
Part of Series
Contents: 5 • Microclock • [Editorial (Astounding)] • essay by John W. Campbell, Jr. [as by The Editor] 7 • World of Null-A (Part 2 of 3) • [Null-A • 1] • serial by A. E. van Vogt (book publication as The World of Null-A 1948) 47 • Uncommon Sense • [Laird Cunningham] • short story by Hal Clement 63 • The Infidels • short story by Ross Rocklynne 83 • The Power • short story by Murray Leinster 99 • Tool • essay by uncredited 101 • The Elusive Microvolt • essay by George O. Smith 115 • Deadly Host • short story by Raymond F. Jones 135 • Camouflage • novelette by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore [as by Lewis Padgett] 165 • In Times to Come (Astounding, September 1945) • [In Times to Come (Astounding)] • essay by The Editor.
Authors

Alfred Elton van Vogt was a Canadian-born science fiction author regarded by some as one of the most popular and complex science fiction writers of the mid-twentieth century—the "Golden Age" of the genre. van Vogt was born to Russian Mennonite family. Until he was four years old, van Vogt and his family spoke only a dialect of Low German in the home. He began his writing career with 'true story' romances, but then moved to writing science fiction, a field he identified with. His first story was Black Destroyer, that appeared as the front cover story for the July 1939 edtion of the popular "Astounding Science Fiction" magazine.
Raymond Fisher Jones (November 15, 1915, Salt Lake City, Utah - January 24, 1994, Sandy, Salt Lake County, Utah) was an American science fiction author. He is best known for his 1952 novel, This Island Earth, which was adapted into the 1955 film This Island Earth and for the short story "The Children's Room", which was adapted for television as Episode Two of the ABC network show Tales of Tomorrow, first aired on February 29, 1952. Jones' career was at its peak during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. His stories were published mainly in magazines such as Thrilling Wonder Stories, Astounding Stories, and Galaxy. His short story Noise Level is known as one of his best works. His short story "The Alien Machine", first published in the June, 1949 Thrilling Wonder Stories, was later expanded into the novel This Island Earth, along with two other short stories, "The Shroud of Secrecy", and "The Greater Conflict", known as The Peace Engineers Trilogy, featuring the character Cal Meacham. Jones also wrote the story upon which the episode "The Children's Room" was based for the television program Tales of Tomorrow in 1952.