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Monday 16 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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Smith, George Albert
(1864-1959) Pioneering UK filmmaker (see Cinema), sometimes referred to as G A Smith. Initially a stage hypnotist and part of an act with Douglas Blackburn involving mind-reading (see Telepathy) and second sight (see ESP), Smith joined the Society for Psychical Research in 1883. He worked with Edmund Gurney, who was investigating Hypnotism, telepathy and suchlike: Smith, along with ...
Townsend, John
(1924- ) UK author of the Andy and Tom series of Children's SF Space Operas comprising The Rocket-Ship Saboteurs (1959) and A Warning to Earth (1960). He should not be confused with John Rowe Townsend. [JC]
Müller-Holm, Ernst
(1861-1927) Swedish-born author, in Germany from an early age, whose Ein Rückblick aus dem Jahre 2037 auf das Jahr 2000: Aus den Erinnerungen des Herrn Julian West (1891; trans anon as My Afterdream: A Sequel to the Late Mr. Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward 1900) as by Julian West is a stridently negative response to Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward (1888), which is depicted as a whitewash over socialist ...
Gentle, Mary
(1956- ) UK author who began publishing with a fantasy for young adults, A Hawk in Silver (1977; rev 1985), and who came to general notice with her Orthe sequence – Golden Witchbreed (1983) and Ancient Light (1987), both assembled, with a linked story, as Orthe: Chronicles of Carrick V (omni 2002) – which, despite the fantasy ring of the first title, is sf. The protagonist of both volumes, a ...
McGrath, Thomas
(1916-1990) US poet and author of The Gates of Ivory, the Gates of Horn (1957), a Dystopian vision of a future America controlled by Machines. The tale is clearly influenced by – and a response to – his treatment in 1953 as an unfriendly witness before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, which caused his dismissal from the Los Angeles State College. [JC]
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 ...