SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Thursday 16 July 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 14 July 2026
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Peabody, Joel R
(1800-1861) US apothecary and author, whose A World of Wonders; Or, Divers Developments, Showing the Thorough Triumph of Animal Magnetism in New England (1838) comprises a set of clairvoyant visions of Alien life throughout the solar system, including advanced civilizations on the Sun, the Moon, and Jupiter. The concept of alien inhabitants of these venues comes early in ...
Courage the Cowardly Dog
US animated tv series (1999-2002). Stretch Films. Created and directed by John R Dilworth. Written by Irv Bauer, David Steven Cohen, John R Dilworth and William Hohauser. Voice cast includes Arthur Anderson, Marty Grabstein, Thea White and Lionel G Wilson. 52 23-minute episodes (each usually comprising two stories), plus the pilot and a special. Colour. / Courage (Grabstein) is an abandoned Dog rescued by an old farming couple, the kindly Muriel Bagge ...
Slater, Ken
(1917-2008) UK bookseller and bibliographer, active in UK Fandom from the 1940s, founding in 1947 Operation Fantast, a network of fans, which – along with the Science Fantasy Society, which he founded in 1948 – nurtured a readership and community during the difficult years after 1945; the Fanzine Operation Fantast (intermittently 1948-1955) was produced in conjunction with this activity, as well as three ...
Baker, Gordon
(? - ) UK author of None So Blind (1946), a Near Future tale set in 1970s Germany, where Neo-Nazis armed with new Weapons threaten democracy. [JC]
Stavridis, Admiral James
(1955- ) US soldier (Supreme Allied Commander Europe 2009-2013) and author, whose Near Future Next World War sequence, beginning with 2034: A Novel of the Next World War (2021) with Elliot Ackerman, complexly narrates a naval War between America and China. The sequel, 2054 (2024) with Elliot Ackerman [who see ...
Nicholls, Peter
(1939-2018) Australian editor and author, primarily a critic and historian of sf through his creation and editing of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction [see below]; resident in the UK 1970-1988, in Australia from 1988; worked as an academic in English literature (1962-1968, 1971-1977), scripted television documentaries, was a Harkness Fellow in Film-making (1968-1970) in the USA, worked as a publisher's editor (1982-1983), often broadcast film and book ...