|
Future History (Heinlein)
''Future History'' is a series of stories created by Robert A. Heinlein. It describes a projected future of the human race from the middle of the 20th century through the early 23rd century. The term ''Future History'' was coined by John W. Campbell Jr. in the February 1941 issue of '' Astounding Science Fiction''. Campbell published an early draft of Heinlein's chart of the series in the May 1941 issue. Heinlein wrote most of the ''Future History'' stories early in his career, between 1939 and 1941 and between 1945 and 1950. Most of the ''Future History'' stories written prior to 1967 are collected in ''The Past Through Tomorrow'', which also contains the final version of the chart. That collection does not include ''Universe'' and ''Common Sense''; they were published separately as ''Orphans of the Sky''. Groff Conklin called ''Future History'' "the greatest of all histories of tomorrow". It was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best All-Time Series in 1966, along with th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Cat Who Walks Through Walls
''The Cat Who Walks Through Walls'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, published in 1985. Like many of his later novels, it features Lazarus Long and Jubal Harshaw as supporting characters. Plot summary A writer seated at the best restaurant of the space habitat "Golden Rule" is approached by a man who urges him that "Tolliver must die" and is himself shot before the writer's eyes. The writer—Colonel Colin Campbell, living under a number of aliases including his pen name "Richard Ames"—is joined by a beautiful and sophisticated lady, Gwendolyn Novak, who helps him flee to Luna with a bonsai maple and a would-be murderer ("Bill"). After escaping to the Moon, Gwen claims to have been present during the revolt described in ''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress''. Still pursued by assassins, Campbell and Novak are rescued by an organization known as the Time Corps under the leadership of Lazarus Long. After giving Campbell a new foot to replace one lost i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Variable Star
A variable star is a star whose brightness as seen from Earth (its apparent magnitude) changes with time. This variation may be caused by a change in emitted light or by something partly blocking the light, so variable stars are classified as either: * Intrinsic variables, whose luminosity actually changes; for example, because the star periodically swells and shrinks. * Extrinsic variables, whose apparent changes in brightness are due to changes in the amount of their light that can reach Earth; for example, because the star has an orbiting companion that sometimes eclipses it. Many, possibly most, stars have at least some variation in luminosity: the energy output of the Sun, for example, varies by about 0.1% over an 11-year solar cycle. Discovery An ancient Egyptian calendar of lucky and unlucky days composed some 3,200 years ago may be the oldest preserved historical document of the discovery of a variable star, the eclipsing binary Algol. Of the modern astronomers, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Between Planets
''Between Planets'' is a juvenile science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, originally serialized in ''Blue Book'' magazine in 1951 as "Planets in Combat". It was published in hardcover that year by Scribner's as part of the Heinlein juveniles. Plot summary Don Harvey's scientist parents withdraw him from his high school in New Mexico in the middle of the term so that he can join them on Mars. The headmaster suggests that they want him out of a potential war zone, where he might be viewed suspiciously because of doubts about his loyalties. At his parents' behest, he visits an old family friend who asks him to deliver a ring to his father; security forces later arrest both of them. Harvey is released and given his ring back, after it has been examined; he is told that his friend has died of "heart failure". Only later does he realize that ''all'' deaths can be classified that way. Harvey boards a shuttle to a space station orbiting Earth. The station doubles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heinlein Juveniles
The Heinlein juveniles are the science fiction novels written by Robert A. Heinlein for Scribner's young-adult line. Each features "a young male protagonist entering the adult world of conflict, decisions, and responsibilities." Together they tell a loosely-connected story of space exploration. Scribner's published the first twelve between 1947 and 1958, but rejected the thirteenth, '' Starship Troopers''. That one was instead published by Putnam. A fourteenth novel, ''Podkayne of Mars'', is sometimes listed as a "Heinlein juvenile", although Heinlein himself did not consider it to be one. The intended market was teenage boys, but the books have been enjoyed by a wide range of readers. Heinlein wanted to present challenging material to children, such as the firearms for teenagers in '' Red Planet''. This led to "annual quarrels over what was suitable for juvenile reading" with Scribner's editors. In addition to the juveniles, Heinlein wrote two short stories about Sco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
"—And He Built A Crooked House—"
'—And He Built a Crooked House—' is a science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, first published in ''Astounding Science Fiction'' in February 1941. It was reprinted in the anthology '' Fantasia Mathematica'' (Clifton Fadiman, ed.) in 1958, and in the Heinlein collections ''The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag'' in 1959 and ''The Best of Robert Heinlein'' in 1973. The story is about a mathematically inclined architect named Quintus Teal who has what he thinks is a brilliant idea to save on real estate costs by building a house shaped like the unfolded net of a tesseract. The title is paraphrased from the nursery rhyme "There Was a Crooked Man". Plot summary Quintus Teal, a "Graduate Architect" in the Los Angeles area, wants architects to be inspired by topology and the Picard–Vessiot theory. During a conversation with friend Homer Bailey he shows models made of toothpicks and clay, representing projections of a four-dimensional tesseract, the e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Black Pits Of Luna
"The Black Pits of Luna" is a science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, about a Boy Scout on a trip to the Moon and his novel way of finding his lost brother. Included as part of his Future History, it originally appeared in ''The Saturday Evening Post'', January 10, 1948,(pp. 30-31, 80, 82, 84; illustrated by Fred Ludekens) and was collected in ''The Green Hills of Earth'' (and subsequently ''The Past Through Tomorrow''). See also *"Searchlight (short story) "Searchlight" is a very short science fiction story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, about a little blind girl whose spaceship crashes on the Moon. The search for her takes advantage of her prodigious musical ability to locate her. It was ori ..." References External links * 1948 short stories Short stories by Robert A. Heinlein Science fiction short stories Short stories set on the Moon Scouting in popular culture Works originally published in The Saturday Evening Post {{1940 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Green Hills Of Earth
"The Green Hills of Earth" is a science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. One of his Future History stories, the short story originally appeared in ''The Saturday Evening Post'' (February 8, 1947), and it was collected in ''The Green Hills of Earth'' (and subsequently in ''The Past Through Tomorrow''). Heinlein selected the story for inclusion in the 1949 anthology ''My Best Science Fiction Story''. "The Green Hills of Earth" is also the title of a song mentioned in several of Heinlein's novels. The Rhysling Award for speculative fiction poetry awarded by the Science Fiction Poetry Association (SFPA) is named for the blind poet Rhysling in “The Green Hills of Earth.” Rhysling (crater) on the moon was named by Apollo 15 astronauts. Capcom Joe Allen on Earth summoned David Scott and Jim Irwin, , with the words "As the space poet Rhysling would say, we're ready for you to 'come back again to the homes of men on the cool green hills of Earth.'" who q ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
It's Great To Be Back!
"It's Great to Be Back!" is a science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. One of his Future History stories, it was first published in ''The Saturday Evening Post'' in the July 26, 1947 issue and later reprinted in ''The Green Hills of Earth'' (and subsequently ''The Past Through Tomorrow''). Plot summary A physical chemist and his wife (the MacRaes), who have been in residence in Luna City on the Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ... for some time, spend much of their time volubly regretting having ever left Earth. When this attitude results in social conflict with "Loonies" who love their home, the pair feel isolated, misunderstood, and put-upon. They decide to return "dirt-side", only to discover that the Earth of their imaginations bears ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Space Jockey (short Story)
"Space Jockey" is a science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein.James Gifford. 2000. ''Robert A. Heinlein: A Reader's Companion''. SacramentoNitrosyncretic Press. Part of his Future History series, it originally appeared in ''The Saturday Evening Post'', April 26, 1947, and was collected in ''The Green Hills of Earth'' (and subsequently ''The Past Through Tomorrow''). The story is set in the near future. It realistically depicts a day in the life of a rocket pilot who pilots commercial passenger spacecraft on scheduled runs between the Earth and the Moon. It shows the pilot dealing with problems such as an unruly child of a VIP visiting his control room, recalculating the trajectory when the spoiled brat sends the rocket off course, facing a choice between jettisoning cargo and not having enough fuel to reach the destination, and coping with the demands of superiors. The story begins with a contentious scene between the pilot and his wife, who is unhappy a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saturday Evening Post
''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influential magazines within the American middle class, with fiction, non-fiction, cartoons and features that reached two million homes every week. The magazine declined in readership through the 1960s, and in 1969 ''The Saturday Evening Post'' folded for two years before being revived as a quarterly publication with an emphasis on medical articles in 1971. As of the late 2000s, ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is published six times a year by the Saturday Evening Post Society, which purchased the magazine in 1982. The magazine was redesigned in 2013. History Rise ''The Saturday Evening Post'' was first published in 1821 in the same printing shop at 53 Market Street in Philadelphia where the Benjamin Franklin-founded ''Pennsyl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
—We Also Walk Dogs
"—We Also Walk Dogs" is a science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. One of his Future History stories, it was first published in '' Astounding Science Fiction'' (July 1941, as by Anson MacDonald) and collected in ''The Green Hills of Earth'' (and subsequently ''The Past Through Tomorrow''). Although considered part of the Future History, the story has no references to other stories in the canon, and features elements such as anti-gravity and the existence of aliens on Jupiter, that are not fully consistent with other stories. Plot summary ''General Services'' is a very successful company that provides various personal services such as shopping for you or walking your dogs or supplying a host for a party, but also proudly advertises that no job is too large. One ad campaign idea which the staff discusses is "Want somebody murdered? Then DON'T call General Services. But for ''anything else'', call.... It Pays!". The business model involves knowing to whom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
