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Wednesday 11 March 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 9 March 2026
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Stockton, Frank R
(1834-1902) US editor and author, whose known pseudonyms for early work included Paul Fort and John Lewees. He worked on Scribner's Magazine before becoming assistant editor of St Nicholas Magazine 1873-1881, and began to publish stories for children with "The Slight Mistake" for the American Courier in 1855, though his first tale to gain much attention was "Ting-a-ling" (1867 Riverside Magazine for Young People); it was assembled, ...
Whiteford, Wynne N
(1915-2002) Australian motoring journalist and author who began to publish work of genre interest with "Beyond the Infinite" in Adam and Eve for 28 May 1934. He then fell silent until the mid-1950s, at which point he also began to sell to overseas markets, starting with "The Non-Existent Man" (July 1958 Amazing); after 1960, however, he did not sell to the American market for a quarter of a century. Whiteford's mature work turns ...
Woolverton, Linda
(1952- ) US screenwriter, playwright and author, very much best known for scripting Disney films like Beauty and the Beast (1991) directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, The Lion King (1994) directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, Maleficent (2014) directed by Robert Stromberg, and others. After some theatrical experience, her first novel, which is of sf interest, was the Young Adult ...
Shurkin, Joel N
(1938- ) US journalist (winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1979) and author whose very Near Future medical Technothriller, Helix (1979) with Desmond Ryan, extrapolates from the real effects of Legionnaire's Disease to depict a virulent nationwide Pandemic. [JC]
Radon
Film (1956; vt Sora no Daikaijū Radon ["Giant Monster of the Sky, Radon"]; vt, outside Japan, Rodan). Toho. Directed by Ishirō Honda. Written by Takeshi Kimura and Takeo Murata, based on a story by Takashi Kuronomura. Cast includes Akihiko Hirata, Kenji Sahara and Yumi Shirkawa. 79 minutes. Colour. / This film, the first Japanese Kaiju Monster Movie in colour, is from the same team that produced ...
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 ...