Golden Age of Science Fiction

The Golden Age of Science Fiction, often identified in the United States as the years 1938–1946, was a period in which a number of foundational works of science fiction appeared in American genre magazines. Exemplars include the Foundation series of Isaac Asimov and the Future History series of Robert Heinlein, but the form included dozens of other authors. 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 '60s and '70s. The 1950s are, in this scheme, a transitional period. Robert Silverberg, who came of age then, saw the '50s as the true Golden Age.

The age is often associated with the influence of editor John W. Campbell. According to Lester del Rey, "the result [of Campbell's editorship] was the so-called Golden Age of science fiction — the beginning of modern science fiction, which was capable of reaching beyond a small readership of gadget-loving hobbyists and science buffs". The new approach was more sophisticated, but technology and optimism, which had always been stressed, continued to be foremost: In historian Adam Roberts's words, "the phrase valorises a particular sort of writing: hard SF, linear narratives, heroes solving problems or countering threats in a space-operatic or technological-adventure idiom."^: 287