John Stewart Williamson (April 29, 1908 – November 10, 2006) was an American science fiction writer, one of several called the "Dean of Science Fiction". He is also credited with one of the first uses of the term ''

genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of Genetic engineering techniques, technologies used to change the genet ...

''. Early in his career he sometimes used the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

s Will Stewart and Nils O. Sonderlund.

Early life

Williamson was born April 29, 1908, in Bisbee,

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona, commonly known as the Arizona Territory, was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the ...

. According to his own account, the first three years of his life were spent on a ranch at the top of the Sierra Madre Mountains on the headwaters of the

Yaqui River The Yaqui River (Río Yaqui in Spanish) (Hiak Vatwe in the Yaqui or Yoreme language) is a river in the state of Sonora in northwestern Mexico. It was formerly known as the Rio del Norte. Being the largest river system in the state of Sonora, th ...

in Sonora, Mexico. He spent much of the rest of his early childhood in western Texas. In search of better pastures, his family migrated to rural

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

in a horse-drawn

covered wagon A covered wagon, also called a prairie wagon, whitetop, or prairie schooner, is a horse-drawn or ox-drawn wagon used for passengers or freight hauling. It has a canvas, tarpaulin, or waterproof sheet which is stretched over removable wooden ...

in 1915.Williamson, Jack. ''Wonder's Child: My Life in Science Fiction'' (Benbella Books, 2005) The farming was difficult there and the family turned to ranching, which they continue to this day near Pep. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a weather forecaster.

Writing career

As a child Williamson enjoyed storytelling to his brother and two sisters. As a young man, he discovered the magazine ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearance ...

'', established in 1926 by

Hugo Gernsback Hugo Gernsback (; 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 ...

, after answering an ad for one free issue. He strove to write his own fiction and sold his first story to Gernsback at age 20: "The Metal Man" was published in the December 1928 issue of ''Amazing''. During the next year Gernsback published three more of his stories in the new

pulp magazines Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 until around 1955. The term "pulp" derives from the wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed, due to their cheap nature. ...

''Science Wonder Stories'' and '' Air Wonder Stories'', and separately published "The Girl from Mars" by Miles J. Breuer and Williamson as ''Science Fiction Series #1''. His work during this early period was heavily influenced by A. Merritt, Moskowitz, Sam. "Jack Williamson: Four-Way Pioneer". ''Amazing Stories'', October 1964. author of '' The Metal Monster'' (1920) and other fantasy serials. Noting the Merritt influence,

Algis Budrys Algirdas Jonas "Algis" Budrys (January 9, 1931 – June 9, 2008) was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, copy editing, editor and critic. He was also known under the pen names Frank Mason, Alger Rome in collaboration with Jerome ...

described "The Metal Man" as "a story full of memorable images". Early on, Williamson became impressed by the works of Miles J. Breuer and struck up a correspondence with him. A doctor who wrote science fiction in his spare time, Breuer had a strong talent and turned Williamson away from dreamlike fantasies towards more rigorous plotting and stronger narrative. Under Breuer's tutelage, Williamson would send outlines and drafts for review. Their first work together was the novel ''Birth of a New Republic'' in which

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

colonies were undergoing something like the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

, a theme later taken up by many other SF writers, particularly in Robert A. Heinlein's '' The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress''. Wracked by emotional storms and believing many of his physical ailments to be psychosomatic, Williamson underwent psychiatric evaluation in 1933 at the Menninger Clinic in

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...

, in which he began to learn to resolve the conflict between his reason and his emotion. From this period, his stories take on a grittier, more realistic tone. By the 1930s, he was an established genre author, and the teenaged

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...

was thrilled to receive a postcard from Williamson, whom he had idolized, which congratulated him on his first published story and offered "welcome to the ranks". Williamson remained a regular contributor to the

pulp magazine Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 until around 1955. The term "pulp" derives from the Pulp (paper), wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed, due to their ...

s but did not achieve financial success as a writer until many years later. An unfavorable review of his novel '' Seetee Ship'', which said his writing "ranks only slightly above that of a

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

adventure", brought Williamson to the attention of ''The New York Sunday News'', which needed a science fiction writer for a new comic strip. Williamson wrote the resulting strip '' Beyond Mars'' (1952–55), loosely based on ''Seetee Ship'', until the paper dropped all comics. Beginning 1954 and continuing into the 1990s, Williamson and

Frederik Pohl Frederik George Pohl Jr. (; November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an American list of science fiction authors, science-fiction writer, editor, and science fiction fandom, fan, with a career spanning nearly 75 years—from his first ...

wrote more than a dozen science fiction novels together, including the series Jim Eden, Starchild, and Cuckoo. Williamson continued to write as a nonagenarian and won both the Hugo and

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA), a nonprofit association of pr ...

s during the last decade of his life, by far the oldest writer to win those awards. In his later years, he would also criticize attempts to write "serious" science fiction:

Academic career

Williamson received his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

and

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degrees in English in the 1950s from Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU) in Portales (near the Texas panhandle), joining the faculty of that university in 1960. He remained affiliated with the school for the rest of his life. In the late 1990s, he established a permanent trust to fund the publication of ''El Portal'', ENMU's journal of literature and art. In the 1980s, he made a sizable donation of books and original manuscripts to ENMU's library, which resulted in the formation of a Special Collections department; the library now is home to the Jack Williamson Science Fiction Library, which ENMU's website describes as "one of the top science fiction collections in the world". In addition, Williamson hosted the ''Jack Williamson Lectureship Series'', an annual lectureship where Guests of Honor and other noted authors give lectures, read from their works, and participate in lively panel discussions on a variety of topics. The lectureship is still celebrated at ENMU each year. The Jack Williamson Liberal Arts building houses the Languages & Literature, Mathematical Sciences, History, Religion & Social Sciences, and Psychology & Political Science Departments of the university, as well as the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean's Office. Williamson completed his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in English literature at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

, focused on

H.G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

' earlier works, demonstrating that Wells was not the naive optimist that many believed him to be.

Terms coined

Williamson coined the word "''

terraforming Terraforming or terraformation ("Earth-shaping") is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying the atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology of a planet, moon, or other body to be similar to the environment of Earth to mak ...

''" in a science-fiction story published in ''

Astounding Science Fiction ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...

'' in 1942. The word "'' psionics''" first appeared in print in Williamson's novella ''The Greatest Invention'', published in ''

Astounding ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William Cl ...

'' magazine in 1951. He is also credited with one of the first uses of the term "''

''".

Later years

The Science Fiction Writers of America named Williamson its second Grand Master of Science Fiction after Robert Heinlein, presented 1976. After having been let go from ENMU during the university's financial crisis in 1977, Williamson spent some time concentrating on his writing, but after being named professor emeritus by ENMU, he was coaxed back to co-teach two evening classes, "Creative Writing" and "Fantasy and Science Fiction" (he pioneered the latter at ENMU during his full-time professorship days). Williamson continued to co-teach these two classes into the 21st century. After he made a large donation of original manuscripts and rare books from his personal collection to the ENMU library, a special collections area was created to house these and it was named the "Jack Williamson Special Collection". In 1994 Williamson received a

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

for Lifetime Achievement. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted Williamson in 1996, its inaugural class of two deceased and two living persons. The Horror Writers Association conferred its Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1998 and the World Horror Convention elected him Grand Master in 2004. In November 2006, Williamson died at his home in

Portales, New Mexico Portales () is a city in and the county seat of Roosevelt County, New Mexico, United States. Its population was 12,280 at the 2010 census. Portales is located near the larger city of Clovis, and Cannon Air Force Base, a major contributor to ...

, at age 98. Despite his age, he had made an appearance at the Spring 2006 ''Jack Williamson Lectureship'' and published a 320-page novel, ''The Stonehenge Gate'', in 2005. Minor planets 5516 Jawilliamson and 235281 Jackwilliamson are named in his honor.

Legion of Space series

While attending a

Great Books A classic is a book accepted as being exemplary or particularly noteworthy. What makes a book "classic" is a concern that has occurred to various authors ranging from Italo Calvino to Mark Twain and the related questions of "Why Read the Cl ...

course, Williamson learned that

Henryk Sienkiewicz Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz ( , ; 5 May 1846 – 15 November 1916), also known by the pseudonym Litwos (), was a Polish epic writer. He is remembered for his historical novels, such as The Trilogy, the Trilogy series and especially ...

had created one of his works by taking ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' () is a French historical adventure novel written and published in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is the first of the author's three d'Artagnan Romances. As with some of his other works, he wrote it in col ...

'' of

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...

and pairing them with

John Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays ''Henry IV, Part 1'' and ''Henry IV, Pa ...

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. Williamson took this idea into science fiction with ''The Legion of Space''. Desperate for money, he searched for a quick source of income. While most pulps of the time were slow to pay, the recently restarted ''Astounding'' was an exception. However, they did not accept novels, so Williamson submitted three short stories and a novelette. Learning that they were also accepting novels for serialization, he sent in '' The Legion of Space'', which was published as an

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

in six parts. It quickly became a genre favorite, and was quickly collected into a

hardcover A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as casebound (At p. 247.)) book is one bookbinding, bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other clo ...

. The story takes place in an era when humans have colonized the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...

but dare not go farther, as the first extra-solar expedition to Barnard's Star failed and the survivors came back as babbling, grotesque, diseased madmen. They spoke of a gigantic planet, populated by ferocious animals and the single city left of the evil "Medusae". The Medusae bear a vague resemblance to jellyfish, but are actually elephant-sized, four-eyed, flying beings with hundreds of tentacles. The Medusae cannot speak and communicate with one another via a microwave code. The Falstaff character is named Giles Habibula. He was once a criminal, and can open any lock ever made. In his youth he was called Giles The Ghost. Jay Kalam (Commander of The Legion) and Hal Samdu are the names of the other two warriors. In this story, these warriors of the 30th Century battle the Medusae, the alien race from the lone planet of Barnard's Star. The Legion itself is the military and police force of the Solar System after the overthrow of an empire called the Purple Hall that once ruled all humans. In this novel, renegade Purple pretenders ally themselves with the Medusae as a means to regain their empire. But the Medusae, who are totally unlike humans in all ways, turn on the Purples, seeking to destroy all humans and move to the Solar System, as their own world, far older than Earth, is finally spiraling back into Barnard's Star. One of the Purples, John Ulnar, supports the Legion from the start, and he is the fourth great warrior. His enemy is the Purple pretender Eric Ulnar, who sought the Medusae out in the first place, seeking to become the next Emperor of The Sun. The Medusae conquered the Moon, set up their bases there, and went on to attempt conquest of the Solar System. The Medusae had for eons used a reddish, artificial

greenhouse gas Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of planets such as the Earth. Unlike other gases, greenhouse gases absorb the radiations that a planet emits, resulting in the greenhouse effect. T ...

to keep their dying world from freezing. The Medusae learned from the first human expedition to their world that the gas rots human flesh, and the Medusae use it as a potent chemical weapon, attempting ecological destruction by means of projectiles fired from the Moon. Their vast spaceships also have very effective plasma weapons, very similar to those the Romulans had in a Star Trek episode called ''

Balance of Terror "Balance of Terror" is the fourteenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by Paul Schneider and directed by Vincent McEveety, it first aired on December 15, 1966. The series, ...

''. The Legion works also featured a force field called AKKA which can erase from the Universe any matter, of any size, anywhere, even a star or a planet. AKKA was a weapon of mass destruction and the secret of it was entrusted to a series of

women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...

. AKKA was used in the past to overthrow the Purple tyranny. It was also used to wipe out most of the Medusae, though they had tried to steal the secret. When they were wiped out, the

where they had established their base was erased out of existence. At the end of the story, John Ulnar falls in love with the keeper of AKKA, Aladoree Anthar, and marries her. Aladoree Anthar is described as a young woman with lustrous brown hair and gray eyes, beautiful as a

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...

. Williamson next wrote '' The Cometeers'' which takes place twenty years after ''The Legion of Space'' in which the same characters battle another alien race, this one of different origin. In this second tale, they fight The Cometeers who are an alien race of energy beings controlling a "comet" which is really a giant force field containing a swarm of planets populated by their slaves. The

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

races are of flesh and blood, but none are remotely similar to humans. The Cometeers cannot be destroyed by AKKA, as they are incorporeal from the Universe's point of view and exist for the most part in an alternate reality. The ruling Cometeers feed on their slaves and literally absorb their souls, leaving disgusting, dying hulks in their wake. It is said that they do so, as they were once fleshly entities themselves of various species. Hence, the ruling Cometeers keep other intelligent beings as slaves and "cattle". They fear AKKA, though, as it can erase all their possessions. They are defeated by the skills of Giles Habibula. Giles broke into a secret chamber guarded by complex locks and force fields that the incorporeal Cometeers could not penetrate. In it the ruler of the Cometeers had kept its own weapon of mass destruction, one that would cause the Cometeers to disintegrate. The ruling Cometeer kept this weapon to enforce its rule over the others of its kind. Once the Cometeers were destroyed, their slaves were ordered by the Legion to take the comet and leave the Solar System, and never return. Another novel, '' One Against the Legion'', tells of a Purple pretender who sets up a robotic base on a world over seventy light years from Earth, and tries to conquer the Solar System via matter transporter technology he has stolen. In this story

robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...

s are outlawed, as they are in ''

Dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

''. The story also features Jay Kalam, lobbying to allow the New Cometeers to leave the Solar System in peace, as many people were demanding that AKKA be used to obliterate the departing swarm of planets once and for all. In 1983, Williamson published a final Legion novel, ''The Queen of the Legion''. Giles Habibula reappears in this final novel, which is set after the disbanding of the Legion.

Works

Series

; Legion of Space Series # '' The Legion of Space'' (1947; six-part serial in ''

'', 1934) # '' The Cometeers'' (1950; four-part serial in ''

'', 1936, plus ''One Against the Legion'', three-part serial in ''

'', 1939) # ''One Against the Legion'' (1967; three-part serial in ''

'', 1939, plus "Nowhere Near") #* ''Three from the Legion'' (1980; omnibus of three novels plus "Nowhere Near") # ''The Queen of the Legion'' (1983) ;Humanoids Series # " With Folded Hands" (1947; in ''

'') # '' The Humanoids'' (1949; three-part serial as "...And Searching Mind" in ''

'', 1949) # ''The Humanoid Touch'' (1980) #* ''The Humanoids / With Folded Hands'' (1996; omnibus) ; Seetee series An editor suggested that Williamson combine the ideas of contraterrene matter (

antimatter In modern physics, antimatter is defined as matter composed of the antiparticles (or "partners") of the corresponding subatomic particle, particles in "ordinary" matter, and can be thought of as matter with reversed charge and parity, or go ...

) and

asteroid mining Asteroid mining is the hypothetical extractivism, extraction of materials from asteroids and other minor planets, including near-Earth objects. Notable asteroid mining challenges include the high cost of spaceflight, unreliable identification ...

, which inspired the Seetee (C-T) series of short stories written as Will Stewart. * " Collision Orbit" (short story, as by Will Stewart; from ''

'', 1942) * ''Seetee Shock'' (1949; as by Will Stewart; from ''

'', 1949) * '' Seetee Ship'' (1951; as by Will Stewart; from previously published stories 1942–3) ** ''Seetee Ship/Seetee Shock'' (1971, omnibus volume of both). ; Undersea Trilogy (with Frederik Pohl) # '' Undersea Quest'' (1954) # '' Undersea Fleet'' (1956) # '' Undersea City'' (1958) # '' The Undersea Trilogy'' (1992; omnibus) ; Saga of Cuckoo (with Frederik Pohl) # '' Farthest Star'' (1975) # '' Wall Around A Star'' (1983) ; Starchild Trilogy (with Frederik Pohl) # ''The Reefs of Space'' (1964) # ''Starchild'' (1965) # ''Rogue Star'' (1969) # ''The Starchild Trilogy'' (1977; omnibus)

Novels

* ''The Girl from Mars'' (1930, with Miles J. Breuer) * ''The Green Girl'' (1930) *
The Prince of Space
' (1931) * ''Golden Blood'' (1933) * ''Xandulu'' (1934) * ''The Blue Spot'' (1935) * ''Islands of the Sun'' (1935) * ''Reign of Wizardry'' (1940) (loosely based on the story of

Theseus Theseus (, ; ) was a divine hero in Greek mythology, famous for slaying the Minotaur. The myths surrounding Theseus, his journeys, exploits, and friends, have provided material for storytelling throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes desc ...

from Greek mythology) * '' Darker Than You Think'' (1948) * '' Dragon's Island '' (1951; also known as ''The Not-Men'') * '' Star Bridge'' (1955, with James E. Gunn) * ''The Dome Around America'' (1955; also known as ''Gateway to Paradise'') * ''The Trial of Terra'' (1962; from four previously published stories, 1951–1962) * ''Bright New Universe'' (1967) * ''Trapped in Space'' (1968) * ''The Moon Children'' (1972) * ''The Power of Blackness'' (1975) * ''Brother to Demons, Brother to Gods'' (1979; from five previously published stories, 1977–78) * ''Manseed'' (1982) * '' Lifeburst'' (1984) * ''Firechild'' (1986) * ''

Land's End Land's End ( or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...

'' (1988, with

) * ''Mazeway'' (1990) * ''The Singers of Time'' (1991, with

) * ''Beachhead'' (1992) * ''Demon Moon'' (1994) * ''The Black Sun'' (1997) * ''The Fortress of Utopia'' (1998; originally in '' Startling Stories'', 1939) * ''The Silicon Dagger'' (1999) * ''The Stone from a Green Star'' (1999; originally in

, 1931) * ''Terraforming Earth'' (2001; Co-winner of 2002 John W. Campbell Memorial Award) * ''The Stonehenge Gate'' (2005)

Collections

* ''The Legion of Time, and After World's End'' (1952) * ''The Pandora Effect'' (1969) * ''People Machines'' (1971) * ''The Early Williamson'', 1975 * '' The Best of Jack Williamson'' (1978) *
The Alien Intelligence
' (1980) * ''Millions de Soleils'' (1988) * ''Into the Eighth Decade'' (1990) * ''The Prince of Space/The Girl from Mars'' (1998; ''TGFM'' written with Miles J. Breuer) * ''The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume One, The Metal Man and Others'' (1999) * ''The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Two, Wolves of Darkness'' (1999) * ''The Blue Spot, and Entropy Reversed (Released Entropy)'' (2000; both from ''Astounding'', 1937) * ''The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Three, Wizard's Isle'' (2000) * ''Dragon's Island and other stories'' (2002; novel and two shorts) * ''The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Four, Spider Island'' (2002) * ''Seventy-Five: The Diamond Anniversary of a Science Fiction Pioneer'', Stephen Haffner & Richard A. Hauptmann, eds. (2004) * ''The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Five, The Crucible of Power'' (2006) * ''In Memory of Wonder's Child'' Stephen Haffner, ed. (2007) * ''The Worlds of Jack Williamson: A Centennial Tribute (1908–2008)'', Stephen Haffner, ed. (2008) * ''The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Six, Gateway to Paradise'' (2008) * ''With Folded Hands… And Searching Mind, The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Seven'' (2010) * ''At the Human Limit, The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Eight'' (2011)

Short stories

* ''The Metal Man'' (1928) *
The alien intelligence
' (1929) *
The Second Shell
' (1929) *
The Cosmic Express
' (1930) *
The Green Girl
' (1930) *
The Prince of Space
' (1931) * ''The Meteor Girl'' (1931) * ''The Lake of Light'' (1931) * ''The Doom from Planet 4'' (1931) * ''The Moon Era'' (1931, 1932); also published as separate novelette * ''The Pygmy Planet'' (1932; Cover feature in Astounding Stories February 1932) * ''Salvage in Space'' (1933) Cover Story * ''Born of the Sun'' (1934) * ''Star Bright'' (1939) *
After world's end
' (1939) * ''The Angel From Hell'' (1939; in '' Marvel Tales'', writing as Nils O. Sonderlund) * ''Hindsight'' (1940) * '' Collision Orbit'' (1942; writing as Will Stewart; into ''Seetee Ship'') * ''Minus Sign'' (1942; writing as Will Stewart; into ''Seetee Ship'') * ''Opposites—React!'' (1943; writing as Will Stewart; into ''Seetee Ship'') * ''With Folded Hands...'' (1947, Awarded Prometheus Hall of Fame in 2018) * ''The Man from Outside'' (1951) * ''Beans'' (1958) *
A Planet for Plundering
' (1962) * ''The Masked World'' (1963) * ''Jamboree'' (1969) * ''The Highest Dive'' (1976) * ''The Humanoid Universe'' (1980) * ''The Firefly Tree'' (1997) * ''The Pet Rocks Mystery'' (1998) * ''Eden Star'' (2000) * ''The Ultimate Earth'' (2000; awarded the Hugo for Best Novella in 2001)

Other

* Will Acedeme Kill Science Fiction, '' Asimov's Choice Comets & Computers'' (Dale Books, 1978, )

Autobiography

* ''Wonder's Child: My Life in Science Fiction.'' Bluejay Books, New York, 1984. (Hardcover) * ''Wonder's Child: My Life in Science Fiction.'' Benbella Books, Dallas, 2005. (Paperback, updated with new photographs and epilogue)

Bibliography

* ''The Works of Jack Williamson: An Annotated Bibliography and Guide'', Richard A. Hauptmann (NESFA Press, 1997)

References

Science Fiction Studies ''Science Fiction Studies'' (''SFS'') is an academic journal founded in 1973 by R. D. Mullen. The journal is published three times per year at DePauw University. As Science fiction studies, the name implies, the journal publishes articles and ...

'' #54 18:2 (July 1991), with scholarly introduction (archived October 2013)
Obituary
at

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association and commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. Whi ...

(archived November 2006)
Obituary
in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', November 15, 2006 * *
Video of Williamson being interviewed in 1992

Audio

*
NPR audio broadcast on Jack Williamson

''Dimension X'': "With Folded Hands"
* Jack Williamson was interviewed by The Science Fiction Radio Show in the early 1980s {{DEFAULTSORT:Williamson, Jack 1908 births 2006 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers American academics of English literature American male novelists American male short story writers American science fiction writers Analog Science Fiction and Fact people Eastern New Mexico University alumni Eastern New Mexico University faculty Hugo Award–winning writers Nebula Award winners People from Bisbee, Arizona People from Portales, New Mexico SFWA Grand Masters Science Fiction Hall of Fame inductees Science fiction academics American science fiction critics United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II University of Colorado alumni World Fantasy Award–winning writers Writers from New Mexico Presidents of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association