Four-Score (and Ten) Wednesday: Electrical Experimenter, March 1920

Electrical Experimenter, Volume 7, Number 11, March 1920. Publisht February 15, 1920.

Hugo Gernsback is known today pretty much solely as the father of the specialty science fiction magazine, but science fiction was only one of his interests. In fact, that grew out of his interest in science, especially of the technological tinkering variety. And he only produced science fiction magazines for a comparatively brief portion of his long publishing career.

Check out Wikipedia's page on Gernsback, and you'll see just what a small part of his output the science fiction magazines were.

The Electrical Experimenter is something of a crossover point. This magazine, which formally changed its title to Science and Invention in June 1920 (although, as you can see, it was a gradual process on the cover), was the one which convinced Gernsback that a specialty science fiction magazine might be successful. He started publishing what was then called scientific fiction in his Modern Electrics in 1911, but it only became a fairly regular feature in this magazine. In fact, such stories continued there past the advent of Amazing Stories in 1926, until Gernsback lost control of his original company in early 1929. (This led him to create a new company with a new group of magazines, including Science Wonder Stories and Air Wonder Stories.)

This week, instead of just giving you the cover, I've made a pdf file including twelve of the interior pages as well. They give some idea of how extensively illustrated the magazine was, and a little taste of the age in which it was produced. For instance, the cover story concludes triumphantly, "were it but even a promise it would mean another step towards the final mastery of all matter by man."

Maybe the most characteristic of its time is a two-page article on "Radium--The Wonder-Substance." In his blog, Joshua Glenn dubbed the era before the Golden Age of Science Fiction the "Radium Age." I'd debate his dating (he considers it 1904-33), but there's no doubting that the term is apposite. During the 1920s and '30s, science fiction was as overflowing with radium this and radium that as today's is with nano-this and nano-that. As you can see from this article, radium was, so to speak (fortunately), in the air.

Not included in the pdf is Gernsback's editorial, since much of that page in my copy fed long-passed generations of insects. The editorial itself is complete, however, and I present it here to show how far ahead Gernsback was looking. And unlike what I usually do with the Sunday Scientifiction stories from this period, I give it to you with the simplified/modernized spelling that he used in the magazine intact. (His publishing statement that the magazine was "publisht on the 15th of each month" inspired me to spell the word likewise at the top of this article.)

The Moon Rocket

In our February issue we discust the Goddard Moon Rocket minutely, presenting the entire problem as laid down by the inventor. Right here it should again be pointed out, as already mentioned in the original account, that Dr. Goddard did not primarily invent his rocket to travel from the earth to the moon. This was only a secondary consideration.

Once a rocket has gone up for 400 or 500 miles into the atmosphere, it would be impossible to prove by any means that it had actually reached this great heighth. A minute's reflection will show that no barograph or other recording instrument would be of any value because at this heighth there is no air.

While we know that the temperature in free space is -459° Fahrenheit, we could of course employ some sort of a recording instrument which would show that the rocket had actually past into free space. This could be verified if the temperature recorded was -459°. However, the trouble is that the rocket could go on for a thousand miles higher and still the temperature would remain just exactly the same, viz. -459°.

Dr. Goddard conceived the idea to make the rocket big enough so that it would actually propel itself on to the dark side of the moon and there explode a magnesium flash charge; the proof of its landing upon the moon would be conclusive if our astronomers actually saw the flash upon the dark side of the moon.

Theoretically the scheme of firing a rocket to the moon is feasible; practically, we are much afraid it is not. We do not deny the possibility of building an enormous gun à la Jules Verne and fire a projectile which could reach the moon. It would only be a consideration of making the gun large enough and using enough high explosive. If the gun were trained at the correct point in the heavens, there is little doubt that such a missile would, after some hours flight, alight on the moon. But in the case of a rocket this becomes a vastly different problem.

In the first place, it should be borne in mind that at the time when a rocket or even a shell is fired, it is of course not fired at the moon at all. The reason is that it takes many hours or even days for the projectile to land upon our satellite. For that reason when we fire the gun or the rocket, it becomes evident that it is fired direct into space with no moon anywhere in sight. In other words, the gun is trained on a certain point in space, accurately calculated by astronomers, the calculation being such that we will know the length of time it will take the projectile to traverse the space between the earth and the moon. The latter during this period will have moved to the point where it will intercept the flight of the projectile. As to the Goddard Rocket, it has been calculated that it would take about 100 hours to traverse this space of 220,000 miles.

Granted that we had fired the Rocket on a very calm day when there was no breath of air stirring, so as not to deviate the path of the rocket even an inch (and this condition alone is almost impossible), we now come to the next consideration. A rocket which propels itself in a vacuum will not move in an absolute straight line. The reason is that the explosions acting upon the body of the rocket will not project the rocket exactly along its axis.

It should be remembered that it has to traverse 220,000 miles to hit an object 2,164 miles in diameter. Consequently, it can be readily seen that a deflection of a small fraction of an inch to either side at the start would prevent the rocket from making a successful landing upon the moon.

Even if meteorites never actually hit the rocket, many, however, would certainly come near enough to the rocket to draw it slightly out of its path, due to gravitational attraction.

If a rocket is ever used, it would be necessary to have it carry with it some human beings, who could correct these influences along the way.

                                                                                                       H. GERNSBACK.

Of course, it's easy to look askance at a couple of odd ideas, such as that meteorites exist in such bulk between the Earth and the Moon that they would actually have a measurable gravitational influence, but Gernsback did seem to have a grip on the technological hurdles in the way of space travel.

Another thing that I decided not to include in the pdf is the issue's piece of scientific fiction, "Whispering Ether," by Charles S. Wolfe. That's because (and you're probably ahead of me) it's this week's Sunday Scientifiction.

(Click on the image of the cover to read the pdf in your web browser. Download and share the intact file all you like; that's what it's there for.)

Four-Score Wednesday: Air Wonder Stories, March 1930

(click on image on the left for a 150dpi jpg file of the cover)

Air Wonder Stories, Volume 1, Number 9, March 1930. Published February 10, 1930.

On the Cover This Month

is shown a scene from Edward E. Chappelow's story, "The Return of the Air Master." We see the Air Master's craft cutting a neat hole through the roof of a building and drawing up some of its contents by means of his gravity nullifying ray. The airship is surrounded by a haze of its own making.

Hell, what's special about that? Sometimes I'm surrounded by a haze of my own making, and no one's thrilled about that. Still, that description does make the Air Master sound like the Borg of his day.

The Aviation News of the Month column features this that you may have heard about a certain landmark then in the planning stages:

Skyscraper to Have Mooring Mast

The new Empire State Building, which will rise on the site of the old Waldorf Astoria on Fifth Avenue, in New York City, is to be equipped with a mooring mast for dirigibles. The new building is projected by a company headed by former Governor Smith, of New York, who was the Democratic candidate in the last presidential election.

According to aeronautical experts, a mooring mast atop a skyscraper is perfectly feasible. The 1,300-foot building will have to have special changes made in its steel structure, in order to withstand the strain of a 1,000-foot airship swinging in the wind. The plans for making a great building immediately accessible to an airship point the way to the city of the future, in which passengers will disembark from an air liner, and be at their destination in a very few minutes.

Yes, that spire was meant to be functional. Another item in the column turned out, sadly, to be even less in accord with eventual reality.

Goddard's Rocket to Explore Outer Space

R.L. Duffus, writing in the New York Times, describes Professor Goddard's plans for exploring some of the mysteries of outer space. Goddard plans to use a rocket twelve feet long and a foot and a half in diameter, which will be shot from a sixty-foot steel tower at Camp Devens Massachusetts.

The Goddard rocket is the first one known to make successful use of liquid fuel. The latest one is expected to go straight up for several miles and to return to the vicinity from which it was sent; the important test of the flight is the ability of the rocket to return intact. One rocket was released with a camera and a barometer, and the delicate instruments were not injured in the descent to earth. There is every reason to believe that a rocket could be sent thousands of miles into space and return without injury to its equipment. It may be possible to send one to the moon; but, according to the article, there would be no possibility of its returning to earth.

In its present form the Goddard rocket is a steel cylinder tapering toward the top and bearing a pointed cap. This cap is equipped with an automatic parachute, easily opened. When the rocket returns to earth it will be retarded by the parachute in exact proportion to the density of the atmosphere it strikes.

The speed which is expected to be attained is 8,000 feet a second, or about 5,500 miles an hour--a speed not only within the realm of possibility, but absolutely necessary for interplanetary exploration.

As though "possible" and "necessary" always go together. As it happened, the top speed reached by Robert H. Goddard's rockets was 550 MPH, with a top altitude of 9000 feet. (A vital part in the development of rocketry all the same, of course, but not nearly what Goddard had hoped.)

For some reason, I'm highly amused by the name of the regular letters column:

Or maybe I just had one too many bowls of Goofy Flakes this morning. Anyway, in that column this month appears the letter of one Henry L. Hasse, later a science fiction writer himself, with an interesting assessment of one of his future colleagues:

In your January issue you invite the opinions of your readers in regard to Edmond Hamilton's stories. Altogether, taking into consideration the stories of Hamilton's which I have read in your magazine and in others, I must agree with Mr. Jacoby that they are all alike. Every one of them has the same old plot worked over again. Still, do not by any means stop publishing his stories... for I know his stories make interesting reading even if they do have the same plot.

I guess that's the good old, good old same old, same old.

Four-Score Wednesday: Science Wonder Stories, March 1930

Science Wonder Stories, Volume 1, Number 10, March 1930. Published February 3, 1930.

(As usual, click on the thumbnail to the left to get a 150dpi image of the cover by Frank R. Paul.)

ON THE COVER

this month is shown an episode from "Before the Asteroids." The aged Arinian scientist, Andites, is in the act of breaking up the enemy planet Voris by shooting an enormous power across space to disintegrate the atoms of Voris. Beside Andites are the leaders of the armies defending Arin against the enemy.

Sometimes, one of the less endearing characteristics of science fiction is its tendency to hyperbole. Why just have people in danger, it seems to say, when you can have the whole of timespace about to come to an end, or the whole multiverse, or whatever. In the cover story, just blowing up the planet isn't good enough, I guess. They have to disintegrate its atoms. Like they'll appreciate the extra effort.

If that sounded grumpy, I didn't mean it to. That kind of story can give you hugeness fatigue, is all.

Remember that contest for stories under 1,500 words that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago? Well...

THE RESULTS OF THE $300.00 PRIZE CONTEST

by HUGO GERNSBACK

In our November, 1929, issue, we announced a [$]300.00 prize story contest. The requirements of this contest were that a short, SHORT science fiction story was to be written around the cover picture of that issue.

The story was required to be of the science fiction type, and was to be plausible in the light of our present scientific knowledge.

The contest came to a successful close on December 5th, when some eight-hundred-odd manuscripts had been received.

This, indeed, is a tremendous number of manuscripts for a contest of this kind and, if we go by the number of entries received, the contest must be declared a huge success.

Evidently, everyone wanted to try a hand at writing a short, short science fiction story. Of course, as is usually the case in contests of this kind, most of the manuscripts submitted were unquestionably by amateurs and would-be writers who had no experience in fiction writing. But we appreciate their efforts, even though we could not award them prizes.

It was a matter of great relief to the editors that few of the higher prizes were won by professional writers, and that they were carried off either by unknown writers or by those who are not professional authors.

This is exactly what the editors hoped for: because the contest was admittedly to encourage new authors. And, in this respect, the contest may be said to have succeeded beyond our fondest expectations.

It is hoped that all of our readers and the hundreds of contestants will realize the tremendous amount of work connected with a prize contest of this kind, where so many manuscripts must be assorted and graded and passed upon by the judges.

The judges also hope that their selection will meet the approval of authors and readers alike.

Mr. Charles R. Tanner, the winner of the first prize, undoubtedly submitted the best manuscript. It was, by the way, one of the few that had a surprise ending that was not only excellent in execution, but correct from a scientific standpoint. No other author had noted the error in the coloring of the sky on the cover printed in the November, 1929, issue. The error was, of course, intentional; for in similar covers in the past we have always used the correct black sky, as, for instance, in our August, 1929, issue.

A number of the prize winning stories will be found in this issue. The remainder, including the "honorable mentions," which we have purchased from the authors, will be published in the April issue.

It is to be hoped that our new authors have been sufficiently encouraged by this prize contest to try their hands at longer stories, and so gain all the joy, distinction and material rewards that our writers receive.

Checks have been mailed to the prize winners, and the most memorable of our prize contests is hereby declared successfully closed.

The comment that "[t]he error [in coloring the sky] was, of course, intentional" amuses me, considering this is the magazine that routinely has green or yellow skies. Gernsback just drew the line at coloring space, I guess (although since the yellow sky on the cover of the July 1929 issue belongs to a 116-foot asteroid, he actually did color what ought to have been black).

Charles R. Tanner, who won the contest with "The Color of Space," went on to publish fifteen more stories from 1930 to 1951. Wonder Stories bought his second story, "Flight of the Mercury" for its July 1930 issue. You can read "The Color of Space" here, on the official Charles R. Tanner website.

Second-prize winner John R. Pierce later wrote under his own name (including a sale to Wonder Stories in 1934) and as J.J. Coupling, but made his biggest mark in telecommunications, becoming known, according to Mike Ashley's The Gernsback Years, as "the father of Telstar," the first communications satellite.

Frank J. Brueckel, Jr., third-prize winner, had sold to Gernsback before. But it's understandable that professional writers would enter the contest, since, as I pointed out when I mentioned the contest before, the pay rate was better than the standard. Brueckel wrote two more stories and a serial for the Wonder family--one of the former in the same issue as his winning entry.

Four-Score Wednesday: Science Wonder Stories, June 1929

Well, the mail didn't come through (and, to be fair, it was a long shot), so the surprise will have to wait, and instead we start catching up with...

Science Wonder Stories, Volume 1, Number 1, June 1929. Published May 3, 1929.

ON THE COVER THIS MONTH

is shown a high-tech battle between viruses and white blood cells of the 49th century in an exciting story by Dr. David H. Keller...

No, no, just kidding. Actually,

ON THE COVER THIS MONTH

is illustrated WARRIORS OF SPACE. Artist Paul has shown vividly the night attack and destroying of the alien space flyer by our valiant terrestrial defenders. In the distance, floating on the Pacific, is another defeated space flyer, while two more are hovering over the waters, soon to be rammed by the earth flyer.

Click on the thumbnail in the corner to get a 150dpi image of this rare Science/Air/Just Plain Wonder Stories cover to have a realistically-colored sky. Frank R. Paul preferred them that way, but Hugo Gernsback felt that alternating colors like green, red, and yellow helped keep the covers eye-catching.

Speaking of Hugo Gernsback, here's his inaugural editorial:

SCIENCE WONDER STORIES

by Hugo Gernsback

Taste in reading matter changes with each generation. What was acceptable to your grandparents, was hopelessly out of style for your parents. The literature of your parents--the Laura Jean Libby type of story and the dime novels, Buffalo Bill and Deadwood Dick are laughed at by the present generation.

The past decade has seen the ascendancy of "sexy" literature, of the self confession type as well as the avalanche of modern detective stories.

But they are transient things, founded on the whims of the moment. For the world moves swiftly these days and with it moves literature also.

Science-Mechanics-the Technical Arts--they surround us on every hand, nay, enter deeply into our very lives. The telephone, radio, talking motion pictures, television, X-Rays, Radium, super-aircraft and dozens of others claim our constant attention. We live and breathe day by day in a Science saturated atmosphere.

The wonders of modern science no longer amaze us--we accept each new discovery as a matter of course. We even question why it had not come about sooner.

The man in the street no longer recognizes in science the word impossible; "What man wills, man can do," is his belief.

Interplanetarian trips, space flyers, talking to Mars, transplanting heads of humans, death-rays, gravity-nullifiers, transmutation of elements--why not? If not to-day, well, then, tomorrow. Are they surprises? Not to him; the modern man expects them.

No wonder, then, that anybody who has any imagination at all clamors for fiction of the Jules Verne and H. G. Wells type, made immortal by them; the story that has a scientific background, and is read by an ever growing multitude of intelligent people.

SCIENCE WONDER STORIES supplies this need for scientific fiction and supplies it better than any other magazine.

I started the movement of science fiction in America in 1908 through my first magazine, "MODERN ELECTRICS." At that time it was an experiment. Science fiction authors were scarce. There were not a dozen worth mentioning in the entire world.

I wrote a number of such stories and novels myself and gradually grouped about me a circle of authors who turned out better and better work as the years went by. I still have the best of these authors with me and practically all of them are writing and will continue to write for this magazine.

Who are the readers of SCIENCE WONDER STORIES? Everybody. Bankers, ministers, students, housewives, bricklayers, postal clerks, farmers, mechanics, dentists--every class you can think of--but only those who have imagination. And as a rule, only those with intelligence and curiosity.

When the idea of the new magazine first formulated itself, naturally the name was of importance, and I put that into the hands of the future readers. The publishers, had no hand in it.

Many thousands of prospective readers were circularized by means of a single letter. They were asked to subscribe to a new and unknown, as well as un-named magazine. The result was truly amazing. I never experienced the like in my twenty-
five years of publishing experience.

And as the result of the popular vote, SCIENCE WONDER STORIES is the name of the new magazine. I asked for a vote, too, for the TYPE of story wanted most. And the type that carried the majority of votes I herewith pledge myself to publish.

The new readers voted for other things, too, notably for "Science News of the Month,"--a few pages of short paragraphs giving the latest scientific achievements of the entire world written in plain English, so that "he, who runs, may read and profit." That department begins in this issue.

Science fiction, as published in SCIENCE WONDER STORIES, is a tremendous new force in America. They are the stories that are discussed by inventors, by scientists, and in the classroom. Teachers insist that pupils read them, because they widen the young man's horizon, as nothing else can. Wise parents, too, let their children read this type of story, because they know that it keeps them abreast of the times, educates them and supplants the vicious and debasing sex story.

SCIENCE WONDER STORIES are clean, CLEAN from beginning to end. They stimulate only one thing--IMAGINATION. [Oh, well, then, to heck with that. -2010 Editor] Where is the reader who can remain phlegmatic when you take him to distant planets, into the far flung future 10,000 years hence, or on a trip into the fourth dimension?

No wonder these readers or fans, if you please, look upon science fiction with a sort of reverence.

I consider it a particularly fortunate occasion to welcome to our editorial and advisory board, an imposing array of scientific authorities and educators.

It has long been my feeling that having an authority in the various sciences who would pass upon the scientific correctness of such stories, would be of the greatest aid in mapping the future course of science fiction.

There has been altogether too much pseudo-science fiction of a questionable quality in the past. Over-enthusiastic authors with little scientific training have rushed into print and unconsciously misled the reader by the distortion of scientific facts to achieve results that are clearly impossible.

It is the policy of SCIENCE WONDER STORIES to publish only such stories that have their basis in scientific laws as we know them, or in the logical deduction of new laws from what we know. And that is the reason why ALL stories published in this magazine must pass muster before an authority. It is a guarantee to our readers that they will not get a false scientific education thru the perusal of these stories.

I believe that this innovation will make new history in magazine publishing. I know of no other fiction magazine that can muster such an array of authorities and educators to pass upon the quality of its stories.

It augurs well for the future of science fiction in America.

Gernsback padded his resumé a little, there. Although Modern Electrics began in April 1908, the first piece of fiction published therein didn't come for three years. He did write it, though--it was the first of twelve serialized installments of his novel Ralph 124C 41+.

I find it interesting that, barely three years into the existence of the science fiction magazine, Gernsback used the word that distinguishes the SF enthusiast as active participant in writing of "these readers or fans, if you please." I don't think SF fandom as a concept had sprung up yet.

There's irony in Gernsback's claim that the magazine would contain "only such stories that have their basis in scientific laws as we know them, or in the logical deduction of new laws from what we know." That very issue contained a story, "The Marble Virgin," in which an inventor turns a statue into a living woman. As the readers (or fans, if you please) rushed to point out, even granted the idea of turning marble to flesh, the result would be something of a woman-shaped bologna.

Also ironically, that title ostensibly chosen by popular vote, Science Wonder Stories, lasted only a year until Gernsback decided "that the word 'Science' has tended to retard the progress of the magazine" and shortened the title to just Wonder Stories.

The issue also featured entries in an essay contest on "What Science Fiction Means to Me." We published Jack Williamson's "Tremendous Contribution to Civilization" (the First Honorable Mention) in Thrilling Wonder Stories, Volume 1. Here's the $50.00 prize-winner.

The Door to the World of Explanation

Science fiction is my hobby, and yet it is more than that. It is my hobby because, during the past ten years, I have saved all magazines wherein I found science fiction stories. It is infinitely more in that it is healthful and invigorating food to my literary self. This simply means that to deprive me of such literature would be to "starve" that within me which yearns for something beyond the more or less humdrum existence to which we are--may I say it--physically held.

As a child I was thrilled when the knight rescued the princess; as a lad I marveled at the imagination of Jules Verne. But as a man, the fantastic faded. Gradually I came to see beyond the veil, to glimpse the cold fact of future possibilities. I like to read science fiction with this last in mind, feeling that the writer has the same viewpoint. I need only mention that the fiction of yesterday is common occurrence today.

I believe that the magazine of true science fiction is a standard scientific textbook. To the one who is seeking the light of scientific knowledge, science fiction is the broad and pleasant avenue toward the goal. For the layman to be well posted on scientific matters is to be well read on science fiction.

A few months ago I could not understand the fourth-dimension, that is, as the scientific world regards it. Today I do understand it, as it is understood in theory, of course, and I owe it to science fiction. True, the majority of writers are practically individual in their theories, but by weighing these and comparing them one can eventually reach the general explanation.

To the earnest reader of science fiction the world takes on new aspects. The weakness of humanity is becoming too familiar with the world as it is. The secret of advancement, I believe, is through science fiction, and as I read I look upon the things of today as old things, while the new is yet to be attained.

My worldly self rebels at the thought of whirling worlds within the atom; yet there is that within me which believes. The disbelief lies in the tendency to accept only that which we can see and feel, and otherwise comprehend through our five senses. This tendency grows upon us if we neglect to pierce beyond the commonplace.

To me science fiction is the door to the world of explanation. It is the telescope that reveals the gleam of future achievement, the microscope that reveals the fundamentals of that achievement. Through science fiction I can sense the harmony of a world growing ever better and better, of a humanity of brotherly-love, of a civilization nearing ultimate perfection. True, science fiction is a harsh master. It is no respecter of beliefs, being rather, through what has been termed extravagant fiction, a reminder of cold fact. Yet to me it is a pleasure to be so reminded of the task that is before us, of the old that is about us and of the new which we must attain.

Science fiction means to me all that is worthwhile, for it is the forerunner of that which is to come. It is the ship upon which I sail unchartered seas, and the ship that brings me home again, a better man because of the knowledge. I have gained what were once unknown lands. But I am not a "landlubber," and I can hardly wait to set sail once more. So here goes for the magazine stand.

                                                                                       B.S. Moore,

                                                                                 Walhalla, S.C.

I would suggest that "B.S. Moore" sounds like a pseudonym for an inveterate liar, but this is a clean, CLEAN website.

Four-Score Wednesday: Air Wonder Stories, February 1930

Air Wonder Stories, Volume 1, Number 8, February 1930. Published January 10, 1930.

On the Cover This Month

is shown the illustration for the prize story contest. Mr. Gernsback was unable to offer any information as to what the strange objects were or where they came from. He thought that the scene took place on another planet, but he would not express certainty about that. We think you will agree, however, that the scene, whatever it is, is an example of Paul's best work.

Click on the thumbnail on the left to get a 150dpi image of this cover by the inimitable Frank R. Paul.

My copy of this issue is stamped on an inner page:

STF. SUPPLY STATION

TER. AGENT: H. WEISSMAN

163 W. 21st ST., NEW YORK

"Stf." stands for "scientifiction," Hugo Gernsback's name for the genre before he (unknowingly re-)coined the phrase "science fiction."  Perhaps "Ter." is short for "terrestrial." I checked Google and a few books I have about science fiction fandom, and I can't find anything else about Weissman or the Stf. Supply Station. But I thought it was interesting.

Anyway, here's some more about that contest:

$300.00 PRIZE STORY CONTEST

By HUGO GERNSBACK

Since the establishment of AIR WONDER STORIES, we have been in receipt of many letters asking whether it is a policy of this magazine to accept stories from new authors. Many of the writers seem to have acquired a notion that only certain authors may contribute to this magazine.

This impression is, of course, entirely erroneous; for the editors are always happy to publish the stories of new and promising writers.

In order to stimulate authorship, and turn the undeveloped talent among the general readers of this magazine to writing, AIR WONDER STORIES has decided to inaugurate a prize story contest--the first this magazine has conducted.

Of late there has been a very strong demand from our readers for aviation stories of the interplanetary type; that is, stories which have their locale on not only our own earth, but also in other worlds.

Heeding this request, as we heed every impressive request from our readers, we are launching ourselves with vigor into the publication of interplanetary flying stories.

The front cover of this month's issue reflects this policy. It is, frankly, a scene laid on a distant world.

Just what the story is, I do not know, even though I originated the idea of the illustration. And, although it has been executed by the masterful brush of our own artist, Paul, he also is ignorant of its ultimate meaning.

What it is all about, therefore, we leave entirely up to you; and we are certain that many of our readers will be able to tell all of us exactly what happened on that far-distant world.

The present contest, then, is centered around this month's cover illustration. I can give you no further clues as to what the picture is all about, except what I have already said. You will have to use your own ingenuity in writing a plausible and convincing story around it. The picture speaks for itself.

You are asked, then, to write a story around the cover illustration; and, the more interesting, the more exciting, and the more scientifically probable you make it, the higher will be your rating when the prize winners are selected.

Remember that anyone can participate in this contest. You do not have to he a polished or experienced author; but, as a friendly word of advice, if you have never written a story, it would he well to submit it to a literary friend or teacher before you enter it in the competition.

Study the details of the cover illustration carefully; AND BE SURE THAT YOU DO NOT MISS ANY OF THE DETAILS, BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL IMPORTANT.

In a contest of this kind it is, naturally, impossible to have a great many prizes. For this reason, there are only four, to be awarded to the writers of the four best stories submitted. Each of these prize-winning stories, we know, will be a treat for our readers. The reason is that authors of imagination will naturally have entirely different plots and different ideas as to what the cover illustration represents.

But before you start writing, be sure to read the following rules carefully.

(1) A short science-aviation-fiction story is to be written around the cover picture of the February 1930 issue of AIR WONDER STORIES.

(2) The story must be of the science-aviation-fiction type. It should be plausible in the light of our present knowledge of aviation and science.

(3) The story must be between 5,000 and 8,000 words.

(4) All stories must be submitted typewritten, double-spaced; or legibly penned, with spaces between lines. Pencilled matter cannot be considered. Stories must be received flat, not rolled.

(5) No manuscripts will be returned unless full return postage is enclosed.

(6) Because of the large number of manuscripts expected, the editors cannot enter into correspondence on stories submitted.

(7) In awarding the prizes, AIR WONDER STORIES acquires full rights of all kinds; such as translation into foreign languages, syndicate rights, motion-picture rights, etc. The Board of Editors will be the sole judges as to the winners.

(8) Stories in addition to the prize-winning ones may be chosen by the editors, at their option, for publication at the usual space rates of this magazine.

(9) The contest closes on March 5, 1930, at noon, at which time all manuscripts must have been received at this office.

(10) Any one except employees of the Stellar Publishing Corporation and their families may join this prize contest. It is not necessary to be a subscriber to the magazine.

I M P O R T A N T

For the guidance of new authors, we have prepared a pamphlet entitled, "Suggestions to Authors." This will be sent to applicants upon receipt of 5c. to cover postage.

All manuscripts must be addressed to Editor, Prize Cover Contest, AIR WONDER STORIES, 96-98 Park Place, New York.

The four prizes, by the way, were $150, $75, $50, and $25 in gold. $25 comes to no more than half a cent a word. Considering that, as I understand it, the normal pay rate for the Gernsback magazines was a penny a word, this would mean that the possible non-prize-winners who nonetheless succeeded in selling their stories to the magazine (as per #8, above) would be making at least as much as the Third Prize winner, and at least twice as much as the Fourth Prize winner. (By contrast, Gernsback offered these same prizes in a contest in the November 1929 Science Wonder Stories for stories under 1,500 words, making the $25 Fourth Place prize worth at least one and two-thirds cents a word.)

Anyway, we'll be hearing more about this contest in a subsequent edition of Four-Score Wednesday.

A contest featured in this issue that we won't be hearing any more about is the one seeking a slogan for the magazine.  The prize was $100 in gold, which seems like a better deal than the cover contest. The winner was to be announced in the July 1930 issue of Air Wonder Stories. As it happened, May was its last issue.

Next week, depending on the mail, we either start catching up by going back to the beginning with the inaugural issue (June 1929) of Science Wonder Stories... or we have a little surprise.

Four-Score Wednesday: Science Wonder Stories, February 1930

Here's something I've been meaning to do since May, but as usual, didn't get around to. May 3, 2009 was the 80th anniversary of the publication of the first issue of Science Wonder Stories, the progenitor of Thrilling Wonder Stories. So why not take a look into these issues of four-score years ago, via scanned images and text from my own collection?

Yes, that's right, I have them all! All of them! Me! Not you, me! Me! Do you understand, ME! Moo-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha... ha... uh... What the hell was I saying?

Right, images and text. Click on the thumbnail to the left to get 150 dpi image of the cover of the February 1930 issue of Science Wonder Stories, which arrived on newsstands eighty years ago this last Sunday. The painting by Frank R. Paul represents the story "The Land of the Bipos," by Francis Flagg.

Next week, we'll have a look at the February 1930 issue of Air Wonder Stories, and on the 20th, we'll start catching up by bringing you the grandpappy of them all, the June 1929 issue of Science Wonder Stories.

And now the text. Here's Hugo Gernsback's editorial:

CAN MAN FREE HIMSELF FROM GRAVITY?

by Hugo Gernsback

Elsewhere in this magazine is printed a symposium of the opinions of some of the world's greatest scientists on the possibility of space-flying, in conjunction with the problem of whether it will ever be possible for humanity to free itself from gravitation.

The arguments and evidence presented lead almost overwhelmingly to the conclusion that, as far as our knowledge of science extends at present, there seems to be little likelihood of man's freeing himself from the gravitational attraction of our planet.

But it should be noted, if one reads between the lines of the statements of the various authorities, that they are extremely conservative in their remarks and that few, if any of them, reject the idea as being entirely impossible at some future date.

It should be noted as important that there is a great difference between the problem of space-flying and that of the complete freeing of humanity from gravitation. The two have nothing to do with each other.

Nullification of gravity is considered, by many of the authorities, to be merely another word for perpetual motion. We are not certain that we care to accept this as final. While perpetual motion, no doubt, will remain an impossibility on earth, it is not such an impossibility away from the earth. If you take the sun and the planets revolving about it, you have almost an ideal perpetual-motion machine. Once set in motion, the planets have kept on revolving for millions and billions of years; and, though this may not be literally "perpetual," yet we may consider it such for all practical purposes.

But, although the nullification of gravity may not come about, this year or next--nor for the next hundred, or even for the next thousand years--sooner or later, some principle will be found to accomplish the feat. When the discovery is finally made, it will most likely be found that one does not get anything for nothing as opponents of gravity-nullification claim. In other words, it will require power to bring about the nullification of gravity. This, however, is not an insurmountable difficulty, any more than it is impossible for an airplane to defy gravity by means of its engine. This latter action, of course, is not nullification of gravity; and no sane physicist would believe that elimination of gravitation can be accomplished without the expenditure of energy. What the necessary expenditure of energy will be, no one can yet tell. You can take an ordinary bar magnet, weighing one pound, and permanently suspend two or three pounds from it. Perhaps gravity-nullification will have a similar solution.

The solution of the other problem, that is, space-flying, is not so far off; for, as Professor Goddard, the inventor of the rocket engine, points out in this issue, the problem has long ago passed its theoretical stage. Until a few years ago, scientific authorities were unanimous in the belief that it would never be possible for man-made engines to go beyond the immediate vicinity of the earth.

This is no longer the general belief; for it is realized that we may have the feat accomplished within ten years, and possibly much sooner. In this case, to lift a space flyer against the earth's gravitational influence, a tremendous amount of energy must be used; but, given this energy, the problem no longer presents insurmountable difficulties. Again it should be noted that, although present efforts take the form of rocket-flying, there is no reason for believing that no newer principles will not [sic] be found. New and more efficient methods will be devised in time. Just as the horse-drawn carriage was supplanted by the automobile, so in time the rocket engine will be supplanted by something more efficient in overcoming the earth's gravitational pull. We are just on the threshold of important discoveries. Only last year, Professor Einstein has shown that gravitation and electromagnetism are co-related. It seems, therefore, not a rash prediction that sooner or later, we will be enabled to leave the earth in machines that will utilize purely electrical means of propulsion. In other words, gravitation itself may yet be overcome by the judicious use of electrical forces, applied in a manner that we can, as yet, conceive but dimly.

And here are a couple interesting items from the "Science News of the Month":

NEW CATHODE-RAY TUBE ADVANCES TELEVISION

Television apparatus is rapidly approaching a point where it will be eminently practical for home use. The latest development does away with the usual whirling disks and neon tubes. The disc, utilized heretofore to scan images has been eliminated from the circuit by Dr. Vladimir Zworykin, engineer for the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, who has introduced the cathode-ray tube to produce the beams of light that paint the images on the screen.

The images formed by the cathode-ray device measure 4 by 5 inches. A new type of tube, the "kinescope," has been developed. A pencil of electrons from the cathode tube bombards a screen of fluorescent material--a substance which becomes brilliant where the electrons strike. The pencil of electrons follows the movement of the scanning light beam in the transmitter, while its intensity is regulated by the strength of the impulses received. The movements of the scanning beam, and consequently of the cathode-ray pencil, are so rapid that the eye receives a perfect impression of a continuous miniature motion picture. A reflecting mirror mounted on the receiver permits the picture to be observed by a number of spectators.

This was indeed the beginning of the electronic television we all know and love, and the beginning of the end for mechanical television. Check out this website to see more about the largely forgotten early television of "whirling disks and neon tubes."

SCIENCE AND RELIGION NO LONGER CONFLICT

Professor Kirtley F. Mather, head of the Department of Geology in Harvard University, has declared that the battle between science and religion is rapidly approaching a truce. "The scientists and the theologians are laying down their arms because they realize that warfare is neither scientific nor Christian. Instead, they are joining in the search for truth, each realizing the validity of the field of the other."

According to the professor, the origin of man can be explained without recourse to religion, but the existence of the highest type of man cannot be explained without it. "I don't see anything necessarily supernatural in the origin of man. It is perfectly logical to me that out of the inorganic things of the world emerged conscious living beings and that out of the conscious living beings, only yesterday in the geologic sense, emerged self-conscious man. But I do believe that there are spiritual values as well, operating in this physical world; and if these spiritual forces are law-abiding and consistent, the scientist has much to offer the man of religion."

Boy, I'm glad we don't have conflict between science and religion anymore, huh? Just think how odd that could be.