3 X 3 A Science Fiction Reader - Volume One
By Weinbaum

Alarm Clock

The Best Made Plans

Indirection

Gordon Randall Garrett

The Bramble Bush

Dead Giveaway

Or Your Money Back

Stanley G. Weinbaum

The Brink Of Infinity

The Point Of View

Tidal Moon

a selection from the PREFACE:

The first Golden Age of Science Fiction, often recognized as a period from the late 1930s or early 1940s through to the 1950s, was an era during which the science fiction genre gained wide public attention and many classic science fiction stories were published. In the history of science fiction, the Golden Age follows the "pulp era" of the 1920s and 30s, and precedes New Wave science fiction of the 1960s and 70s. According to historian Adam Roberts, "the phrase [Golden Age] valorizes a particular sort of writing: 'Hard SF', linear narratives, heroes solving problems or countering threats in a space-opera or technological-adventure idiom.

As a phenomenon that affected the psyches of a great many adolescents during World War II and the ensuing Cold War, science fiction's Golden Age has left a lasting impression upon society. The beginning of the Golden Age coincided with the first WorldCom in 1939 and, especially for its most involved fans, science fiction was becoming a powerful social force. The genre, particularly during its Golden Age, had significant, if somewhat indirect, effects upon leaders in the military, information technology, Hollywood and science itself, especially biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industry.

The impression of many parents at the time, however, was often tinged with dismay and intolerance, sometimes sparked by the racy cover illustrations of pulp science fiction. The stereotypical cover of a science fiction pulp magazine depicted a brass-bikini-clad woman at the mercy of a bug-eyed monster.