SF Encyclopedia Home Page
Friday 23 October 2026
Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Fourth Edition. Some sample entries appear below. Click here for the Introduction; here for what we mean by Science Fiction; here for the masthead; here for some Statistics; here for the Acknowledgments; here for the FAQ; here for advice on citations. Find entries via the search box above (more details here) or browse the menu categories in the grey bar at the top of this page.
Site updated on 19 October 2026
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Voltaire
Most famous pseudonym of François-Marie Arouet (1694-1778), enormously productive and successful French philosopher, historian, playwright, belletrist who wrote under at least 170 other names. Of interest as Proto SF is "Micromégas", the title story contained in Le Micromégas de Mr. de Voltaire, avec une Histoire des Croisades & un nouveau plan de l'Histoire de l'esprit humain (coll 1752; trans Tobias ...
Walton, Barbara E
(? - ) US author of a Shared World Tie to the Television series Quantum Leap, Quantum Leap: Odyssey (1995), whose storyline reflects the general bent of, but does not duplicate any episode in, the actual series. [JC]
Dr. M
Film (1989). NEF Filmproduktion/Ellepi Film/Cléa Productions. Directed by Claude Chabrol. Written by Sollace Mitchell from a story by Thomas Bauermeister, inspired by Doktor Mabuse, der Spieler (1920; trans Lilian A Clare as Dr. Mabuse, Master of Mystery 1923) by Norbert Jacques (1880-1954). Cast includes Alan Bates, Jennifer Beals, Jan Niklas and Hanns Zischler. 116 minutes. Colour. / Although in clear homage to Fritz ...
Evans, Bill
Working name of US chemist and author William Harrington Evans (1921-1985) for his sf studies and involvement in fandom, which began with bibliographical and other work in the 1940s and 1950s, most notably in The Fanzine Index, a journal he published with Bob Pavlat through 1952. The Fanzine Index catalogued Fanzines and was later assembled into a single volume, ...
Stong, Phil
(1899-1957) US author and editor, author of the thrice-filmed State Fair (1932). His The Other Worlds (anth 1941; vt The Other Worlds: Twenty-five Modern Stories of Mystery and Imagination 1942) was the first important sf Anthology. Its twenty-five stories, about half sf and half horror, were mostly from the Pulp magazines, not previously regarded as a proper source of material (of sf at least) ...
Nicholls, Peter
(1939-2018) Australian editor and author, primarily a critic and historian of sf through his creation and editing of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction [see below]; resident in the UK 1970-1988, in Australia from 1988; worked as an academic in English literature (1962-1968, 1971-1977), scripted television documentaries, was a Harkness Fellow in Film-making (1968-1970) in the USA, worked as a publisher's editor (1982-1983), often broadcast film and book ...