In the early days of 1944, a story entitled "Deadline" appeared in the magazine, Astounding Science Fiction. It included a detailed description of an atomic bomb explosion. FBI agents at once paid a visit to the magazine's editor, John W. Campbell, Jr. The description of the bomb was so accurate and came so far in advance of any public pronouncement about the A-bomb, that the government feared a security leak.
But there wasn't any. As Campbell now explains, "Science fiction writers were talking about atomic bombs years before the government was. I finally convinced the FBI agents of this. They asked me not to print anything more about atomic explosions, but I told them that the absence of such descriptions would be more noticeable than their continued inclusion."
To non-science fiction fans, this story must sound incredible. The popular image of science fiction revolves around such spaceship cowboys as Captain Video or Buck Rogers. A true devotee of the field, however, would deny all connection with such comics. For him, science fiction can be, and often is, not only interesting but also stimulating.
At the annual World Science Fiction Convention this September, for instance, a sizeable portion of time at the three-day meeting was given over to the Glenn L. Martin Company for a discussion of Project Vanguard, next year's launching of an Earth Satellite. No one mentioned--or watched--Captain Video.
Not Very Positive
Strangely enough, while all science fiction enthusiasts are unanimous in their derision of "popular" science fiction, they disagree on just what the field does include.
The real fans are indeed a curious bunch. H. L. Gold, the editor of Galaxy--he describes himself as one of the few objective people in the field--talks about them like this: "All of them are to be avoided. They hinder more than they help. They're non-judicious, non-objective screwballs. They can't see any other point of view." Gold admits that he personally has viewpoints. "But I'm not dogmatic about them," he adds.
Dogmatic or not, Gold does represent one of the three leading positions on the purpose of science fiction. He emphasizes ideas in his magazine, not facts. (Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penecillin, "should have been horsewhipped," according to Gold. By using the "plodding scientific method," Fleming delayed for more than a decade the application of his discovery to medicine, he maintains.)
Anthony Boucher, the editor of Fantasy in Science Fiction, represents the second important viewpoint. As he maintains, "Non-slice-of-life fiction gives the author a chance to spotlight and to examine in greater detail certain aspects of human behavior." This could rightly be called the literary viewpoint. Boucher, it might be added, is the mystery book editor for the New York Times.
No 'Well-Worn Pattern'
There is a third viewpoint, and this one is unquestionably the most valid and the most reasonable. Campbell is a leading exponent of it. For him, science fiction is speculative philosophy. It is a means of training people in creative thinking. As he states it, "People like security. They like the well-tested ideas. But anything we know exactly how to do can be better done by machines. What we want to do is show people that it is possible to view things in different ways, without relying on well-worn patterns of thought."
Campbell actually likes facts. He prints stories, for instance, which present a basic pattern of facts and then view them in new, provocative ways. That, indeed, is just what the author of "Deadline" did. He used certain known bits of science information about the nature of the atom, put them all together, and came up with the A-bomb.
For the most part, advocates of this viewpoint are far from being "screwballs." Many are scientists. They are seriously interested in this variety of science fiction because it gives them a chance to view established facts in new, imaginative combinations. In dealing with science fiction, they are not bound by any old, tried and true concepts. They can let themselves go and actually have some fun. And, occasionally, they may come up with a valuable new idea. Through creative thinking they may not get answers but, as Campbell states, "They will get a sense of security from knowing that they will be able to solve new problems as they arise."
This may be carrying things a little too far. But there is here at Harvard a group of scientists who do hold to Campbell's basic views. They are all somewhat loosely bound together in the "Speculative Society," a fictitious title for a non-existent organization facetiously applied by Dwight Wayne Batteau '48, assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering, to its informal meetings. A closer look at this "Society" may show more clearly what Campbell means when he talks about creative thinking. It also may illustrate the value of his particular variety of science fiction.
Just Speculating
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