Astounding Wonder – Imagining Science and Science Fiction in Interwar America

Introduction. "The Hope of Today and the Reality of Tomorrow": Popular Science, Popular Culture, and Science Fiction PART I. CIRCULATION 1 "Magazines for Morons": Pulp Magazines and the Emergence of Science Fiction 2 Conversations from the "Backyard": Reading and Imagining Community PART II. READING 3 Discovering the Freedom of Facts: Fact, Fiction, and the Authority of Science 4 Involving Adventure, Reassuring Romance: Engendering Science Fiction's Domestic Tranquillity 5 Human Martians and Asian Aliens: The Racial Nature of Wondrous Worlds 6 The Progress of Time: Einstein, History, and the Dimensions of Time Travel PART III. PRACTICE 7 "Fandom Is Just a Goddamn Hobby": The Industry of Fans and Professionals 8 "We Want to Play with Spaceships": Popular Rocket Science in Action Epilogue. Beyond the "Gernsback Continuum": Science Fiction's Community and Social Networks List of Abbreviations Notes Index Acknowledgments