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32-465: Modern Electrics was created by Hugo Gernsback and began publication in April 1908. The magazine was initially intended to provide mail-order information for radio parts and to promote the amateur radio hobby, but it later became a vehicle for technology-based fiction stories. The first fiction appeared in the April, 1911 issue, and the series of 12 installments by Hugo Gernsback would later be published as

64-481: A broader focus as Science and Invention until August 1931. The magazine was edited by Hugo Gernsback until March 1929, when the Experimenter Publishing empire of Sidney and Hugo Gernsback was forced into bankruptcy ; after that date it was edited by Arthur H. Lynch. Under the editorship of Gernsback, it also published some early science fiction ; he published several of his own stories in

96-495: 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

128-413: 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

160-1367: 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: The Electrical Experimenter The Electrical Experimenter

192-430: 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

224-401: 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

256-443: 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

288-427: 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

320-627: 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 the first television broadcasts. During

352-419: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This hobby magazine or journal-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . See tips for writing articles about magazines . Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page . Hugo Gernsback Hugo Gernsback ( / ˈ ɡ ɜːr n z b æ k / ; born Hugo Gernsbacher , August 16, 1884 – August 19, 1967)

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384-715: The science fiction novel Ralph 124C 41+ . The circulation for this magazine increased rapidly, starting at 2,000 and increasing to 52,000 in 1911. In 1908, the magazine announced the "wireless registry", a listing of radio owners, their call letters, and the type of equipment they owned and how it was operated. The magazine was sold in 1913, and ceased publication in 1914. It then merged with Electrician and Mechanic to become Modern Electrics and Mechanics . The experience Gernsback gained with Modern Electrics led him to introduce Electrical Experimenter magazine in 1913 and pulp science fiction magazine Amazing Stories in 1926. This article related to amateur radio

416-493: 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), a housewife, and Moritz Gernsbacher,

448-452: 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

480-508: 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

512-722: 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

544-533: 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

576-493: 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

608-402: 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

640-593: 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

672-501: 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,

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704-608: 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

736-575: 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

768-514: 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

800-412: 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 ,

832-423: 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 ,

864-454: 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

896-574: 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

928-420: 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 the World Science Fiction Convention are named

960-459: Was an American technical science magazine that was published monthly. It was established in May 1913, as the successor to Modern Electrics , a combination of a magazine and mail-order catalog that had been published by Hugo Gernsback starting in 1908. The Electrical Experimenter continued from May 1913 to July 1920 under that name, focusing on scientific articles about radio , and continued with

992-554: 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

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1024-452: 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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