Information about Astounding Science Fiction

Analog Science Fiction and Fact is the longest-running science fiction magazine of all time. Initially published in 1930 in the United States as Astounding Stories, it is considered one of the seminal science-fiction magazines. Originally a pulp magazine, by the late 1930s it had become the leader in its field. It has undergone several name changes, most importantly in 1938 to Astounding Science-Fiction, and then in 1960 to Analog Science Fact & Fiction. Its current logo was adopted in November of 1992 and uses Fiction and Fact instead of Fact & Fiction. Although it is still the leader in the field, its circulation, like that of all other science-fiction and fantasy magazines, has fallen precipitously over the last two decades. From a high of about 115,000 monthly sales in 1983, its total circulation in 2006 was only 28,319. ^[1]

The Clayton Astounding (1930 - 1933)

Astounding Stories of Super-Science was initially published by Publisher's Fiscal Corporation, which later became Clayton Magazines. The first issue appeared in January 1930 under the editorship of Harry Bates. This incarnation of Astounding was a pulp magazine in every sense of the word, printed on thick, poor quality paper with untrimmed edges, adorned by lurid covers, and offering relatively uncomplicated space adventure stories. However, Bates' emphasis on well-constructed stories, with the science being plausible, can be seen as beginning a trend continued in later versions of the magazine. [1] After the first year of publication, the original name Astounding Stories of Super-Science was shortened to Astounding Stories. Clayton went out of business in early 1933, and the last Clayton Astounding was dated March 1933.

The Tremaine Years (1933 - 1937)

Following the demise of Clayton, Astounding Stories was bought by Street & Smith, who started to issue their own version of the magazine in October of 1933 with F. Orlin Tremaine as editor. Under Tremaine's control, Astounding became a much more serious publication than its previous incarnation. Tremaine introduced the concept of the 'thought variant' story, encouraging authors to come up with genuinely new science fiction ideas rather than recycling the old adventure plots. Notable stories in the Tremaine Astounding include "Old Faithful" by Raymond Z. Gallun, "Parasite Planet" and "The Lotus Eaters" by Stanley G. Weinbaum, "Sidewise in Time" and "Proxima Centauri" by Murray Leinster, and "Minus Planet" by John D. Clark. In 1934, Astounding became one of the first fiction magazines to print a major work of non-fiction, in the form of Charles Fort's Lo!, which was serialized in eight parts between April and November (this was not the first appearance of Lo!, which had been published in book form three years earlier). By the time Tremaine relinquished editorship in 1937 Astounding had gained a reputation in science fiction fandom as the leading magazine of its time.

John W. Campbell Takes Command

The Golden Age (1937 - 1949)

Following 8 years of publication under two different editors, the magazine's helm was assumed by John W. Campbell, who took over from the October 1937 issue. The period of Campbell's editorship between the late 1930s and late 1940s is often referred to as "the golden age of Astounding", or even "the Golden Age of Science Fiction". It is almost certainly true that a larger proportion of the fiction published in the magazine during these years has subsequently been reprinted in book form than is true of any of the other science-fiction magazines of this period or even of later periods of Astounding itself.

One of Campbell's first editorial acts, in March 1938, was to retitle the magazine Astounding Science-Fiction. He brought an unprecedented insistence on placing equal emphasis on both words of "science fiction." No longer satisfied with gadgetry and action alone, Campbell demanded that his writers think out how science and technology might really develop in the future - and, most important, how those changes would affect the lives of human beings.This new sophistication soon made Astounding the undisputed leader in the field.



Perhaps Campbell's most important achievement during the 1940s was to nurture the careers of a number of young and often previously unpublished writers by offering copious amounts of feedback and encouragement, even if accompanied by a rejection slip. Among Campbell's most important "discoveries" of this period were Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein and A. E. Van Vogt.

Campbell revealed a sly sense of humor in the November 1949 issue. He had always encouraged literary criticism by Astounding's readership, and in the November 1948 issue he published a letter to the editor by a reader named Richard A. Hoen that contained a detailed ranking of the contents of an issue one year in the future. Campbell went along with the joke and contracted stories from most of the authors mentioned in the letter that would follow the fan's imaginary story titles. One of the best-known stories from that issue is "Gulf", by Robert A. Heinlein. Other stories and articles were written by a number of the most famous authors of the time: Isaac Asimov, Theodore Sturgeon, Lester del Rey, A. E. van Vogt, L. Sprague de Camp, and the astronomer R. S. Richardson. ^[2]

In a minor change, in the November issue of 1946 the name of the magazine was changed from Astounding Science-Fiction to Astounding SCIENCE FICTION, with the hyphen missing and the last two words in large block letters. It would retain this logo until January, 1953. ^[3]

The Transitional Years (1950 - 1959)

Campbell continued at the helm of Astounding throughout the 1950s, but the magazine's style and reputation altered somewhat during this period. Part of this was due to the emergence of Astounding's first serious competitors like The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and Galaxy Science Fiction, and the boom in paperback originals, which meant that Astounding was no longer the only place to find top-quality science fiction. A second reason was Campbell's increasing interest in what can be described as fringe science, in particular psionics and antigravity-type devices such as the Dean drive. However, this reflected a shift in subject matter rather than quality, and such topics were always dealt with in a serious and rational way.

Many historically important stories and articles continued to appear in the pages of Astounding during the 1950s. Tom Godwin's "The Cold Equations" - sometimes listed as one of the top dozen or so best science fiction short stories - was published in the August 1954 issue. It generated more response mail than any story the magazine had ever printed. Writer L. Ron Hubbard published the first article on his Dianetics concepts, which would soon expand into Scientology, in the magazine in May 1950. [2]

The Birth of Analog (1960 - 1971)

Throughout his editorship of Astounding, Campbell felt the title of the magazine was too "sensational" or "juvenile" to reflect what it was actually doing. He addressed this as far back as 1946 by de-emphasizing the word "Astounding", printing it in narrow script above the bold words "SCIENCE FICTION". However, this was not enough, and he renamed the magazine Analog in 1960. Over the course of eight issues, from February to September 1960, the title logo was changed; the large initial "A" stayed the same while the letters "stounding" were faded down and the letters "nalog" faded up on top of them. Bibliographers often abbreviate the magazine as ASF, which can of course stand for either title. The word "and" was sometimes replaced in the logo by a pseudo-mathematical symbol comprising a horizontal right-pointing arrow piercing an inverted U-shape. The symbol, apparently invented by Campbell, was said to mean "analogous to."

Ben Bova's Analog (1972 - 1978)

After Campbell died suddenly in 1971, Ben Bova took over as editor starting with the January 1972 issue. He remained in this capacity until November 1978. He won the Hugo Award for Best Professional Editor for 5 consecutive years, 1973 through 1978. (The award did not exist before 1973.)

Analog today: Stanley Schmidt, Editor

Bova was succeeded as editor by Stanley Schmidt at the end of 1978, and Schmidt remains editor to this day. Schmidt has been nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Professional Editor for 26 consecutive years, 1980 through 2006, without ever winning it; all through his tenure, however, Analog has been the best-selling English-language SF magazine in the world.

Due to the economics of the magazine publishing industry (i.e. not much money in the budget), Analog frequently prints material from previously unknown authors, and has launched the careers of popular contributors within the genre (e.g. Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game in the 1970s, and early work by Harry Turtledove in the 1980s and Paul Levinson in the 1990s.)

Each year, Analog conducts a readers' poll—called the Analytical Laboratory, or AnLab—to determine the favorite stories, articles and cover art published in the magazine in the previous year. Many recipients of the AnLab Award have gone on to receive the much-coveted Hugo Award.

British Reprint Editions

From August 1939 until April 1963, the version of ASF that was sold in the United Kingdom was quite different from the American original. These "British Reprint Editions", as they were known, were published by the Atlas Publishing and Distributing Company under license from Street and Smith. The material in the British editions was a subset of the original magazine contents, in the sense that there was nothing in the British edition that had not previously appeared in the U.S. version, but that parts of the original contents were quite often omitted from the British version. This was particularly true up to October 1953, when the British edition was much slimmer than its American counterpart. For this reason the serials, editorials, factual articles and letter columns that were often the most appealing features of the American version were denied to British readers.

The material appearing in the British reprint was usually taken from the American issue dated three or four months earlier. However, this was never systematic, and cross-reference between U.S. and British editions is a complicated process. A further anomaly occurs because the covers of the British editions were almost always redrawn from the corresponding American edition, possibly for copyright reasons. At first sight the covers often look the same, but closer inspection reveals subtle differences.[3]

Like the American original, the British Reprint Edition underwent a gradual change of title from Astounding to Analog. However, due to the lag in contents and cover image, this process was completed a few months later - the first issue completely devoid of the Astounding logo was February 1961 rather than October 1960. The final British Reprint Edition of Analog appeared in April 1963; after this time the American version published by Condé Nast Publications was imported directly into the UK.

Reputation

In contrast to the literary bent of its main competitors, Asimov's Science Fiction and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Analog is known for focusing more on the brass tacks of science and technology (the letters-to-the-editor section is even called "Brass Tacks"). Some critics refer to this as "scientist fiction" and charge that scientific accuracy is often presented as more important than plot or character in Analog stories. George R.R. Martin described Analog as having "the reputation of being hard-nosed, steel-clad, scientifically rigorous, and perhaps a bit puritanical."

[4]

Summary of Editors

• Harry Bates, January 1930 - March 1933
• F. Orlin Tremaine, October 1933 - October 1937
• John W. Campbell, Jr., October 1937 - December 1971 (his death)
• Ben Bova, January 1972 - November 1978
• Stanley Schmidt, December 1978 to present

Notes

External links

• Analog Science Fiction and Fact official web site
• Gallery of cover art at sfcovers.net