''The Menace From Earth'' is a collection of
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
short stories by American writer
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...
. It was published by The
Gnome Press
Gnome Press was an American small-press publishing company primarily known for publishing many science fiction classics. Gnome was one of the most eminent of the fan publishers of SF, producing 86 titles in its lifespan — many considered classi ...
in
1959
Events January
* January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
in an edition of 5,000 copies.
Contents
* "
The Year of the Jackpot
"The Year of the Jackpot" is a science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, first published 1952, and collected in one of Heinlein's anthologies, ''The Menace from Earth''.
In the story, a trend-following statistician finds r ...
" (1952)
* "
By His Bootstraps
"By His Bootstraps" is a 20,000 word science fiction novella by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. It plays with some of the inherent paradoxes that would be caused by time travel.
The story was published in the October 1941 issue of '' Astoun ...
" (1941)
* "
Columbus Was a Dope" (1947)
* "
The Menace from Earth
"The Menace From Earth" is a science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, first published in the August 1957 issue of ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction''.
Plot summary
The story is set in the near future, when t ...
" (1957)
* "
Sky Lift" (1953)
* "
Goldfish Bowl
"Goldfish Bowl" is a science fiction short story by American author Robert A. Heinlein, first published in ''Astounding Science Fiction'' in March 1942, and collected in one of Heinlein's anthologies, ''The Menace from Earth''.
Plot summary
In ...
" (1942)
* "
Project Nightmare" (1953)
* "
Water Is for Washing
"Water is for Washing" is a science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, first published in '' Argosy'' (November 1947). It is based on the premise that an earthquake had catastrophically shattered the range of alluvial depos ...
" (1947)
Reception
Floyd C. Gale
''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Edit ...
of ''
Galaxy Science Fiction
''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Editi ...
'' rated the collection 4.5 stars out of five. He said "The trouble with Heinlein is that once he explores a situation, not much is left to be said. His prototypes are up-to-the-minute masterworks", citing "By His Bootstraps" and the
temporal paradox
A temporal paradox, time paradox, or time travel paradox is a paradox, an apparent contradiction, or logical contradiction associated with the idea of time and time travel. The notion of time travel to the future complies with current understanding ...
genre as an example.
reviewed ''The Menace from Earth'' for ''
Imagine
Imagine may refer to:
* Imagination
Music Albums
* ''Imagine'' (Armin van Buuren album), 2008
* ''Imagine'' (Eva Cassidy album), 2002
* ''Imagine'' (Janice Vidal album), 2012
* ''Imagine'' (John Lennon album), 1971
** ''Imagine: John Lennon' ...
'' magazine, and stated that "savour such short stories as 'The Year of the Jackpot', a manic end-of-the-world take, and 'By His Bootstraps', simply the best time-travel yarn since Wells. The early Heinlein was a Natural."
References
Sources
*
*
1959 short story collections
Short story collections by Robert A. Heinlein
Gnome Press books
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