SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Tuesday 13 January 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 12 January 2026
Sponsor of the day: Ansible Editions
von Däniken, Erich
(1935-2026) Swiss author of a series of purportedly nonfiction books, beginning with Erinnerungen an die Zukunft (1968; trans Michael Heron as Chariots of the Gods? 1969), which, based on a mass of often suspect and internally inconsistent data, argues that the Earth was visited by at least one Alien spacefaring race before and at the dawn of historical time; thus, for example, the Great Pyramid of ...
Wilbrandt, Conrad
(1832-1921) German economist, politician and author, whose possible relationship to Adolf von Wilbrandt is undetermined; of sf interest is Des Herrn Friedrich Ost Erlebnisse in der Welt Bellamy's: Mittheilungen aus des Jahren 2001 und 2002 (1891; trans Mary J Stafford as Mr East's Experiences in Mr. Bellamy's World: Records of the Years 2001 and 2002 1891), one of many negative responses to Edward ...
Mysterious Traveler Magazine, The
US Digest-size magazine. Five issues, the first four November 1951 to June 1952, and the last undated 1952, published by Grace Publishing, New York; edited by Robert Arthur. Its final issue was retitled The Mysterious Traveler Mystery Reader. A spin-off from Mutual Broadcasting's Radio show The Mysterious Traveler (1943-1952) (which see), the magazine was subtitled "Great ...
Thought Experiment
In Physics, a thought experiment or Gedankenexperiment is a common means of exploring the implications of scientific assumptions without resorting to actual apparatus. Einstein's development of Relativity employed thought experiments about light signals exchanged between observers whose relative speed was a significant fraction of the speed of light, not easily attained by any real observer or (at that time) measuring device. The ...
Interstella 5555
Film (2003). Toei Animation/Virgin Music. Directed by Kazuhisa Takenouchi. Cast includes Thomas Bangalter and Romanthony. Written by Bangalter, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Cédric Hervet. 65 minutes. Colour. / Billed as "the animated House Musical", Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem – to give it its full and unwieldy title – is an extremely unusual film: a feature length anime adaptation of Daft Punk's ...
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 ...