The Great SF Stories 24 (1962)

Asimov was born sometime between October 4, 1919 and January 2, 1920 in Petrovichi in Smolensk Oblast, RSFSR (now Russia), the son of a Jewish family of millers. Although his exact date of birth is uncertain, Asimov himself celebrated it on January 2. His family emigrated to Brooklyn, New York and opened a candy store when he was three years old. He taught himself to read at the age of five. He began reading the science fiction pulp magazines that his family's store carried. Around the age of...

Martin Harry Greenberg (March 1, 1941 – June 25, 2011) was an American academic and anthologist in many genres, including mysteries and horror, but especially in speculative fiction. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned over 8,200 original short stories. He founded Tekno Books, a packager of more than 2000 published books. He was also a co-founder of the Sci-Fi Channel. Greenberg was also an expert in terrorism and the Middle East. He was a longtime friend, colleague and busine...

James Graham Ballard was born and raised in the International Settlement in Shanghai, China to a chemist. In 1943 the Japanese occupied the International Settlement and Ballard's family was sent to the Lunghua Civilian Assembly Center, where they were interned for two years until the end of World War II. In 1946, Ballard went to England with his mother and sister, and stayed on in England after his mother and sister returned to China to rejoin his father. In 1949 he went to King's College, Cambr...

Northern Irish author of science fiction novellas, short stories and novels

Raphael Aloysius "R. A." Lafferty (November 7, 1914 – March 18, 2002) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer known for his original use of language, metaphor, and narrative structure, Lafferty also wrote a set of four autobiographical novels, a history book, and several novels of historical fiction. [source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._A._Lafferty)

Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories. He received numerous awards for his writing, including seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards. Anderson received a degree in physics from the University of Minnesota in 1948. He married Karen Kr...

Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. (December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theater and films, playwright and chess expert. With writers such as Robert E. Howard and Michael Moorcock, Leiber can be regarded as one of the fathers of sword and sorcery fantasy, having coined the term. Source: [Fritz Leiber](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Leiber) on Wikipedia.

Mark Clifton was a writer whose work appeared in the science fiction magazine Amazing Stories. He's known for his contributions to the genre.

Amerikan science fiction writer

Dallas McCord "Mack" Reynolds was an American science fiction writer. His pen names included Dallas Ross, Mark Mallory, Clark Collins, Dallas Rose, Guy McCord, Maxine Reynolds, Bob Belmont, and Todd Harding. His work focused on socioeconomic speculation, usually expressed in thought-provoking explorations of utopian societies from a radical, sometime satiric perspective. He was a popular author from the 1950s to the 1970s, especially with readers of science fiction and fantasy magazines.

Harry Max Harrison was born Henry Maxwell Dempsey in Stamford, Connecticut. He moved with his family to New York early in his childhood. On his 18th birthday, having graduated from high school, he was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Corps, and serves as an armourer, gunnery instructor, truck driver, and military police officer. When the war ended, he became an art student at both the Hunter College in New York City and the Cartoonists and Illustrators School. Upon graduation, he became a freelanc...

Theodore Sturgeon was born Edward Hamilton Waldo in Staten Island, New York. He changed his name in 1929, choosing Sturgeon to match his mother's surname after her second marriage, and "Theodore" to match his nickname, "Teddy." His mother, Christine Hamilton Dicker Sturgeon, was a well-educated writer, watercolorist, and poet who published journalism, poetry and fiction under the pseudonym Felix Sturgeon. As an adolescent, Sturgeon wanted to be a circus acrobat, but then had an episode of r...

Cordwainer Smith wrote the science fiction classic Galaxy. His stories are known for their imaginative worlds and unique characters. If you enjoy classic sci-fi, you'll want to check out his work.

"Christopher Anvil" is a pseudonym used by author Harry C. Crosby (1922-2009). Harry Crosby's first published short story was "Cinderella, Inc.", which appeared in the December 1952 issue of Imagination. By 1956, he had adopted the pseudonym and was being published in Astounding Magazine. His first published book was The Day the Machines Stopped (1964). He is best known for his Federation of Humanity series, which he referred to as the Colonization Series before they were published as coll...

Gordon R. Dickson is a writer whose science fiction has earned him a place in collections like The Hugo Winners. He's known for his imaginative stories that explore grand ideas.