''The Wheels of If and Other Science Fiction'' is a 1948 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 ...

stories by

L. Sprague de Camp Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and works of non-fiction, including biog ...

, first published in hardback by Shasta and in paperback by

Berkley Books Berkley Books is an imprint of the Penguin Group. History Berkley Books began as an independent company in 1955. It was founded as "Chic News Company" by Charles Byrne and Frederick Klein, who had worked for Avon; they quickly renamed it Berk ...

in 1970. It has also been translated into German. All the stories were originally published in the magazines ''

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 ...

'' and ''

Unknown Unknown or The Unknown may refer to: Film * The Unknown (1915 comedy film), ''The Unknown'' (1915 comedy film), a silent boxing film * The Unknown (1915 drama film), ''The Unknown'' (1915 drama film) * The Unknown (1927 film), ''The Unknown'' (1 ...

''.

*''"Foreword"'' *''"

The Wheels of If "The Wheels of If" is an alternate history science fiction story by American writer L. Sprague de Camp. It was first published in the magazine '' Unknown Fantasy Fiction'' for October, 1940,Laughlin, Charlotte, and Levack, Daniel J. H. ''De Camp ...

"'' :Allister Park, a prosecutor and local politician is thrown into a parallel universe where due to very minor differences in the course of history, North America has been settled by descendants of the Vikings and New York is replaced by New Belfast. He endeavors to get back into his own universe using his ingenuity to gain influence in his new surroundings. *''"The Best-Laid Scheme"'' :This parody on other

time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...

stories is about a scientist who uses a time travel device to threaten all of North America with destruction through time travel paradoxes, and the secret agent attempting to stop him using a copy of the device. *''"The Warrior Race"'' :Earth has been taken over by the Centaurians, former humans who came back from space as a supremely ethical and powerful people. The heroes in the story, aided by an enigmatic historian, are mostly trying to salvage their corrupt economic schemes. *''"

Hyperpilosity "Hyperpilosity" is a science fiction story by American writer L. Sprague de Camp. It was first published in the magazine ''Astounding Stories'' for April, 1938,Laughlin, Charlotte, and Levack, Daniel J. H. ''De Camp: An L. Sprague de Camp Bibliogr ...

"'' :An apparent plague makes people grow bodily hair similar to that of

Gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...

s. Two doctors attempt to find a cure while large-scale societal changes happen around them. *''"

The Merman "The Merman" is a science fiction story by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, based on the concept of human biological engineering . It was first published in the magazine '' Astounding Science-Fiction'' for December, 1938.Laughlin, Charlotte, an ...

"'' :Vernon Brock is a biologist who experiments with turning

lung The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of t ...

s into

gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

s. After accidentally performing the transformation on himself, he is stuck underwater, unable to communicate, and attempts to resolve the situation using his limited knowledge. *''" The Contraband Cow"'' :In a future where many states have been united into a democratic state and the numerically superior Hindus are enforcing a ban on bovine meat, a young scientist working on

in vitro meat Cultured meat (also known by other names) is meat produced by culturing animal cells ''in vitro''. It is a form of cellular agriculture. Cultured meat is produced using tissue engineering techniques pioneered in regenerative medicine. Jason Ma ...

gets into trouble with police and with meat smugglers. *''" The Gnarly Man"'' :An anthropologist meets a curious "ape-man" at a circus, who turns out to be a

Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While th ...

who stopped aging when he was struck by lightning 50,000 years ago. Struggles over the scientific value and rights of this "non-human" ensue.

Reception

''Astounding'' reviewer

P. Schuyler Miller Peter Schuyler Miller (February 21, 1912 – October 13, 1974) was an American science fiction writer and critic. Life Miller was raised in New York's Mohawk Valley, which led to a lifelong interest in the Iroquois Indians. He pursued this as ...

praised the stories as "representative examples of de Campian whimsy and reverse plot-twists.""Book Reviews",

, October 1949, p.142

References

1948 short story collections Science fiction short story collections by L. Sprague de Camp {{sf-book-stub

Contents

Reception

References