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Monday 13 April 2026
Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Fourth Edition. Some sample entries appear below. Click here for the Introduction; here for what we mean by Science Fiction; here for the masthead; here for some Statistics; here for the Acknowledgments; here for the FAQ; here for advice on citations. Find entries via the search box above (more details here) or browse the menu categories in the grey bar at the top of this page.
Site updated on 6 April 2026
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Johns, Kenneth
Pseudonym used for collaborations between Kenneth Bulmer and John Newman on a long series of science-fact articles for New Worlds and Nebula Science Fiction 1955-1961. [JC]
Soylent Green
Film (1973). MGM. Directed by Richard Fleischer. Written by Stanley R Greenberg, based on Make Room! Make Room! (1966) by Harry Harrison. Cast includes Chuck Connors, Joseph Cotten, Charlton Heston, Paula Kelly, Edward G Robinson and Leigh Taylor-Young. 97 minutes. Colour. / A New York police detective (Heston) in a 2022 CE marked by massive Overpopulation investigates what appears to be a routine ...
Rhinehart, Luke
Pseudonym of US teacher and author George Powers Cockcroft (1932-2020), best known for his Dice Man books, a sequence beginning with his first novel, The Dice Man (1971; rev 1983); publicity for the novel wrongly described its author as a psychiatrist. The tale, whose protagonist is named Luke Rhinehart, dramatizes a philosophy of chance – with life decisions made according to a throw of the dice – which, given dramatic fictional form, leads to what might ...
Barnwell, William
(1943- ) US author whose most interesting foray into the sf/fantasy genre was his well-written Blessing Trilogy, consisting of The Blessing Papers (1980), Imram (1981) and The Sigma Curve (1981). Set in Eire (here called Imram), this complex quest through a Ruined-Earth world, where some sort of grand design by mysterious powers is operating, at first appears lively but conventional ...
Hansen, L Taylor
(1897-1976) US anthropologist and author who attended the University of California Los Angeles for graduate work in science; she published numerous sf stories and popular science articles in the Pulp magazines between 1929 and 1949, beginning with "What the Sodium Lines Revealed" in Amazing Stories Quarterly for Winter 1929, and The Undersea Tube (November 1929 Amazing; 2008 ebook), ...
Langford, David
(1953- ) UK author, critic, editor, publisher and sf fan, in the latter capacity recipient of 21 Hugo awards for fan writing – some of the best of his several hundred pieces are assembled as Let's Hear It for the Deaf Man (coll 1992 chap US; much exp vt The Silence of the Langford 1996; exp 2015 ebook) as Dave Langford, edited by Ben Yalow – plus five Best Fanzine Hugos ...