SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Thursday 10 September 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.
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Doc Savage
Hero of many pulp-action sf novels first published – usually as by Kenneth Robeson (a House Name most often used by Lester Dent, but see the Robeson entry for other users of this name) – in Doc Savage magazine. A master Scientist, almost superhuman in intelligence and strength, Doc Savage was actually Clark ...
Cryogenics
From a Greek root meaning "cold-producing", this word is used in Physics to mean the production of extremely low temperatures and the study of phenomena at those temperatures. The shorter word Cryonics was more commonly used in sf Terminology when – as is usual – it is people or other living organic materials that are frozen. This short version has since been adopted for real-world freezing of ...
Mason, Edith Huntington
(1881-? ) US author of the marginally Near Future The Great Plan (1913), in which a rich young American woman establishes a Utopian enclave on the banks of the Rhine in Germany, with the intention of upraising German women to a status equal to men (see Feminism); but romance intervenes. [JC]
Simpson, D G B
(? - ) UK author of Anti-Gas (circa 1940-1945 chap), a World War Two tale in which Poison gas is defeated through pluck and a timely Invention. [JC]
Fan Language
Sf enthusiasts, in common with other groups, have evolved their own terminology and usage. This language comprises words and phrases used in the writing of sf itself and also the more arcane and whimsical jargon of Fandom and Fanzines. / Most sf readers are familiar with the shorthand of their literature, and words like Spaceship, Robot, ...
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 ...