▁Press ▁in ▁ 1 9 7 4 . ▁Most ▁of ▁its ▁chap ters ▁are ▁re vised ▁versions ▁of ▁articles ▁that ▁initially ▁appeared ▁in ▁the ▁magazine ▁Ama zing ▁St ories ▁from ▁ 1 9 6 1 - 1 9 6 4 . ▁ ▁The ▁work ▁presents ▁the ▁history ▁of ▁the ▁genre ▁from ▁the ▁ 1 9 2 0 s ▁through ▁the ▁ 1 9 6 0 s ▁via ▁a ▁discussion ▁of ▁the ▁lives ▁and ▁works ▁of ▁twenty - two ▁of ▁its ▁most ▁important ▁early ▁writers . ▁After ▁a ▁general ▁introduction , ▁individual ▁chap ters ▁deal ▁with ▁particular ▁authors , ▁followed ▁by ▁a ▁general ▁survey ▁of ▁later ▁or ▁less er ▁writers ▁( including ▁C . ▁S . ▁Lewis , ▁James ▁B lish , ▁Walter ▁M . ▁Miller , ▁Jr ., ▁L . ▁Ron ▁Hub b ard , ▁Hal ▁Clement , ▁Ross ▁Rock lyn ne , ▁P oul ▁Anderson , ▁Cy ril ▁M . ▁K orn bl uth , ▁Freder ik ▁P ohl , ▁Alfred ▁B ester , ▁Ed gar ▁P ang born , ▁Kurt ▁V onn eg ut , ▁Jr ., ▁Philip ▁K . ▁Dick , ▁Ward ▁Moore , ▁John ▁Her sey , ▁John ▁Christopher ▁and ▁Frank ▁Herbert ), ▁an ▁ep ilog ue ▁and ▁an ▁index . ▁ ▁Cont ents ▁" Introduction " ▁" E . ▁E . ▁Smith , ▁Ph . ▁D ." ▁" John ▁W . ▁Campbell " ▁" M ur ray ▁Le in ster " ▁" Ed mond ▁Hamilton " ▁" Jack ▁William son " ▁" Super man " ▁( M ort