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
Sponsor of the day: Andy Richards of Cold Tonnage Books
Westheimer, David
(1917-2005) US journalist and author, best known for the nonfantastic Von Ryan's Express (1964). He is of sf interest for Lighter Than a Feather (1971; vt Downfall 1972; rev vt Death Is Lighter Than a Feather 2000), an Alternate History tale set near the end of World War Two, the Jonbar Point being the decision not to drop the nuclear ...
Hadfield, Chris
(1959- ) Canadian soldier, astronaut, broadcaster and author, pilot in the Canadian air force for twenty-five years from 1977, during which time he crewed in joint Canadian-American space shuttle flights. After The Darkest Dark (2016 chap), a tale of space travel for younger children, he is of sf interest for The Apollo Murders (2021), an Alternate History ...
Night the World Exploded, The
US film (1957). Clover Productions/Columbia Pictures. Produced by Sam Katzman. Directed by Fred F Sears. Written by Jack Natteford and Luci Ward. Cast includes Tristram Coffin (credited as Tris Coffin), Charles Evans, Kathryn Grant, Raymond Greenleaf, William Leslie and Frank Scannell (credited as Frank J Scannell). 64 minutes. Black and white. / Dr Conway (Leslie), with his colleague Dr Morton (Coffin), has perfected a Machine which can predict ...
Clarke's Laws
Three Laws – more accurately, guidelines – for sf authors and other practitioners of Futures Studies or Prediction, stated by Arthur C Clarke in Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry into the Limits of the Possible (1962; rev 1973; rev 1984; rev 2000): / 1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states ...
Towle, George Makepeace
(1841-1893) US translator, editor, man of letters and author, prolific in various fields; served in the United States diplomatic corps as Consul in Nantes, France, and elsewhere. His translations of works by Jules Verne, beginning with The Tour of the World in 80 Days (1873), the first translation of Le Tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours (1873), are moderately faithful. [JC]
Clute, John
(1940- ) Canadian critic, editor and author, in the UK from 1969; married to Judith Clute from 1964, partner of Elizabeth Hand since 1996. He began to publish work of genre interest with an sf-tinged poem "Carcajou Lament" in Triquarterly for Winter 1960 [ie Autumn 1959]; he began consistently publishing sf reviews in his "New Fiction" column for the Toronto Star ...