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Wednesday 11 March 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 9 March 2026
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Adrian, Jack
Pseudonym of UK editor and author Christopher Lowder (1945- ) who wrote several sf and fantasy Comic strips and stories for boys' comics and papers in the 1970s and early 1980s while working for IPC/Fleetway. These include the controversial "Kids Rule OK" for Action (see Boys' Papers), "Adam Eterno" for Thunder and Lion, "Van Helsing" for The House of Hammer, "Timequake" and ...
Barr, Donald
(1921-2004) US author and academic, former assistant dean of the Engineering School of Columbia University, and author of several nonfiction works for children as well as Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty, or The Education of a Headmaster (1971), on US education. His sf novel, Space Relations: A Slightly Gothic Interplanetary Tale (1973), is a Space Opera interlaced amusingly with "literary" analogues to its tale of a space diplomat, sold into ...
Ross, Joseph
Working name of US teacher and editor Joseph Wrzos (1929-2023). He acted as Managing Editor of Amazing Stories and Fantastic 1965-1967 while continuing to teach high-school English full-time in New Jersey. He edited The Best of Amazing (anth 1967), selecting only stories from before he became editor; and Hannes Bok: A Life in Illustration (graph coll 2012). His influence on the field has not been well ...
Westheim, Michael
(1958- ) US teacher and author whose Young Adult tale The Callisto Group (1995) carries its young protagonists through the Solar System on various adventures. [JC]
Defender
Videogame (1980). Williams Electronics (WE). Designed by Eugene Jarvis, Larry DeMar. Platforms: Arcade, Others. / Defender is a two-dimensional arcade game (see Videogames) in which the player flies a small spaceship over a planet, defending the humanoids who live on its surface from various types of invading Aliens. The main display scrolls horizontally across the planetary surface to keep ...
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 reviews on BBC Radio from 1974 and ...