1950 in science fiction explained

The year 1950 was marked, in science fiction, by the following events.

Births and deaths

Births

• William Barton
• James Blaylock
• David Brin
• Paul Cook
• Ian Douglas (pseudonym of William H. Keith, Jr.)
• William R. Forstchen
• Karen Joy Fowler
• Martin Grzimek
• K. W. Jeter
• John Kessel
• Stephen R. Lawhead
• Kirk Mitchell
• Kevin O'Donnell, Jr. (d. 2012)
• Mary Doria Russell
• Lewis Shiner
• Karlheinz Steinmüller
• Michael Swanwick
• Michael Szameit (d. 2014)
• Steve Rasnic Tem

Deaths

• Edgar Rice Burroughs (b. 1875)
• Erle Cox (b. 1873)
• George Orwell (b. 1903)
• Olaf Stapledon (b. 1886)

Events

• Galaxy Science Fiction begins publishing.^[1]
• Doubleday begins publishing science fiction.^[2]

Literary releases

Serialized novels

• The Five Gold Bands by Jack Vance, Startling Stories (November), an adventure where a man seeks the secret to interstellar travel hidden in five gold bracelets.
• The Hand of Zei by L. Sprague de Camp, Astounding Science Fiction (October – January 1951), two explorers face piracy and royal intrigue while searching for a missing person and dealing with forbidden love.
• The Wizard of Linn by A. E. van Vogt, Astounding Science Fiction (April - June), a mutant lord uses alien technology to combat ancient invaders and reshape humanity's fate.

First editions

• The Cometeers by Jack Williamson, a fix-up novel combining two stories from the Legion of Space series.^[3]
• Cosmic Engineers by Clifford D. Simak, a tale of advanced technology and cosmic exploration.^[4]
• The Dreaming Jewels by Theodore Sturgeon, in this debut novel, a runaway boy finds refuge in a circus and gets involved in a battle over alien power.
• First Lensman by E. E. "Doc" Smith, an epic space opera in the Lensman series, won the Retro Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2001.
• The House That Stood Still by A. E. van Vogt, examines the impact of alien technology on humanity.
• The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, chronicles human colonization of Mars and its unforeseen consequences.^[5]
• Needle by Hal Clement, a symbiotic alien detective partners with a human boy to track down a criminal on Earth.
• Nomad by George O. Smith, a man uses knowledge gained from Martians to conquer the Solar System.^[6]
• Pebble in the Sky by Isaac Asimov, this debut novel explores identity and rebellion in a future Earth scenario.
• The Rat Race by Jay Franklin, a naval officer becomes entangled in espionage and experiences bizarre transformations.
• Shadow on the Hearth by Judith Merril, depicts the aftermath of nuclear war on a suburban family.
• The Voyage of the Space Beagle by A. E. van Vogt, follows the Space Beagle and describes its encounters with alien civilizations.^[7]

Novellas

• The Man Who Sold the Moon by Robert A. Heinlein, a visionary businessman uses unconventional methods to achieve lunar exploration, part of the Future History series.

Novelettes

• "The Little Black Bag" by Cyril M. Kornbluth, Astounding Science Fiction (July).

Short stories

• "Born of Man and Woman" by Richard Matheson, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (July)
• "Scanners Live in Vain" by Cordwainer Smith, Fantasy Book (January)
• "The Shadow Men" by A. E. van Vogt, Startling Stories, expanded into the novel The Universe Maker in 1953.
• "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury, Collier's Weekly (May 6)
• "To Serve Man" by Damon Knight, Galaxy Science Fiction (November)

Short story collections

• The Dying Earth by Jack Vance
• I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
• The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (fix-up collection)^[5]

Juveniles

• Farmer in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein, a Heinlein juvenile describing the challenges faced by a young farmer on a distant planet.

Movies

See main article: List of science fiction films of the 1950s.

Title	Director	Cast	Country	Subgenre/Notes
Destination Moon	Irving Pichel	Warner Anderson, John Archer, Tom Powers	United States	Adventure Drama Thriller ^[8]
Flying Disc Man from Mars	Fred C. Brannon	Kent Fowler, Gregory Gaye	United States	Action Adventure Crime Fantasy Serial film
The Flying Saucer	Mikel Conrad	Mikel Conrad, Pat Garrison, Hanz von Teuffen	United States	Thriller
The Invisible Monster	Fred C. Brannon	Stanley Price, Richard Webb, Aline Towne, Lane Bradford	United States	Action Adventure Crime Thriller Serial film
Rocketship X-M	Kurt Neumann	Lloyd Bridges, Osa Massen, John Emery	United States	Family

Awards

The main science-fiction awards known at the present time did not exist at this time.

See also

• 1950 in science

Notes and References

1. Book: James. Edward. Mendlesohn. Farah. The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction. 2003. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. 978-0-521-01657-5. xxii. Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn .
2. Book: Clute, John. Science Fiction: the Illustrated Encyclopedia. 1995. Dorling Kindersley. London. 0-7894-0185-1. 68.
3. The Cometeers (1936) and One Against the Legion (1939), both published in Astounding Stories.
4. Originally serialized in Astounding Stories in 1939.
5. Considered a novel, but composed of short stories.
6. Originally serialized in three parts in Astounding beginning in December 1944, under Smith's pseudonym, Wesley Long.
7. A fix-up compilation of four stories previously published between July 1939 and May 1950.
8. Winner of a Retroactive Hugo Award in 2001.