SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Sunday 9 August 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 3 August 2026
Sponsor of the day: John Howard
Lewandowski, Konrad T
(1966- ) Polish philosopher, journalist and prolific author active since the early 1990s in Polish Fandom and online discussion, often using the pseudonym Przewodas. A graduate of the chemistry department at Warsaw's Polytechnic, who later earned a PhD in philosophy, Lewandowski is best known for his Fantastika, although his portfolio also includes a five-volume criminal saga. ...
Pocket Universe
A term first used in Genre SF, in a restricted sense, by Murray Leinster in "Pocket Universes" (October 1946 Thrilling Wonder), where it is a "contrivance" rather than an encompassing world. This entry is not concerned with prior metaphorical uses of "pocket universe" outside sf, for example with reference to the world-view of Hegel in Egotism in German Philosophy (1916) by George Santayana ...
Luna Monthly
US Fanzine (1969-1977), published by Frank and Ann F Dietz from New Jersey, edited by Ann F Dietz, 67 issues, schedule varying from monthly to quarterly, stapled Digest-size, litho. Luna Monthly was notable for its professionalism and its exceptionally thorough review coverage, for which it is a useful research tool. Reviews – some by Greg Bear – were often good; Mark Purcell's column ...
Invisible Ray, The
Film (1936). Universal Pictures. Directed by Lambert Hillyer. Written by John Colton from an original story by Howard Higgins, and Donald Hodge. Cast includes Frances Drake, Boris Karloff (credited as "Karloff"), Frank Lawton and Bela Lugosi. 80 minutes. Black and white. / The brilliant Dr Janos Rukh (Karloff) has invented a Time Viewer telescope which can literally record events which ...
Swindells, Robert E
(1939- ) UK translator and author who has concentrated for most of his career on Young Adult novels, several of them set in his native Yorkshire. Although most of his work has been fantasy, sf novels of interest have appeared at various points over this career, beginning with When Darkness Comes (1973), a Prehistoric SF tale movingly depicting the consequences of the incursion of ...
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 ...