Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Note
- Acknowledgements
- List of Tables
- Chronology
- Chapter One Goodbye to all That: The Old Gateways
- Chapter Two All This and Elwood Too: The Rival Gateways
- Chapter Three Small but Dangerous: The Alternate Gateways
- Chapter Four Back to the Future: The Final Gateways
- Chapter Five Looking Back: The Gateways in Perspective
- Appendix 1 Non–English Language Science Fiction Magazines
- Appendix 2 Summary of Science–Fiction Magazines
- Appendix 3 Directory of Magazine Editors and Publishers
- Appendix 4 Director of Magazine Cover Artists
- Appendix 5 Schedule of Magazine Circulation Figures
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Chapter One - Goodbye to all That: The Old Gateways
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Note
- Acknowledgements
- List of Tables
- Chronology
- Chapter One Goodbye to all That: The Old Gateways
- Chapter Two All This and Elwood Too: The Rival Gateways
- Chapter Three Small but Dangerous: The Alternate Gateways
- Chapter Four Back to the Future: The Final Gateways
- Chapter Five Looking Back: The Gateways in Perspective
- Appendix 1 Non–English Language Science Fiction Magazines
- Appendix 2 Summary of Science–Fiction Magazines
- Appendix 3 Directory of Magazine Editors and Publishers
- Appendix 4 Director of Magazine Cover Artists
- Appendix 5 Schedule of Magazine Circulation Figures
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Summary
On 20 July 1969 man first left his footprint on the Moon. One of science fiction's great dreams had been achieved. At the time, it seemed it must herald a new dawn in space exploration. Further lunar landings were planned, and there was no reason to doubt that there would be a working colony on the Moon by the end of the century. The pictures transmitted, especially that of the Earth seen from the Moon, looking alone and fragile in space, gave impetus to the ecological movement. The manned moon missions were one of those signifi cant moments in history that affects the beliefs, perceptions, hopes and desires of millions.
Science-fiction fans were jubilant. More drama was to follow with the near–tragedy of the Apollo 13mission when for four days the fate of three astronauts hung in the balance as they struggled to return safely to earth. John W. Campbell, Jr., the editor of Analogmagazine and generally acknowledged as the father of modern science fiction, called it ‘the greatest cliff–hanger in history’. But Campbell was also one of the first to recognize that the writing was on the wall for the Apollo programme. Just a few months after the Apollo 13mission he wrote:
there is a type of barrier that makes it impossible for our human culture to reach the stars. There are already signs of that barrier developing – and, as Shakespeare said, ‘The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.’
Those words announced a story by Stanley Schmidt, ‘The Unreachable Stars’, which appeared in the April 1971 issue. The story is set on Earth millennia hence, where nuclear power provides all the fuel requirements but where technology has otherwise receded and there is little understanding of the nature of space and the stars. The belief that man had once travelled to the Moon is dismissed as legend. Benign aliens try to revive Earth's climb back to the stars. One of the aliens explains the shortsightedness of mankind since the twentieth century. Public pressure had forced governments to look inwards at domestic problems such as pollution, population and poverty.
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- Information
- Gateways to ForeverThe Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines from 1970 to 1980, pp. 1 - 113Publisher: Liverpool University PressPrint publication year: 2007