The Best of Science Fiction

by John W. Campbell Jr. (Foreword), Groff Conklin (Editor)

Crown, 1946. First edition. One of the first collections of modern science fiction; a must for the serious collector. Foreword by John W. Campbell, Jr.; Introduction by the editor. Solution Unsatisfactory (1941) by Anson MacDonald; The Piper's Son (1945) by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore [as by Lewis Padgett]; Deadline (1944) by Cleve Cartmill; Lobby (1944) by Clifford D. Simak; Blowups Happen (1940) by Robert A. Heinlein; Atomic Power (1934) by Don A. Stuart; Killdozer! (1944) by Theodore Sturgeon; Davey Jones' Ambassador (1935) by Raymond Z. Gallun; Giant in the Earth (1933) by Morrison Colladay; Goldfish Bowl (1942) by Robert A. Heinlein [as by Anson MacDonald]; The Ivy War (1930) by David H. Keller, M.D.; Liquid Life (1936) by Ralph Milne Farley; A Tale of the Ragged Mountains (1844) by Edgar Allan Poe; The Great Keinplatz Experiment (1885) by Arthur Conan Doyle; The Remarkable Case of Davidson's Eyes (1895) by H. G. Wells; The Tissue-Culture King (1926) by Julian Huxley; The Ultimate Catalyst (1939) by John Taine; Tricky Tonnage (1944) by Malcolm Jameson; The Lanson Screen (1936) by Arthur Leo Zagat; The Ultimate Metal (1935) by Nat Schachner; The Machine (1935) by John W. Campbell, Jr.; Short-Circuited Probability (1941) by Norman L. Knight; The Search (1943) by A. E. van Vogt; The Upper Level Road (1935) by Warner Van Lorne; The 32nd of May (1935) by Paul Ernst; The Monster from Nowhere (1939) by Nelson S. Bond; First Contact (1945) by Murray Leinster; Universe (1941) by Robert A. Heinlein; Blind Alley (1945) by Isaac Asimov; En Route to Pluto [Bird of Time] (1936) by Wallace West; The Retreat to Mars (1927) by Cecil B. White; The Man Who Saved the Earth (1919) by Austin Hall; Spawn of the Stars (1930) by Charles Willard Diffin; The Flame Midget (1936) by Frank Belknap Long; Expedition (1943) by Anthony Boucher; The Jackdaw (1942) by Ross Rocklynne and three more stories.

785 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1954

About the author

John Wood Campbell, Jr. was an influential figure in American science fiction. As editor of Astounding Science Fiction (later called Analog Science Fiction and Fact), from late 1937 until his death, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction.

Isaac Asimov called Campbell "the most powerful force in science fiction ever, and for the first ten years of his editorship he dominated the field completely."

As a writer, Campbell published super-science space opera under his own name and moody, less pulpish stories as Don A. Stuart. He stopped writing fiction after he became editor of Astounding.

Known Pseudonyms/Alternate Names:

Don A. Stuart
Karl van Campen
John Campbell
J. W. C., Jr.
John W. Campbell
John Wood Campbell