Psyklop is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Created in combination by Harlan Ellison , Roy Thomas , Sal Buscema and Jim Mooney , the character first appeared in Avengers #88.
78-623: Psyklop is the last survivor of a prehistoric, insectoid species. They dominated the Earth before falling out of favor with the Dark Gods they worshipped and being placed in hibernation. Eons later, the Dark Gods awaken Psyklop and task him with finding a power source for them. In exchange, the rest of his species would be awoken and allowed to conquer the Earth. After covertly organizing a voodoo-based cult in New Orleans, Psyklop discovers that
156-470: A Harsh Mistress as "unquestionably one of the three or four most influential libertarian novels of the last century". Heinlein did not publish Stranger in a Strange Land until some time after it was written, and the themes of free love and radical individualism are prominently featured in his long-unpublished first novel, For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs . The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress tells of
234-565: A Strange Land ) to 1973 ( Time Enough for Love ), Heinlein explored some of his most important themes, such as individualism , libertarianism , and free expression of physical and emotional love. Three novels from this period, Stranger in a Strange Land , The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress , and Time Enough for Love , won the Libertarian Futurist Society 's Prometheus Hall of Fame Award , designed to honor classic libertarian fiction. Jeff Riggenbach described The Moon Is
312-669: A Strange Land ) to write and publish a book exploring ideas of civic virtue, initially serialized as Starship Soldiers . In 1959, his novel (now entitled Starship Troopers ) was considered by the editors and owners of Scribner's to be too controversial for one of its prestige lines, and it was rejected. Heinlein found another publisher ( Putnam ), feeling himself released from the constraints of writing novels for children. He had told an interviewer that he did not want to do stories that merely added to categories defined by other works. Rather he wanted to do his own work, stating that: "I want to do my own stuff, my own way". He would go on to write
390-571: A Strange Land , Starship Troopers (which helped mold the space marine and mecha archetypes) and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress . His work sometimes had controversial aspects, such as plural marriage in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress , militarism in Starship Troopers and technologically competent women characters who were formidable, yet often stereotypically feminine—such as Friday . Heinlein used his science fiction as
468-449: A common trope in them, and the term 'insectoid' is considered "almost a cliche" with regards to the "ubiquitous way of representing alien life". In expressing his ambivalence with regard to science fiction, insectoids were on his mind when Carl Sagan complained of the type of story which "simply ignores what we know of molecular biology and Darwinian evolution .... I have...problems with films in which spiders 30 feet tall are menacing
546-412: A controversial work and his personal riposte to leftists calling for President Dwight D. Eisenhower to stop nuclear testing in 1958. "The 'Patrick Henry' ad shocked 'em", he wrote many years later of the campaign. " Starship Troopers outraged 'em." Starship Troopers is a coming-of-age story about duty, citizenship, and the role of the military in society. The book portrays a society in which suffrage
624-433: A dreadnought-drill (capable of producing planet-wide earthquakes), and an essence-urn (capable of storing the life-forces of living beings). Psyklop has a single compound eye, like all members of his race. He can fire energy blasts from his eye, and his eye allows him to instantaneously hypnotize a victim through beams of light from his single eye. Psyklop has enhanced strength, speed, agility, endurance, and durability, and
702-642: A few weeks of graduate classes in mathematics and physics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), but he soon quit, either because of his ill-health or because of a desire to enter politics. Heinlein supported himself at several occupations, including real estate sales and silver mining , but for some years found money in short supply. Heinlein was active in Upton Sinclair 's socialist End Poverty in California movement (EPIC) in
780-406: A life-threatening attack of peritonitis , recovery from which required more than two years, and treatment of which required multiple transfusions of Heinlein's rare blood type, A2 negative . As soon as he was well enough to write again, he began work on Time Enough for Love (1973), which introduced many of the themes found in his later fiction. In the mid-1970s, Heinlein wrote two articles for
858-480: A matter of principle. The novels that Heinlein wrote for a young audience are commonly called "the Heinlein juveniles", and they feature a mixture of adolescent and adult themes. Many of the issues that he takes on in these books have to do with the kinds of problems that adolescents experience. His protagonists are usually intelligent teenagers who have to make their way in the adult society they see around them. On
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#1732798414738936-568: A military academy. When Heinlein graduated from Kansas City Central High School in 1924, he was initially prevented from attending the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis because his older brother Rex was a student there, and at the time, regulations discouraged multiple family members from attending the academy simultaneously. He instead matriculated at Kansas City Community College and began vigorously petitioning Missouri Senator James A. Reed for an appointment to
1014-799: A modern version of a waterbed in his novel Stranger in a Strange Land . Heinlein, born on July 7, 1907, to Rex Ivar Heinlein (an accountant) and Bam Lyle Heinlein, in Butler, Missouri , was the third of seven children. He was a sixth-generation German-American ; a family tradition had it that Heinleins fought in every American war, starting with the War of Independence . He spent his childhood in Kansas City, Missouri . The outlook and values of this time and place (in his own words, "The Bible Belt ") had an influence on his fiction, especially in his later works, as he drew heavily upon his childhood in establishing
1092-538: A publisher, Scribner's , that began publishing a Heinlein juvenile once a year for the Christmas season. Eight of these books were illustrated by Clifford Geary in a distinctive white-on-black scratchboard style. Some representative novels of this type are Have Space Suit—Will Travel , Farmer in the Sky , and Starman Jones . Many of these were first published in serial form under other titles, e.g., Farmer in
1170-435: A radio series, and a board game have been derived more or less directly from his work. He wrote a screenplay for one of the films. Heinlein edited an anthology of other writers' SF short stories. Three nonfiction books and two poems have been published posthumously. For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs was published posthumously in 2003; Variable Star , written by Spider Robinson based on an extensive outline by Heinlein,
1248-607: A revolution in which young students are involved; his editor demanded substantial changes in this book's discussion of topics such as the use of weapons by children and the misidentified sex of the Martian character. Heinlein was always aware of the editorial limitations put in place by the editors of his novels and stories, and while he observed those restrictions on the surface, was often successful in introducing ideas not often seen in other authors' juvenile SF. In 1957, James Blish wrote that one reason for Heinlein's success "has been
1326-426: A series of challenging books that redrew the boundaries of science fiction, including Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966). Beginning in 1970, Heinlein had a series of health crises, broken by strenuous periods of activity in his hobby of stonemasonry : in a private correspondence, he referred to that as his "usual and favorite occupation between books". The decade began with
1404-726: A seven-year hiatus brought on by poor health, Heinlein produced five new novels in the period from 1980 ( The Number of the Beast ) to 1987 ( To Sail Beyond the Sunset ). These books have a thread of common characters and time and place. They most explicitly communicated Heinlein's philosophies and beliefs, and many long, didactic passages of dialog and exposition deal with government, sex, and religion. These novels are controversial among his readers and one critic, David Langford , has written about them very negatively. Heinlein's four Hugo awards were all for books written before this period. Most of
1482-579: A strong influence on his character and writing. In 1929, he graduated from the Naval Academy with the equivalent of a bachelor of arts in engineering. (At that time, the Academy did not confer degrees.) He ranked fifth in his class academically but with a class standing of 20th of 243 due to disciplinary demerits. The U.S. Navy commissioned him as an ensign shortly after his graduation. He advanced to lieutenant junior grade in 1931 while serving aboard
1560-407: A travelogue of their first around-the-world tour in 1954, Tramp Royale . The novel Podkayne of Mars, which had been edited against Heinlein's wishes in their original release, was reissued with the original ending. Stranger In a Strange Land was originally published in a shorter form, but both the long and short versions are now simultaneously available in print. Heinlein's archive is housed by
1638-618: A war of independence waged by the Lunar penal colonies, with significant comments from a major character, Professor La Paz, regarding the threat posed by government to individual freedom. Although Heinlein had previously written a few short stories in the fantasy genre, during this period he wrote his first fantasy novel, Glory Road . In Stranger in a Strange Land and I Will Fear No Evil , he began to mix hard science with fantasy, mysticism, and satire of organized religion. Critics William H. Patterson, Jr., and Andrew Thornton believe that this
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#17327984147381716-426: A way to explore provocative social and political ideas and to speculate how progress in science and engineering might shape the future of politics, race, religion, and sex. Within the framework of his science-fiction stories, Heinlein repeatedly addressed certain social themes: the importance of individual liberty and self-reliance , the nature of sexual relationships, the obligation individuals owe to their societies,
1794-403: A writer, and finds love with a female character. The 1982 novel Friday , a more conventional adventure story (borrowing a character and backstory from the earlier short story Gulf , also containing suggestions of connection to The Puppet Masters ) continued a Heinlein theme of expecting what he saw as the continued disintegration of Earth's society, to the point where the title character
1872-480: Is a theme in science fiction going back to the alien hive society depicted in H. G. Wells's The First Men in the Moon (1901). Hive minds often imply a lack, or loss, of individuality , identity, or personhood . The individuals forming the hive may specialize in different functions, in the manner of social insects . The hive queen has been a figure in novels including C. J. Cherryh 's Serpent's Reach (1981) and
1950-590: Is an average hand-to-hand combatant. He has sharpened canine teeth, and clawed and double-jointed limbs. An illusory Psyklop appears in the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends episode "The Prison Plot". Insectoids in science fiction and fantasy In science fiction and fantasy literatures, the term insectoid ("insect-like") denotes any fantastical fictional creature sharing physical or other traits with ordinary insects (or arachnids ). Most frequently, insect-like or spider-like extraterrestrial life forms
2028-486: Is at sea level . Robert and Virginia designed and built a new residence, circular in shape, in the adjacent village of Bonny Doon . Ginny undoubtedly served as a model for many of his intelligent, fiercely independent female characters. She was a chemist and rocket test engineer , and held a higher rank in the Navy than Heinlein himself. She was also an accomplished college athlete , earning four letters. In 1953–1954,
2106-418: Is defeated, taken away by the Dark Gods, and abandoned on K'ai with no means of returning to his normal size. While on K'ai, Psyklop creates a giant drill to cause catastrophic earthquakes on K'ai, only stopping if its inhabitants agreed to worship him. He also captures the spirits of those killed by the earthquakes, planning on give them to the Dark Gods. Psyklop hypnotizes Hulk when he arrives to stop him, but
2184-530: Is earned by demonstrated willingness to place society's interests before one's own, at least for a short time and often under onerous circumstances, in government service; in the case of the protagonist, this was military service. Later, in Expanded Universe , Heinlein said that it was his intention in the novel that service could include positions outside strictly military functions such as teachers, police officers, and other government positions. This
2262-407: Is meant; in such cases convergent evolution may presumably be responsible for the existence of such creatures. Occasionally, an earth-bound setting — such as in the film The Fly (1958), in which a scientist is accidentally transformed into a grotesque human–fly hybrid, or Kafka 's famous novella The Metamorphosis (1915), which does not bother to explain how a man becomes an enormous insect —
2340-419: Is presented in the novel as an outgrowth of the failure of unearned suffrage government and as a very successful arrangement. In addition, the franchise was only awarded after leaving the assigned service; thus those serving their terms—in the military, or any other service—were excluded from exercising any franchise. Career military were completely disenfranchised until retirement. From about 1961 ( Stranger in
2418-436: Is simply an expression of Heinlein's longstanding philosophical opposition to positivism . Heinlein stated that he was influenced by James Branch Cabell in taking this new literary direction. The penultimate novel of this period, I Will Fear No Evil , is according to critic James Gifford "almost universally regarded as a literary failure" and he attributes its shortcomings to Heinlein's near-death from peritonitis . After
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2496-652: Is the venue. The term insectoid denotes any creature or object that shares a similar body or traits with common earth insects and arachnids . The term is a combination of "insect" and "-oid" (a suffix denoting similarity). Insect-like extraterrestrials have long been a part of the tradition of science fiction . In the 1902 film A Trip to the Moon , Georges Méliès portrayed the Selenites (moon inhabitants) as insectoid. The Woggle-Bug appeared in L. Frank Baum 's Oz books beginning in 1904. Olaf Stapledon incorporates insectoids in his 1937 Star Maker novel. In
2574-545: Is ultimately defeated by him and consumed by the captured spirits. Psyklop is an inventive genius and has mastery of the advanced technology of his race. Psyklop has access to advanced technology, including a hand-held ray-blaster firing beams of concussive force, sonic displacer beams, Spasm-rays (able to disrupt the nervous systems of his victims) and teleporters. He wears body armor of unknown materials. Psyklop has also employed giant Lemurian slug creatures, teleportation rays, shrinking rays, giant robots, planetary view-scanners,
2652-561: The Alien film franchise (from 1979). Insectoid sexuality has been addressed in Philip Jose Farmer 's The Lovers (1952) Octavia Butler 's Xenogenesis novels (from 1987) and China Miéville 's Perdido Street Station (2000). The motif of the insect became widely used in science fiction as an "abject human/insect hybrids that form the most common enemy" in related media. Bugs or bug-like shapes have been described as
2730-558: The Britannica Compton Yearbook . He and Ginny crisscrossed the country helping to reorganize blood donation in the United States in an effort to assist the system which had saved his life. At science fiction conventions to receive his autograph, fans would be asked to co-sign with Heinlein a beautifully embellished pledge form he supplied stating that the recipient agrees that they will donate blood . He
2808-688: The Hulk possesses the power he needs to energize the Dark Gods and captures him for study. In the process, he shrinks the Hulk to a microscopic size, transporting him to the Microverse . Psyklop also battles the Avengers when they arrive to rescue Hulk, erasing their memories and returning them to New York. Psyklop later finds Hulk in the sub-atomic planet K'ai , where he had met and fallen in love with Princess Jarella . He shrinks himself to capture him, but
2886-446: The "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accuracy in his fiction, and was thus a pioneer of the subgenre of hard science fiction . His published works, both fiction and non-fiction, express admiration for competence and emphasize the value of critical thinking . His plots often posed provocative situations which challenged conventional social mores . His work continues to have an influence on
2964-854: The 1941 Worldcon , held in Denver. During World War II , Heinlein was employed by the Navy as a civilian aeronautical engineer at the Navy Aircraft Materials Center at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Pennsylvania . Heinlein recruited Isaac Asimov and L. Sprague de Camp to also work there. While at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyards, Asimov, Heinlein, and de Camp brainstormed unconventional approaches to kamikaze attacks, such as using sound to detect approaching planes. As
3042-470: The Future History on some points, while maintaining consistency in some other areas. The Future History was eventually overtaken by actual events. These discrepancies were explained, after a fashion, in his later World as Myth stories. Heinlein's first novel published as a book, Rocket Ship Galileo , was initially rejected because going to the Moon was considered too far-fetched, but he soon found
3120-478: The Heinlein mythos where unrepentant law-breakers are exiled). It appears that Heinlein at least attempted to live in a manner consistent with these ideals, even in the 1930s, and had an open relationship in his marriage to his second wife, Leslyn. He was also a nudist ; nudism and body taboos are frequently discussed in his work. At the height of the Cold War , he built a bomb shelter under his house, like
3198-613: The Heinleins voyaged around the world (mostly via ocean liners and cargo liners , as Ginny detested flying), which Heinlein described in Tramp Royale , and which also provided background material for science fiction novels set aboard spaceships on long voyages, such as Podkayne of Mars , Friday and Job: A Comedy of Justice , the latter initially being set on a cruise much as detailed in Tramp Royale . Ginny acted as
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3276-460: The Living: A Comedy of Customs (1939), did not see print during his lifetime, but Robert James tracked down the manuscript and it was published in 2003. Though some regard it as a failure as a novel, considering it little more than a disguised lecture on Heinlein's social theories , some readers took a very different view. In a review of it, John Clute wrote: I'm not about to suggest that if Heinlein had been able to publish [such works] openly in
3354-603: The Naval Academy. In part due to the influence of the Pendergast machine , the Naval Academy admitted him in June 1925. Heinlein received his discharge from the Missouri National Guard as a staff sergeant. Reed later told Heinlein that he had received 100 letters of recommendation for nomination to the Naval Academy, 50 for other candidates and 50 for Heinlein. Heinlein's experience in the U.S. Navy exerted
3432-564: The Reagan SDI spring 1983 speech. Asked to appear before a Joint Committee of the United States Congress that year, he testified on his belief that spin-offs from space technology were benefiting the infirm and the elderly. Heinlein's surgical treatment re-energized him, and he wrote five novels from 1980 until he died in his sleep from emphysema and heart failure on May 8, 1988. In 1995, Spider Robinson wrote
3510-529: The Sky was published as Satellite Scout in the Boy Scout magazine Boys' Life . There has been speculation that Heinlein's intense obsession with his privacy was due at least in part to the apparent contradiction between his unconventional private life and his career as an author of books for children. However, For Us, the Living explicitly discusses the political importance Heinlein attached to privacy as
3588-649: The Special Collections department of McHenry Library at the University of California at Santa Cruz . The collection includes manuscript drafts, correspondence, photographs and artifacts. A substantial portion of the archive has been digitized and it is available online through the Robert A. and Virginia Heinlein Archives. Heinlein published 32 novels, 59 short stories, and 16 collections during his life. Nine films, two television series, several episodes of
3666-554: The cities of earth: Since insects and arachnids breathe by diffusion , such marauders would asphyxiate before they could savage their first metropolis". A wide range of different fiction has featured different insectoids ranging from characters and races: Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein ( / ˈ h aɪ n l aɪ n / ; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer , and naval officer . Sometimes called
3744-727: The commander of the U.S. Navy's first modern aircraft carrier. Heinlein also served as gunnery officer aboard the destroyer USS Roper in 1933 and 1934, reaching the rank of lieutenant. His brother, Lawrence Heinlein, served in the U.S. Army, the U.S. Air Force, and the Missouri National Guard , reaching the rank of major general in the National Guard. In 1929, Heinlein married Elinor Curry of Kansas City. However, their marriage lasted only about one year. His second marriage, to Leslyn MacDonald (1904–1981) in 1932, lasted 15 years. MacDonald was, according to
3822-543: The contest's first-prize payoff. Another Future History story, "Misfit", followed in November. Some saw Heinlein's talent and stardom from his first story, and he was quickly acknowledged as a leader of the new movement toward "social" science fiction . In California he hosted the Mañana Literary Society , a 1940–41 series of informal gatherings of new authors. He was the guest of honor at Denvention,
3900-420: The development of Heinlein's radical ideas about man as a social animal , including his interest in free love . The root of many themes found in his later stories can be found in this book. It also contained a large amount of material that could be considered background for his other novels. This included a detailed description of the protagonist's treatment to avoid being banished to Coventry (a lawless land in
3978-598: The early 1930s. He was deputy publisher of the EPIC News , which Heinlein noted "recalled a mayor, kicked out a district attorney, replaced the governor with one of our choice." When Sinclair gained the Democratic nomination for Governor of California in 1934, Heinlein worked actively in the campaign. Heinlein himself ran for the California State Assembly in 1938, but was unsuccessful. Heinlein
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#17327984147384056-448: The first few years of his career." Alexei expresses awe in Heinlein's ability to show readers a world so drastically different from the one we live in now, yet have so many similarities. He says that "We find ourselves not only in a world other than our own, but identifying with a living, breathing individual who is operating within its context, and thinking and acting according to its terms." The first novel that Heinlein wrote, For Us,
4134-403: The first reader of his manuscripts . Isaac Asimov believed that Heinlein made a swing to the right politically at the same time he married Ginny. In 1934, Heinlein was discharged from the Navy, owing to pulmonary tuberculosis . During a lengthy hospitalization, and inspired by his own experience while bed-ridden, he developed a design for a waterbed . After his discharge, Heinlein attended
4212-415: The first science fiction writer to break out of the " pulp ghetto ". In 1950, the movie Destination Moon —the documentary-like film for which he had written the story and scenario, co-written the script, and invented many of the effects—won an Academy Award for special effects . Heinlein created SF stories with social commentary about relationships. In The Puppet Masters , a 1951 alien invasion novel,
4290-446: The high grade of machinery which goes, today as always, into his story-telling. Heinlein seems to have known from the beginning, as if instinctively, technical lessons about fiction which other writers must learn the hard way (or often enough, never learn). He does not always operate the machinery to the best advantage, but he always seems to be aware of it." Heinlein decisively ended his juvenile novels with Starship Troopers (1959),
4368-616: The incoming Reagan administration . Members included such aerospace industry leaders as former astronaut Buzz Aldrin , General Daniel O. Graham , aerospace engineer Max Hunter and North American Rockwell VP for Space Shuttle development George Merrick. Policy recommendations from the Council included ballistic missile defense concepts which were later transformed into what was called the Strategic Defense Initiative . Heinlein assisted with Council contribution to
4446-467: The influence of organized religion on culture and government, and the tendency of society to repress nonconformist thought. He also speculated on the influence of space travel on human cultural practices. Heinlein was heavily influenced by the visionary writers and philosophers of his day. William H. Patterson Jr, writing in Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with his Century, states that by 1930, Heinlein
4524-526: The new aircraft carrier USS Lexington , where he worked in radio communications —a technology then still in its earlier stages. The captain of this carrier, Ernest J. King , later served as the Chief of Naval Operations and Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Fleet during World War II . Military historians frequently interviewed Heinlein during his later years and asked him about Captain King and his service as
4602-501: The next few months, he became more and more exhausted, and his health again began to decline. The problem was determined to be a blocked carotid artery , and he had one of the earliest known carotid bypass operations to correct it. In 1980, Robert Heinlein was a member of the Citizen's Advisory Council on National Space Policy , chaired by Jerry Pournelle , which met at the home of SF writer Larry Niven to write space policy papers for
4680-484: The novel Variable Star based on an outline and notes created by Heinlein. Heinlein's posthumously published nonfiction includes a selection of correspondence and notes edited into a somewhat autobiographical examination of his career, published in 1989 under the title Grumbles from the Grave by his wife, Virginia; his book on practical politics written in 1946 and published as Take Back Your Government in 1992; and
4758-477: The novels from this period are recognized by critics as forming an offshoot from the Future History series and are referred to by the term World as Myth . The tendency toward authorial self-reference begun in Stranger in a Strange Land and Time Enough for Love becomes even more evident in novels such as The Cat Who Walks Through Walls , whose first-person protagonist is a disabled military veteran who becomes
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#17327984147384836-529: The one featured in Farnham's Freehold . After For Us, the Living , Heinlein began selling (to magazines) first short stories, then novels, set in a Future History , complete with a time line of significant political, cultural, and technological changes. A chart of the future history was published in the May 1941 issue of Astounding . Over time, Heinlein wrote many novels and short stories that deviated freely from
4914-466: The pages of Astounding in 1939, SF would have gotten the future right; I would suggest, however, that if Heinlein, and his colleagues, had been able to publish adult SF in Astounding and its fellow journals, then SF might not have done such a grotesquely poor job of prefiguring something of the flavor of actually living here at the onset of 2004. For Us, the Living was intriguing as a window into
4992-746: The point of view character Sam persuades fellow operative Mary to marry him. When they go to the county clerk, they are offered a variety of marriage possibilities; “Term, renewable or lifetime”, as short as six months or as long as forever. Also, he embarked on a series of juvenile novels for the Charles Scribner's Sons publishing company that went from 1947 through 1959, at the rate of one book each autumn, in time for Christmas presents to teenagers. He also wrote for Boys' Life in 1952. Heinlein used topical materials throughout his juvenile series beginning in 1947, but in 1958 he interrupted work on The Heretic (the working title of Stranger in
5070-465: The pulp fiction novels, insectoid creatures were frequently used as the antagonists threatening the damsel in distress . Notable later depictions of hostile insect aliens include the antagonistic "Arachnids", or "Bugs", in Robert A. Heinlein 's novel Starship Troopers (1959) and the "buggers" in Orson Scott Card 's Ender's Game series (from 1985). The hive mind, or group mind ,
5148-478: The science-fiction genre, and on modern culture more generally. Heinlein became one of the first American science-fiction writers to break into mainstream magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post in the late 1940s. He was one of the best-selling science-fiction novelists for many decades, and he, Isaac Asimov , and Arthur C. Clarke are often considered the "Big Three" of English-language science fiction authors. Notable Heinlein works include Stranger in
5226-583: The setting and cultural atmosphere in works like Time Enough for Love and To Sail Beyond the Sunset . The 1910 appearance of Halley's Comet inspired the young child's life-long interest in astronomy. In January 1924, the sixteen year old Heinlein lied about his age to enlist in Company C, 110th Engineer Regiment , of the Missouri National Guard , in Kansas City. His family could not afford to send Heinlein to college, so he sought an appointment to
5304-445: The surface, they are simple tales of adventure, achievement, and dealing with stupid teachers and jealous peers. Heinlein was a vocal proponent of the notion that juvenile readers were far more sophisticated and able to handle more complex or difficult themes than most people realized. His juvenile stories often had a maturity to them that made them readable for adults. Red Planet , for example, portrays some subversive themes, including
5382-441: The testimony of Heinlein's Navy friend, Rear Admiral Cal Laning , "astonishingly intelligent, widely read, and extremely liberal, though a registered Republican ", while Isaac Asimov later recalled that Heinlein was, at the time, "a flaming liberal ". (See section: Politics of Robert Heinlein .) At the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard , Heinlein met and befriended a chemical engineer named Virginia "Ginny" Gerstenfeld . After
5460-667: The town of Raton, New Mexico . Soon thereafter, they set up housekeeping in the Broadmoor district of Colorado Springs, Colorado , in a house that Heinlein and his wife designed. As the area was newly developed, they were allowed to choose their own house number, 1776 Mesa Avenue. The design of the house was featured in Popular Mechanics . They remained married until Heinlein's death. In 1965, after various chronic health problems of Virginia's were traced back to altitude sickness , they moved to Santa Cruz, California , which
5538-501: The war wound down in 1945, Heinlein began to re-evaluate his career. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , along with the outbreak of the Cold War , galvanized him to write nonfiction on political topics. In addition, he wanted to break into better-paying markets. He published four influential short stories for The Saturday Evening Post magazine, leading off, in February 1947, with " The Green Hills of Earth ". That made him
5616-415: The war, her engagement having fallen through, she attended UCLA for doctoral studies in chemistry , and while there reconnected with Heinlein. As his second wife's alcoholism gradually spun out of control, Heinlein moved out and the couple filed for divorce . Heinlein's friendship with Virginia turned into a relationship and on October 21, 1948—shortly after the decree nisi came through—they married in
5694-475: Was a progressive liberal who had spent some time in the open sexuality climate of New York’s Jazz Age Greenwich Village . Heinlein believed that some level of socialism was inevitable and was already occurring in America. He was absorbing the social concepts of writers such as H.G. Wells and Upton Sinclair . He adopted many of the progressive social beliefs of his day and projected them forward. Heinlein
5772-783: Was named the first Science Fiction Writers Grand Master in 1974. Four of his novels won Hugo Awards . In addition, fifty years after publication, seven of his works were awarded " Retro Hugos "—awards given retrospectively for works that were published before the Hugo Awards came into existence. In his fiction, Heinlein coined terms that have become part of the English language, including grok , waldo and speculative fiction , as well as popularizing existing terms like " TANSTAAFL ", " pay it forward ", and " space marine ". He also anticipated mechanical computer-aided design with "Drafting Dan" in his novel The Door into Summer and described
5850-491: Was published in September 2006. Four collections have been published posthumously. Heinlein began his career as a writer of stories for Astounding Science Fiction magazine, which was edited by John Campbell. The science fiction writer Frederik Pohl has described Heinlein as "that greatest of Campbell-era sf writers". Isaac Asimov said that, from the time of his first story, the science fiction world accepted that Heinlein
5928-624: Was running as a left-wing Democrat in a conservative district, and he never made it past the Democratic primary. While not destitute after the campaign—he had a small disability pension from the Navy—Heinlein turned to writing to pay off his mortgage. His first published story, " Life-Line ", was printed in the August 1939 issue of Astounding Science Fiction . Originally written for a contest, it sold to Astounding for significantly more than
6006-402: Was the best science fiction writer in existence, adding that he would hold this title through his lifetime. Alexei and Cory Panshin noted that Heinlein's impact was immediately felt. In 1940, the year after selling 'Life-Line' to Campbell, he wrote three short novels, four novelettes, and seven short stories. They went on to say that "No one ever dominated the science fiction field as Bob did in
6084-521: Was the guest of honor at the Worldcon in 1976 for the third time at MidAmeriCon in Kansas City, Missouri . At that Worldcon, Heinlein hosted a blood drive and donors' reception to thank all those who had helped save lives. Beginning in 1977, and including an episode while vacationing in Tahiti in early 1978, he had episodes of reversible neurologic dysfunction due to transient ischemic attacks . Over
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