188-442: The pulp tradition of hastily written adventure stories set on other planets. Other Worlds and Imaginative Tales had no literary pretensions. The major pulp writers, such as Heinlein, Asimov and Clarke, continued to write for the digests, and a new generation of writers, such as Algis Budrys and Walter M. Miller, Jr. , sold their most famous stories to the digests. A Canticle for Leibowitz , written by Walter M. Miller, Jr.,
6279-573: The same frequency, it was acquired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and consolidated into that company's WHN in 1934. Gernsback held 80 patents by the time of his death in New York City on August 19, 1967. His first patent was a new method for manufacturing dry cell batteries, a patent applied for on June 28, 1906, and granted February 5, 1907. Among his inventions are a combined electric hair brush and comb ( U.S. patent 1,016,138 ), 1912; an ear cushion ( U.S. patent 1,514,152 ) in 1927; and
6370-438: The scientific details they employed in their stories, comment on the impossibilities in each other's stories, and even offered his readers prize money for identifying scientific errors." He also played an important role in starting science fiction fandom , by organizing the Science Fiction League and by publishing the addresses of people who wrote letters to his magazines. Fans began to organize, and became aware of themselves as
6461-523: The size of Reader's Digest , although a few are in the standard roughly 8.5" x 11" size, and often have stapled spines, rather than glued square spines. Science fiction magazines in this format often feature non-fiction media coverage in addition to the fiction. Knowledge of these formats is an asset when locating magazines in libraries and collections where magazines are usually shelved according to size. The premiere issue of Amazing Stories (April 1926), edited and published by Hugo Gernsback , displayed
6552-553: The slick-paper stapled magazine format, the paperback format and the webzine. There are also various semi-professional magazines that persist on sales of a few thousand copies but often publish important fiction. As the circulation of the traditional US science fiction magazines has declined, new magazines have sprung up online from international small-press publishers. An editor on the staff of Science Fiction World , China's longest-running science fiction magazine, claimed in 2009 that, with "a circulation of 300,000 copies per issue", it
6643-439: The state of science fiction magazines. Gardner Dozois presents a summary of the state of magazines in the introduction to the annual The Year's Best Science Fiction volume. Locus lists the circulation and discusses the status of pro and semi-pro SF magazines in their February year-in-review issue, and runs periodic summaries of non-US science fiction. Science fiction fandom Science fiction fandom or SF fandom
6734-420: The story a "tawdry illiterate tale" and a "sorry concoction", while author and editor Lester del Rey called it "simply dreadful." While most other modern critics have little positive to say about the story's writing, Ralph 124C 41+ is considered by science fiction critic Gary Westfahl as "essential text for all studies of science fiction." Gernsback's second novel, Baron Münchausen's Scientific Adventures ,
6825-450: The two were merged into Wonder Stories , which Gernsback continued to publish until 1936, when it was sold to Thrilling Publications and renamed Thrilling Wonder Stories . Gernsback returned in 1952–53 with Science-Fiction Plus . Gernsback was noted for sharp, sometimes shady, business practices, and for paying his writers extremely low fees or not paying them at all. H. P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith referred to him as "Hugo
6916-632: The world's first science fiction convention . Soon after the fans started to communicate directly with each other came the creation of science fiction fanzines . These amateur publications might or might not discuss science fiction and were generally traded rather than sold. They ranged from the utilitarian or inept to professional-quality printing and editing. In recent years, Usenet newsgroups such as rec.arts.sf.fandom , websites and blogs have somewhat supplanted printed fanzines as an outlet for expression in fandom, though many popular fanzines continue to be published. Science-fiction fans have been among
7007-518: The world's first magazine about both electronics and radio, called "wireless" at the time. While the cover of the magazine itself states it was a catalog, most historians note that it contained articles, features, and plotlines, qualifying it as a magazine. Under its auspices, in January 1909, he founded the Wireless Association of America , which had 10,000 members within a year. In 1912, Gernsback said that he estimated 400,000 people in
7098-476: The world, for example in France and Argentina . The first science fiction magazine, Amazing Stories , was published in a format known as bedsheet , roughly the size of Life but with a square spine. Later, most magazines changed to the pulp magazine format, roughly the size of comic books or National Geographic but again with a square spine. Now, most magazines are published in digest format, roughly
7189-600: The world. Fandom in non-Anglophone countries is based partially on local literature and media, with cons and other elements resembling those of English-speaking fandom, but with distinguishing local features. For example, Finland 's national gathering Finncon is funded by the government, while all conventions and fan activities in Japan are heavily influenced by anime and manga . Science fiction and fantasy fandom has its own slang or jargon , sometimes called "fanspeak" (the term has been in use since at least 1962 ). Fanspeak
7280-513: Was New Worlds ; newer British SF magazines include Interzone and Polluto . Many science fiction magazines have been published in languages other than English, but none has gained worldwide recognition or influence in the world of anglophone science fiction. There is a growing trend toward important work being published first on the Internet , both for reasons of economics and access. A web-only publication can cost as little as one-tenth of
7371-490: Was Tales of Wonder , pulp size, 1937–1942, 16 issues, (unless Scoops is taken into account, a tabloid boys' paper that published 20 weekly issues in 1934). It was followed by two magazines, both named Fantasy , one pulp size publishing three issues in 1938–1939, the other digest size, publishing three issues in 1946–1947. The British science fiction magazine, New Worlds , published three pulp size issues in 1946–1947, before changing to digest size. With these exceptions,
7462-521: Was "the World's most-read SF periodical", although subsequent news suggests that circulation dropped precipitously after the firing of its chief editor in 2010 and the departure of other editors. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America lists science fiction periodicals that pay enough to be considered professional markets. For a complete list, including defunct magazines, see List of science fiction magazines . Several sources give updates on
7553-410: Was 19 when he sold his first story to Amazing Stories . His writing improved greatly over time, and until his death in 2006, he was still a publishing writer at age 98. Some of the stories in the early issues were by scientists or doctors who knew little or nothing about writing fiction, but who tried their best, for example, David H. Keller . Probably the two best original sf stories ever published in
7644-399: Was about a mutant variety of humans who are superior to regular humanity and are therefore hunted down and killed by the normal human population. While the story has nothing to do with fandom, many science-fiction fans felt very close to the protagonists, feeling their experience as bright people in a mundane world mirrored that of the mutants; hence, the rallying cry, "Fans Are Slans!"; and
7735-629: Was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction . Most digest magazines began in the 1950s, in the years between the film Destination Moon , the first major science fiction film in a decade, and the launching of Sputnik , which sparked a new interest in space travel as a real possibility. Most survived only a few issues. By 1960, in the United States, there were only six sf digests on newsstands, in 1970 there were seven, in 1980 there were five, in 1990 only four and in 2000 only three. The first British science fiction magazine
7826-523: Was founded at this time as a local branch of the SFL, while several competing local branches sprang up in New York City and immediately began feuding among themselves. In 1935, PSFS (the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society , 1935–present) was formed. The next year, half a dozen fans from NYC came to Philadelphia to meet with the PSFS members, as the first Philadelphia Science Fiction Conference, which some claim as
7917-566: Was held in Lund in 1956. Today, there are a number of science fiction clubs in the country, including Scandinavian Society for Science Fiction [ sv ] (whose club fanzine, Science Fiction Forum , was once edited by Stieg Larsson , a board member and one-time chairman thereof), Linköpings Science Fiction-Förening and Sigma Terra Corps . Between one and four science-fiction conventions are held each year in Sweden, among them Swecon ,
8008-549: Was himself involved in some of the incidents chronicled and has his own point of view, which has often been criticized. Organized fandom in Sweden ("Sverifandom") emerged during the early 1950s. The first Swedish science fiction fanzine was started in the early 1950s. The oldest still existing club, Club Cosmos [ sv ] in Gothenburg , was formed in 1954, and the first Swedish science-fiction convention, LunCon ,
8099-444: Was later absorbed by its digest-sized stablemate Fantastic in 1953. Before that consolidation, it ran 128 issues. Much fiction published in these bedsheet magazines, except for classic reprints by writers such as H. G. Wells , Jules Verne and Edgar Allan Poe , is only of antiquarian interest. Some of it was written by teenage science fiction fans, who were paid little or nothing for their efforts. Jack Williamson for example,
8190-489: Was serialized in Amazing Stories in 1928. Gernsback's third (and final) novel, Ultimate World , written c. 1958 , was not published until 1971. Lester del Rey described it simply as "a bad book", marked more by routine social commentary than by scientific insight or extrapolation. James Blish , in a caustic review, described the novel as "incompetent, pedantic, graceless, incredible, unpopulated and boring" and concluded that its publication "accomplishes nothing but
8281-451: Was utterly without any literary understanding. He created dangerous precedents which many later editors in the field followed." Gernsback made significant contributions to the growth of early broadcasting, mostly through his efforts as a publisher. He originated the industry of specialized publications for radio with Modern Electrics and Electrical Experimenter . Later on, and more influentially, he published Radio News , which would have
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