Stanley Grauman Weinbaum (April 4, 1902 – December 14, 1935) was an American

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

writer. His first story, "

A Martian Odyssey "A Martian Odyssey" is a science fiction short story by American writer Stanley G. Weinbaum originally published in the July 1934 issue of ''Wonder Stories''. It was Weinbaum's second published story (in 1933 he had sold a romantic novel, ''Th ...

", was published to great acclaim in July 1934; the alien

Tweel The Tweel (a portmanteau of ''tire'' and ''wheel'') is an airless tire design developed by the French tire company Michelin. Its significant advantage over pneumatic tires is that the Tweel does not use a bladder full of compressed air, and ...

was arguably the first character to satisfy

John W. Campbell John Wood Campbell Jr. (June 8, 1910 – July 11, 1971) was an American science fiction writer and editor. He was editor of ''Astounding Science Fiction'' (later called ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'') from late 1937 until his death and wa ...

's challenge: "Write me a creature who thinks ''as well as'' a man, or better than a man, but not ''like'' a man." Weinbaum wrote more short stories and a few novels, but died from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

less than a year and a half later.

Life and career

Weinbaum was born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, the son of Stella (née Grauman) and Nathan A. Weinbaum. His family was

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. He attended Riverside High School in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. He was granted admission to the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States * Madison (footballer), Brazilian footballer Places in the United States Populated places * Madi ...

in July 1920. He first majored in

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...

, then switched to English, but contrary to common belief he did not graduate. On a bet, Weinbaum took an exam for a friend, and was later discovered; he left the university in 1923. Weinbaum is best known for his groundbreaking science fiction short story "

", which presents a sympathetic but decidedly non-human alien,

. This was his first science fiction story: in 1933 he had sold a romantic novel, ''The Lady Dances'', to

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is an American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product License, licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, columnist, newspape ...

, which serialized the story in its newspapers in early 1934.

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...

described "A Martian Odyssey" as "a perfect Campbellian science fiction story, before

. Indeed, Tweel may be the first creature in science fiction to fulfil Campbell's dictum, 'write me a creature who thinks ''as well as'' a man, or ''better than'' a man, but not ''like'' a man'." Asimov went on to describe it as one of only three stories that changed the way all subsequent stories in the science fiction genre have been written. It was the oldest short story and one of the top vote-getters selected by the

Science Fiction Writers of America The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association and commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. Whi ...

for inclusion in ''

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929–1964 ''The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929–1964'' is a 1970 anthology of English language science fiction short stories, edited by Robert Silverberg. Author Lester del Rey said that "it even lives up to its subtitle", referring t ...

''. Most of the work that was published in Weinbaum's lifetime appeared in either ''

Astounding ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William Cl ...

'' or ''

Wonder Stories ''Wonder Stories'' was an early American science fiction magazine which was published under several titles from 1929 to 1955. It was founded by Hugo Gernsback in 1929 after he had lost control of his first science fiction magazine, ''Amazing Sto ...

''. However, several of his pieces first appeared in the early

science fiction fanzine A science-fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science-fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day. They were one of the earliest forms of fanzine, within one of which the term "''fanzine''" ...

''Fantasy Magazine'' (successor to ''Science Fiction Digest'') in the 1930s, including an "Auto-Biographical Sketch" in the June 1935 issue. Despite common belief, Weinbaum was not one of the contributors to the multi-authored ''Cosmos'' serial in ''Science Fiction Digest/Fantasy Magazine.'' He did contribute to the multi-author story "The Challenge From Beyond", published in the September 1935 ''Fantasy Magazine''. At the time of his death, Weinbaum was writing a novel, ''Three Who Danced''. In this novel, the Prince of Wales is unexpectedly present at a dance in an obscure American community, where he dances with three of the local girls, choosing each for a different reason. Each girl's life is changed, happily or tragically, as a result of the unexpected attention she has received. In 1993, Weinbaum's widow, Margaret Hawtof Kay, donated his papers to the

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

Library in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Included were several unpublished manuscripts, among them ''Three Who Danced'', as well as other unpublished stories. These are mostly romance stories, but there are also a few other non-fiction and fiction writings, none of them science fiction. A film version of Weinbaum's short story " The Adaptive Ultimate" was released in 1957 under the title ''She Devil'', starring

Mari Blanchard Mari Blanchard (born Mary E. Blanchard, April 13, 1923 – May 10, 1970) was an American film and television actress, known foremost for her roles as a B movie'' femme fatale'' in American productions of the 1950s and early 1960s. Early life a ...

, Jack Kelly, and

Albert Dekker Thomas Albert Ecke Van Dekker (December 20, 1905 – May 5, 1968) was an American actor and politician known for his roles in '' Dr. Cyclops'', ''The Killers'' (1946), '' Kiss Me Deadly'', and '' The Wild Bunch''. Early life and career Dekker w ...

. The story was also dramatized for television as an episode of '' Studio One'' titled "Kyra Zelas" (the name of the title character), broadcast on September 12, 1949. A radio dramatization of "The Adaptive Ultimate" was performed on the anthology show ''Escape'' in the 1950s.

Honors and awards

A crater on Mars is named in Weinbaum's honor. On July 18, 2008, he won the Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award.

Critical reception

Lester del Rey Lester del Rey (June 2, 1915 – May 10, 1993) was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the author of many books in the juvenile Winston Science Fiction series, and the fantasy editor at Del Rey Books, the fantasy an ...

declared that "Weinbaum, more than any other writer, helped to take our field out of the doldrums of the early thirties and into the beginnings of modern science fiction."

H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Provi ...

stated that Weinbaum's writing was ingenious, and that he stood miles above the other pulp fiction writers in his creation of genuinely alien worlds, in contrast to

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American writer, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best known for creating the characters Tarzan (who appeared in ...

and his "inane" stories of "egg-laying Princesses".

Frederik Pohl Frederik George Pohl Jr. (; November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an American list of science fiction authors, science-fiction writer, editor, and science fiction fandom, fan, with a career spanning nearly 75 years—from his first ...

wrote that before Weinbaum, science fiction's aliens "might be catmen, lizard-men, antmen, plantmen or rockmen; but they were, always and incurably, ''men''. Weinbaum changed that. ... it was the difference in orientation – in drives, goals and thought processes – that made the Weinbaum-type alien so fresh and rewarding in science fiction in the mid-thirties." According to Pohl, that Weinbaum's "revolutionary idea" was to "give some sort of three-dimensional reality to the characters", in contrast to

Hugo Gernsback Hugo Gernsback (; born Hugo Gernsbacher, August 16, 1884 – August 19, 1967) was a Luxembourgish American editor and magazine publisher whose publications included the first science fiction magazine, ''Amazing Stories''. His contributions to ...

's "animated catalogue of gadgets".

wrote, "Weinbaum... had he lived, would surely be in first place in the list of all-time-favorite science fiction writers."

Everett F. Bleiler Everett Franklin Bleiler (April 30, 1920 – June 13, 2010) was an American editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" s ...

, however, wrote that, although Weinbaum "was generally considered the most promising new s-f author of his day," his reputation is overstated. While "Weinbaum's style was more lively than that of his genre contemporaries, and he was imaginative in background details, ... his work was ordinary pulp fiction, with routine plots, slapdash presentation, cardboard characterization, and much cliche of ideas." Alexei and

Cory Panshin Cory Panshin (born 1947) is an American science fiction critic and writer. She often writes in collaboration with her husband, Alexei Panshin (1940–2022). The Panshins won the Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for t ...

concluded that "Time has swallowed what were once Weinbaum's particular virtues. What is left seems quaint and quirky.""Books", ''

F&SF ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science-fiction magazine, first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Bouche ...

'', December 1974, p. 67

Planetary series

All of Weinbaum's nine interplanetary stories are set in a consistent solar system that was scientifically accurate by the standards of his time. The deceptively avian-looking, botanical

Martians Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, has appeared as a setting in works of fiction since at least the mid-1600s. Trends in the planet's portrayal have largely been influenced by advances in planetary science. It became the most popular celestia ...

of "A Martian Odyssey" and "Valley of Dreams", for instance, are mentioned in " Redemption Cairn" and "

The Red Peri "The Red Peri" is a science fiction novella by American writer Stanley G. Weinbaum, which first appeared in the November 1935 issue of ''Astounding Stories''. Sam Moskowitz has noted that Weinbaum planned to write a series of sequels to "The R ...

"; the quadrupedal Venusian trioptes of "Parasite Planet" and "The Lotus Eaters" are mentioned in "

The Mad Moon "The Mad Moon" is a science fiction short story by American writer Stanley G. Weinbaum, first published in the December 1935 issue of ''Astounding Stories''. As did his earlier stories "A Martian Odyssey" and " Parasite Planet", "The Mad Moon" ...

"; the vicious, pseudomammalian pests of

appear in ''Valley of Dreams'' as minor antagonists; and the rock-eating Pyramid-Makers of Mars are mentioned in "

Tidal Moon "Tidal Moon" is a science fiction short story by American writer Stanley G. Weinbaum and Helen Weinbaum that first appeared in the December 1938 issue of ''Thrilling Wonder Stories'' and was reprinted in the collection ''Interplanetary Odysseys' ...

". In Weinbaum's solar system, in accordance with the then-current

near-collision hypothesis The nebular hypothesis is the most widely accepted model in the field of cosmogony to explain the formation and evolution of the Solar System (as well as other planetary systems). It suggests the Solar System is formed from gas and dust orbiting t ...

, the

gas giants A gas giant is a giant planet composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. Jupiter and Saturn are the gas giants of the Solar System. The term "gas giant" was originally synonymous with "giant planet". However, in the 1990s, it became known that Uranu ...

radiate heat, enough to warm their satellites to Earthlike temperatures, allowing for Earthlike environments on Io,

Europa Europa may refer to: Places * Europa (Roman province), a province within the Diocese of Thrace * Europa (Seville Metro), Seville, Spain; a station on the Seville Metro * Europa City, Paris, France; a planned development * Europa Cliffs, Alexan ...

Titan Titan most often refers to: * Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn * Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology Titan or Titans may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities Fictional locations * Titan in fiction, fictiona ...

, and even

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is a gaseous cyan-coloured ice giant. Most of the planet is made of water, ammonia, and methane in a Supercritical fluid, supercritical phase of matter, which astronomy calls "ice" or Volatile ( ...

. Mars is also sufficiently Earthlike to allow humans to walk on its surface unprotected following training in thin-air chambers.

Van Manderpootz stories

Three of Weinbaum's short stories deal with Dixon Wells, a perpetually late playboy who runs afoul of the inventions of his friend and former instructor in "Newer Physics", Professor Haskel van Manderpootz, a supremely immodest genius who rates

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

as his equal or slight inferior. In "The Worlds of If", Wells tests an invention that reveals what might have been; in "The Ideal", the professor creates a device that can show the image of a person's ideal (in Wells' case, his perfect woman); the contrivance of "The Point of View" allows one to see the world from another's perspective. In all three, Wells finds and then loses the woman of his dreams.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''The Lady Dances'' (King-Features Syndicate 1933). This novel, published under the pen name "Marge Stanley", was published as a newspaper serial in early 1934 and is now available as a print-on-demand title. * ''

The New Adam ''The New Adam'' (Hungarian: ''Az új Ádám'') is a 1924 painting by the Hungarian artist Sándor Bortnyik. It is an oil on canvas and measures 48.3 × 38 cm. It is part of the collection of the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest. Analy ...

'' (

Ziff-Davis Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. Founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology- and health-oriented media websites, online shopping-related servic ...

1939) * '' The Black Flame'' (1939;

Fantasy Press Fantasy Press was an American publishing house specialising in fantasy and science fiction titles. Established in 1946 by Lloyd Arthur Eshbach in Reading, Pennsylvania, it was most notable for publishing the works of authors such as Robert A. Hei ...

1948) * ''The Black Flame'' (

Tachyon Publications Tachyon Publications is an independent press specializing in science fiction and fantasy books. Founded in San Francisco in 1995 by Jacob Weisman, Tachyon books have tended toward high-end literary works, short story collections, and anthologies ...

1997; ) * ''

The Dark Other ''The Dark Other'' is a horror novel by Stanley G. Weinbaum. It was first published in 1950 by Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc. in an edition of 700 copies. The manuscript, written in the 1920s, was originally titled ''The Mad Brain''. With ...

'' aka ''The Mad Brain'' ( Fantasy Publishing Company 1950)

Short stories

* "

" in 7/34 ''Wonder'' * " Valley of Dreams" in 11/34 ''Wonder'' * "

Flight on Titan "Flight on Titan" is a science fiction short story by American writer Stanley G. Weinbaum. It was the third story published by Weinbaum in his Planetary Series. ''Flight on Titan'' first appeared in the January 1935 issue of ''Astounding Storie ...

" in 1/35 ''Astounding'' * " Parasite Planet" in 2/35 ''Astounding'' * " The Lotus Eaters" in 4/35 ''Astounding'' * "Pygmalion's Spectacles" in 6/35 ''Wonder'' * "The Worlds of If" in 8/35 ''Wonder'' * "The Challenge From Beyond" in 9/35 ''Fantasy Magazine'' (Weinbaum wrote the opening 800+ words of the science-fiction version of this

round-robin story A round-robin story, or simply "round robin", is a type of collaborative fiction or storytelling in which a number of authors write chapters of a novel or pieces of a story, in rounds. Round-robin novels were invented in the 19th century, and later ...

. The other four writers were

Donald Wandrei Donald Albert Wandrei (20 April 1908 – 15 October 1987)Minnesota Death Certificates Index
. ...

E. E. Smith Edward Elmer Smith (May 2, 1890 – August 31, 1965) was an American food engineer (specializing in doughnut and pastry mixes) and science-fiction author, best known for the '' Lensman'' and '' Skylark'' series. He is sometimes called the fath ...

Harl Vincent Harl Vincent (October 19, 1893 – May 5, 1968) was the pen name of Harold Vincent Schoepflin, an American mechanical engineer and science-fiction writer, He was published regularly in science-fiction pulp magazines. Life and work Vincent was bo ...

and

Murray Leinster Murray Leinster () was a pen name of William Fitzgerald Jenkins (June 16, 1896 – June 8, 1975), an American writer of genre fiction, particularly of List of science fiction authors, science fiction. He wrote and published more than 1,500 ...

) * "The Ideal" in 9/35 ''Wonder'' * "

The Planet of Doubt "The Planet of Doubt" is a science fiction short story by American writer Stanley G. Weinbaum that was first published in the October 1935 issue of ''Astounding Stories''. It is Weinbaum's third story featuring Hamilton Hammond and Patricia Bur ...

" in 10/35 ''Astounding'' * " The Adaptive Ultimate" in 11/35 ''Astounding'' (as by John Jessel) * "

" in 11/35 ''Astounding'' * "

" in 12/35 ''Astounding''

Posthumous publications

* "The Point of View" in 1/36 ''Wonder'' * "Smothered Seas" in 1/36 ''Astounding'' (with Roger Sherman Hoar writing as Ralph Milne Farley) * "Yellow Slaves" in 2/36 ''True Gang Life'' (with Roger Sherman Hoar writing as Ralph Milne Farley) * " Redemption Cairn" in 3/36 ''Astounding'' * "The Circle of Zero" in 8/36 ''Thrilling Wonder'' * "Proteus Island" in 8/36 ''Astounding'' * "Graph" in 9/36 ''Fantasy Magazine'' * "The Brink of Infinity" in 12/36 ''Thrilling Wonder'' * "Shifting Seas" in 4/37 ''Amazing'' (anticipates discussions of climate change due to changes in the Gulf Stream) * "Revolution of 1950" 10-11/38 ''Amazing'' (with

Roger Sherman Hoar Roger Sherman Hoar (April 8, 1887 – October 10, 1963) was an American state senator and assistant Attorney General, for the state of Massachusetts. He wrote and published science fiction under the pseudonym of Ralph Milne Farley. Family Hoar w ...

writing as Ralph Milne Farley) * "

" in 12/38 ''Thrilling Wonder'' (with Helen Weinbaum, his sister) * "The Black Flame" in 1/39 ''Startling'' * "Dawn of Flame" in 6/39 ''Thrilling Wonder'' * "Green Glow of Death" in 7/57 ''Crack Detective and Mystery Stories'' * ''The King's Watch'', Posthumous Press, 1994, hardcover book, with Foreword and signed by

Robert Bloch Robert Albert Bloch (; April 5, 1917September 23, 1994) was an American fiction writer, primarily of crime fiction, crime, psychological horror fiction, horror and Fantasy Fiction, fantasy, much of which has been dramatized for radio, cinema and ...

and tipped in photo of writers' group, The Milwaukee Fictioneers, to which Weinbaum and Bloch both belonged. (This story is a variant of "The Green Glow of Death" from 7/57 ''Crack Detective and Mystery Stories.'')

Collections of stories and poetry

* '' The Best of Stanley G. Weinbaum'', Ballantine, 1974 * ''Lunaria and Other Poems'', The Strange Publishing Company 1988 * ''The Black Heart'', Leonaur Publishing, 2006 * ''Dawn of Flame: The Stanley G. Weinbaum Memorial Volume'', Conrad H. Ruppert, 1936 * ''Interplanetary Odysseys'', Leonaur Publishing, 2006 * ''A Martian Odyssey and Other Science Fiction Tales'', Hyperion Press, 1974 * '' A Martian Odyssey and Others'',

, 1949 * ''A Martian Odyssey and Other Classics of Science Fiction'',

Lancer A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used for mounted warfare in Assyria as early as and subsequently by India, Egypt, China, Persia, Greece, and Rome. The weapon was widely used throughout Eurasia during the M ...

, 1962 * ''Other Earths'', Leonaur Publishing, 2006 * ''

'',

, 1952 * ''Strange Genius'', Leonaur Publishing, 2006

References

External links

* * * * *

A Short Biography of Stanley G. Weinbaum, by Tom Rogers
Critical profile and bibliography
in ''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (''SFE'') is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo Award, Hugo, Locus Award, Locus and BSFA Award, British SF Awards. Two print editions appea ...

''
Stanley G. Weinbaum
at Manybooks.net
Stanley G. Weinbaum
at The Lit Project * *

at ''

Forgotten Futures ''Forgotten Futures'' is a role-playing game created by Marcus Rowland to allow people to play in settings inspired by Victorian and Edwardian science fiction and fantasy (i.e., steampunk). Most of its releases begin with these stories then add ...

'' - all of his science fiction that is out of European copyright
Past Masters: A Martian? Odd, I See (or a Taste of Milwaukee's Finest)
by

Bud Webster Clarence Howard "Bud" Webster (July 27, 1952 – February 13, 2016) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer who is also known for his essays on both the history of science fiction and sf/fantasy anthologies as well. He is perhaps bes ...

at Grantville Gazette - copy on archive.org * (books published 1936–1974) {{DEFAULTSORT:Weinbaum, Stanley G. 1902 births 1935 deaths American science fiction writers Pulp fiction writers University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Writers from Milwaukee Writers from Louisville, Kentucky Deaths from lung cancer in Wisconsin Jewish American novelists 20th-century American novelists Place of death missing American male novelists 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Kentucky Novelists from Wisconsin 20th-century American Jews