TOMORROW #2 (Summer 1937)

TOMORROW

Vol. 1.No. 2
Summer 1937

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CONTENTS

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Editorial..........................................................................................2.

Horrors of Future Science...............................................................4.
by Prof. A.M. Low

Glimpses of the Future.....................................................................7

Some new Light on "Pulp" Question...............................................10.

Quarterly Cavalcade......................................................................12.

Aspects of Science........................................................................13.
by Festus Pragnell

DOES BRITAIN LACK SCIENCE-FICTION AUTHORS?.......16.

Published by:
THE SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION
9 Brunswick Terrace, Leeds 2.

Editor:- Douglas W.F. Mayer

Duplicating by: G.A. Airey, H. Warnes & D.W.F. Mayer

Cover by:- F.W.F. Dobby and G.A. Airey

Mentioned in the last issue were various problems, etc, which the SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION would endeavor to overcome. Included amongst these was "the need of a science-fiction magazine, publishing British science-fiction to suit British tastes."

During the last three months, however, the problem has to a large extent been solved, due chiefly to the efforts of one of the society's most active members - Mr. Walter H. Gillings of Ilford, editor of the British fantasy review, SCIENTIFICTION. Briefly, Mr. Gillings has persuaded The Worlds Work, Ltd., a firm of publishers, to issue a trial copy, selling at all bookstalls at a price of 1/-, of a magazine entitled TALES OF WONDER. Containing stories by J.R. Fearn, E.F. Russell, Festus Pragaell, M.G. Hugi, W.P. Cockcroft, etc, this issue presents the first real serious attempt at a high-class British science-fiction magazine. Details of the editorial policy of the publication will be found in the leading article in this journal, in which Mr. Gillings prophesies that further issues will appear. He deserves the congratulations of every British fan for his work, and all who have not yet seen a copy should support his efforts by procuring one without delay.

Elsewhere in this issue will be found details of two new publications to be issued under the auspices of the S.F.A. The first is the long-awaited bibliography of British science-fiction, which will be published on August 16th. The other is a new venture entitled AMATEUR SCIENCE STORIES, each issue of which will contain one or more stories by authors who have not previously had stories

printed in professional magazines. Three issues will be published as an experiment and, if successful, the magazine will be continued indefinitely.

We trust that all readers will give their support to these publications.

One of the most encouraging events in the history of British science-fiction was the recent publication, within a few weeks of each other of H.G. Wells' "Star Begotten" E.C. Large's "Sugar in the Air" and Olaf Stapledon's "Star Maker". Had only one of these books been published, it would have aroused considerable attention in the realm of science-fiction: all three together, however, completely overwhelm us poor fans, to whom one good. science-fiction book is a gift from the gods.

Each book is a splendid example of science- fiction, yet as all three are widely different in style, none detracts from anothers glory. A farther significant fact is the attention these three masterpieces have evoked from the literary reviews. Is it too much to hope that publishers, inspired by the success of these, will produce similar works in a steady stream in the future?

ANNOUNCEMENT

WILL ALL READERS PLEASE NOTE
THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION
is now
5, FLORIST STREET, LEEDS 3.

Has it occurred to you that in the future Science may be responsible for possibilities so ghastly that even time cannot dim the picture which they present?

I suggest, very seriously, that if a modern man could be transported into the world of the future he might find himself faced at every turn with problems utterly beyond the capacity of his mind or comprehension.

Within a few years, perhaps, it may be possible for the art of plastic surgery to be extended beyond all conception. We know that various pieces of skin and bone can be used to replace the damaged parts of a face, and when we further realise that this form of "science" is a new discovery, is it absurd to deny that, as happened in the case of wireless telegraphy, fifty years will make our modern attempts seen almost puerile?

Do you not agree that there is something vaguely unpleasant in the idea of a man of eighty enjoying the full use of someone else's body? Yet I am quite certain that the sum of ten thousand pounds would induce a vast number of people to part with quite a variety of limbs, and the grafting of an entire limb is an accomplished fact. It would take a lot to persuade me, that, given the necessary financial encouragement, those in need of rejuvenation, of new scalps, new legs, or new ears, would willingly accept pieces of their own body, or of animals, in lieu of the necessary material for the person of a healthy young man.

Only the other day we all read the case of a woman who now enjoys a perfected appearance as the result of the grafting of another ear which matched that which she had recently lost in an accident.

A simple incident, but do you think it sounds quite nice?

Here is another case which sounds too unearthly for words. Some years ago - it was a Russian scientist, I think - a dog was decapitated after taking precautions so that the supply of blood to the animal's head could be maintained, and after making sure that the various nerve endings were not ut- terly destroyed.

Unpleasant as it sounds, this dog's head ate a meal... which just fell out on the other side of the head into the place where the body had been. Brutal it may seem, illegal, unpleasant, filthy, any number of epithets you may choose. But the facts are unalterable. There are people living today whose breathing apparatus exists mechanically, but is damaged from the functional point of view. They are kept alive by mechanical, artificial respiration.

There are many people who would have been dead but for artificial massage in maintaining the action of their hearts. Still more who have lived long periods by the aid of artificial kidneys, and many other instances where the imitation of the movement of mechanical parts of the body has been carried out by means of electrically driven machines. Switch off the artificial respiration and the patient dies.

Now when, really, are these poor people dead: and when are they living? The body scarcely alters at all at the moment of death, and if we regard the brain as a kind of conning tower which sends messages to other parts of the body, may it not be possible that heads could be preserved for appreciable periods quite distinct from their bodies; yet fed by blood and even, as knowledge increases, by other forms of nourishment or impulses?

I do not believe it is far-fetched to say that in a few hundred years time this will be perfectly possible, and that if we except control of muscular movement, an enormous number of budily functions could be simulated by the chemist, the engineer and the surgeon.

There are so many discoveries apparently simple, but beyond words dangerous in their consequences. Supposing it was a simple matter to produce rain by dropping sand from aeroplanes? Cannot one foresee this becoming a case of political urgency worse even than free trade or the Indian question?

What would be the result, for here is another example, if Dr. Voronoff and others find out how to decide that happy question - will it be a boy or a girl? I am not sure that we really know as much as we think. I believe that the process of evolution only seems to us to have ceased because we live for a period too short for comparison. I am not even convinced that unlimited beauty treatment would be a good thing for it would have the effect of complete standardisation and would produce a form of warfare amongst men which no amount of reason, politics, law or force could ever hope to quell.

With almost superhuman restraint I have not mentioned, at length, the subject of

(Cont. page 9).

"Remember this also, and be well
persuaded by its truth; the future is
not in the hands of Fate, but in ours."
- Jules Jusseranu.

Michael I. Pupin once asked Foster Kennedy if the Doctors had yet found the part of the brain which controls emotion. Dr. Kennedy surprised the physicist by answering: "Yes, in the hypothalamus."

"Ah, but can you pull the switch? " enquired Pupin.

"No", replied the Cornell neurologist, "but another hundred years of peace, and we shall be able to! And then the Govermments of the Earth will establish switching posts throughout all countries, and there will be a great Day, when mankind will be switched into happines. But there will be one man in perhaps every two hundred million who'll hang back - in uncertainity and discontent.

Six months after the switching, these Doubting Thomases will be Lords of the Earth, but six months later still they will have found there is no Earth worth being Lords of - for their subjects will not work, they will be merely shepherds of sheep. And to make man once more discontented and human, the Lords of the Earth will take all the Doctors and load them in boats, tow them to the middle of the Atlantic - and sink 'em:"
- Harper's Magazine.

Slowing down life.

In speculating about the future, Prof. James Kendall of the University of Edinburgh suggested in a recent interview that old age may be made

much more comfortable in the future by slowing down a person's chemical reactions by generous use of heavy water, as a speculative possibility this has a sound scientific basis whether it will ever be realised or not.

By substituting hydrogen having an atomic weight of two for the customary kind whose atomic weight is only one, in the fluids of the body, it should be possible to reduce materially the rate of chemical reactions which characterise life. In other words, as a person approaches the period of inactivity of old age his metabolism can be made slower to meet his requirements and thus avoid too rapid body functioning.
- Scientific American.

The Cleverest of the Great Apes.

"As mankind is so it will remain until it pulls itself together. And if it does not pull its mind together then I do not see how it can help but decline. Never was a living species more perilously poised than ours at the present time. If it does not take thought to end its present mental indecisiveness catastrophe lies ahead. A species may yet end its strange eventful history as just the last, the cleverest, of the great apes. The great ape that was clever - but not clever enough. It could escape from most things but not from its own mental confusion."
- H.G. Wells.

Age of Invention.

We live in a scientific age, yet scientific invention and discovery are still in their infancy. Dr. E.R. Weidlein, President of the American Chemical Society,

believes the motor-car is only 10% developed, the radio only a day old, and television less than an hour old in the light of existing scientific knowledge. Whole new industries are being created in American research laboratories where scientists are striving to develop new products and find new uses for old ones. - Popular Mechanics.

Horrors of Future Science. (Cont. page 6)

war. To tunnel under buildings, to infect and to sttrilise or destroy by novel and terrible nervous disease, may easily become useful methods of future fighting. The death ray which may blind thousands at the touch of a button has been proposed, and I am sure that its advantages to an expectant world cannot be long delayed. Nor need the inventor fear that his services to mankind will be inad- equately recompensed by honour and finance.

One could multiply examples from this Chamber of Horrors without any difficulty. Within a few years it will be easy to see germs of a kind which have never before been imagined. To hear noises with which the air is filled, but to which we are mercifully immune, to see robots so human in their mechanical skill that they will provide us with nightmares that no psychologist could cure. It will not be long before women are taking their place in the fighting line of another great war, and if past history is anything by which we may judge, I think this last "atrocity" will easily transcend all the rest for utter beastliness and unimaginable cruelty.

As an outcome of the leading problem set in last quarter's TOMORROW, "Should British Fans Denounce 'Pulps'?", the writers decided to secure some definite information to clarify the matter, one way or the other. Accordingly, we corresponded with the Atlas Publishing and Distributing Co. Ltd. of London and were afforded an interview with Mr.Thorn, the Assistant Manager of that Company.

When asked his views on the question of magazines coming into this country as ballast, Mr.Thorn stated that this idea was a "complete fallacy". His Company, he informed us, were the sole distributors of both the current and back numbers of AMAZING and ASTOUNDING magazines, as well as the back- number agents for THRILLING WONDER STORIES, and he was prepared to prove his point regarding the ballast question by producing 'freight bills'. He thinks this rumour has come about through the first few back number magazines from U.S.A. to be sold here being actually allowed to enter Britain in this fashion. This was before the Great War.

The plea of British publishers that the back-number-trade would interfere with the sales of any projected British science-fiction magazine, is disproved by the fact that British "Western" and "Detective" magazines are already on the market, despite the even greater number of corresponding American back-numbers on the stalls.

Although Mr. Thorn would quote no circulation figures, he gave us some very interesting information. AMAZING, it appears, is a better current seller than

ASTOUNDING. This surprised us, we being under the impression that the more adventurous type of science-fiction published by ASTOUNDING would have gone down better with the British fans - apparently there are more veteran fans than we think in Great Britain.

The back-number sales, we were informed, are greater than the current issues sold by Atlas, but still insufficient to meet the demands, Mr. Thorn telling as that he would be able to sell four times as many as he does, were he able to obtain them.

In conclusion, we all agreed that the back-number sales can do little harm for if they were taken off the stalls, no extra current numbers would be sold, owing to the fact that generally the back-number purchaser has no shilling to lay out. Therefore, 3d. and 4d. back-numbers only go to make science-fiction more popular amongst the masses.

The Atlas Company wish to ask members who have any difficulty in obtaining current issues of science-fiction magazines to get in touch with them, when they will make arrangements for the magazines required to be procured at some newsagent in the particular member's district.

Write to:-

The Atlas Publishing & Distributing Co. Ltd.
18, Bride Lane,
LONDON, E.C.4.

Second quarter this year saw British science-fiction making rapid progress --- MODERN WONDER, juvenile science-fiction cum science magazine, appears ---- TALES OF WONDER, experimental high-class British science- fiction magazine, published at end of June ----B.B.C. broadcasts "Purple Pileus", "The Moon Men" and "We gave our Grandmothers", all s-f plays ---- Sad death of H. P. Lovecraft, noted american fantasy writer ---- Prof. A.M. Low and Dr. W. Olaf Stapledon accept Honorary Membership of SFA ---- Olaf Stapledon's "Last and First Men" published in Pelican series.

LONDON MERCURY prints H.G. Wells' "Star Begotten" -- PASSING SHOW prints "The Broadcast Murders" by w.J. Passingham --- Supplement to June issue of NOVAE TERRAE contains articles illustrating impact of science-fition on society ---- L.J. Johnson, Liverpool author-member and Vice-President of the British Interplanetary Society has story "Seeker of Tomorrow", written in conjunction with E.F. Russell, published in ASTOUNDING STORIES.

Los Angeles branch of S.F.A. inaugurated ---- article on science-fiction in July issue of ARMCHAIR SCIENCE --- H. G. Wells' "Star Begotten", E.C. Large's "Sugar in the Air" and Olaf Stapledon's "Star Maker" published within a few weeks of each other.

Other science-fiction books include:-
"Strange Houses ............. Cora Jarrett
"Ten Poplars".................. Helen Magriska
"Zero to Eighty................. E.F. Northrup
"Wings over the Atlantic"...A.D. Divine

Broadly speaking, there are three varieties of science, according to the purposes with which it is studied.

Firstly, there is the highbrow division of science, the so-called "pure" science, the only object of which is the increasing of knowledge without any reference to any purpose to which that knowledge may be put. Included in this division are astronomy, physics, many branches of biology, and so forth.

Secondly, there is what is known as "utilitarian" science, that is to say science that, according to the way one chooses to look at it, serves the needs of industrialists, or increases the wealth of humanity. The profit-seeking motive often enters into this division, as when manufacturers employ "tame" scientists to serve the needs of their factories, and try and keep the results of their research secret from their competitors. There is in some quarters a tendency to turn up one's nose at this division of science, yet such studies are very necessary, and it is better that such studies should sometimes be made to serve the needs of individual profit-makers than that they should not be carried on at all.

Thirdly and lastly there is "humanitarian" science, that is to say science that takes for its subject-matter such things as pertain to the lives of mankind, and whose purpose is to increase the health and happiness of mankind as a whole. Such studies are physiology, psychology, medicine, economics, and political science.

(There is as yet no such thing as political science, but only a series of foolish and unscientific notions as Communism, Fascism, Aristocracy and Democracy, Over which we quarrel and fight with needless violence.)

Humanitarian science has been sadly neglected, and most if not all the troubles of the world today are caused by the fact that the other two divisions of science have been allowed to outstrip this most important division.

Pure and Utilitarian science together gave us wonderful methods of production and terrible engines of war, and the use and direction of these things is left in the hands of men chosen by the method of "survival of the fittest", the method of the jungle, which today means simply the survival of the most unscrupulous, in business and in politics.

Now science-fiction, in most of the forms in which it has been presented to the public, has gone all out for the spectacular, that is to say for Pure science, with an occasional glance at Utilitarian science. In fact, I can think of only one story that is about Humanitarian science, J.R. Fearn's THE MAN WHO STOPPED THE DUST, and I am not at all sure even of that.

Now, Pure science may be spectacular, but it soon loses interest. One feels, on reading it, that this sort of stuff has no relation at all to the lives and needs of every-day humanity. Humanitarian science may not attract so much attention at first, but it holds interest much longer. One feels one wants to read, now and then, stories about people instead of everlasting repitition of the machine

and monster themes: stories that will show people living in the world of the future, when science has altered everything and made humanity much happier than we are today.

In a word, that is what is wrong with science-fiction as it is today: it has lost all interest in the ways and lives of the common run of humanity.

ANNOUNCEMENT.

THE BRITISH SCIEINCE FICTION BIBLIOGRAPHY

(Vol. 1.)

Will be published on August 16th

It will contain alphabetical lists of scores of books, published and obtainable in this coantry, from about 1900 onwards.

In addition to the titles of these books, the authors names, publishers, and short details about their themes will be included.

Annual supplements to the bibliography will be issued to bring it up to date.

It is issued under the auspices of THE SCIEINCE FICTION ASSOCIATION, but to defray the cost of publishing, a charge of 6d per copy will be made. Members may purchase three conpies for the price of two. The ordering of copies in advance would be appreciated.

ORDER YOUR COPY NOW!

Ask any fan the names of several regular British writers of science-fiction, and seldom can he think of more than half-a-dozen. Yet it is clear that, if science-fiction is to be developed in this country, there must be a relatively large number of British authors producing worth-while stories. No British science-fiction magazine could rely on merely six or so authors and, according to Festus Pragnell, one of the reasons why Newnes turned down their projected magazine was "the impossibility of obtaining a sufficient quantity of material from a sufficient number of British authors." Mr. Pragnell goes on to suggest "something in the nature of an English training ground for science-fiction authors seems to be urgently needed."

What can be done about the matter? An obvious suggestion is that existing authors who write ordinary fiction should be encouraged to write science-fiction. Yet the writing of good science-fiction demands talents which most ordinary novel writers do not possess, such as extensive imagination, a knowledge of other science-fiction and a grasp of the foundations of science. It is only the writers who have specialised in science-fiction who have produced the really worth-while stories. Again, few writers who can maike a profit on other types of fiction would be willin to try their hand at this new venture, which wou1d yield but little profit at first.

On the other hand, there exists in the ranks of science-fiction fans many who have an inclination to write and who possess the talents listed above. The only

quality they lack is literary skill. Can this be developed in them? We make the bold suggestion that, providing the "gift of the gab" is already to some extent present, it can, and the rest of this article will be based on this assumption.

One of these amateur authors stated;- "You would be surprised what a lot of talent there is, waiting to be developed. . . The project of developing amateur authors is a fascinating one to consider. . .I am in support of it, because it may lead to the unearthing of authors of real talent." The history of science-fiction records the names of numerous amateurs who, with the necessary encouragement, have blossomed into prominent authors.

Mr. Kenneth G. Chapman, writing about these amateurs, said: "I do not know a great deal about amateur authorship, though I have written one or two 'yarns' myself. I am at present trying my hand at something a little more advanced, introducing an idea which I have found lacking in most of the magazine stories I have read - the coindident history of two different worlds. However, what I lack in first-hand experience, I think I make up for by having been favoured with the works of other amateurs for proof reading. Many of these I have read and found the average grade fairly high. The ideas introduced are often original, which is more than one can say of most published professional efforts, and I generally find less 'Deadshot Dick' stuff in them, which is perhaps the reason why the writers are 'amateurs'."

W.H. Gillings, editor of the experimental British science-fiction magazine, TALES OF WONDER, gives this advice to tyro-authors who are not

over-ambitious and who want to assist the development of British Fantasy as well as themselves:-

"In the event of TALES OF WONDER proving sufficiently popular - and although it is too early to state definitely whether it can be considered a success, the indications are that the verdict will be what all British fans would wish - it is confidently expected that further issues will follow, and eventually result in the publication of a regular monthly or quarrterly magazine. I shall therefore be pleased to consider suitable stories for publication in any future issues that may materialise, and to give amateur authors desiring to write for a British market every encouragement and assistance that I can.

"New ideas and thought-variant plots are not necessary for "TALES OF WONDER". On the story that is required - however "hackneyed the plot may be for America - in order that it shall be acceptable to a reading public unused to the many fantastic notions that have been introduced into American science-fiction of recent years. In this country, the development of the science-fantasy medium is oniy just beginning, and TALES OF WONDER has to start at the beginning and go over all the old ground again if it is to capture the interest of a public large enough to enable it to survive.

"Amateur authors, therefore, need not strike originality, unless it is to be in the treatment of simple themes, though their stories must, of course, comply with all the other requirements: reasonably good writing such as only comes from co.nstant practice and revision; plenty of action, which does not mean wild-and-wooly adventure; and above all, vivid - but convincing - descriptive. This last is

most important. The reaction of the ordinary, British reader to startlingly imaginative conceptions such as science-fiction presents is to denounce them as "far-fetched" and impossible, But by careful writing, convincing narrative, good charaterisation and dialogue, and the introduction of human interest, the aathor who writes for an English public can give a plausible atmosphere to his fantasies and so exercise his readers' imaginations without stretching them beyond their limits.

"Whatever the theme, the treatment of the story should be such as to make its ingredients assimilable by the uninitiated reader whom we are seeking to convert to our comparatively small circle. None of the accepted features of science-fiction, like interplanetary travel, should ever be taken for granted, but introduced afresh as though they were entirely new, and embellished with all the arguments that have been employed so frequently in the past - though long, technical explanations should be avoided. Stories of exploration in space and time should be cautious and restrained, yet written in such a manner as to suggest they are immensely sweeping in scope -- as indeed they will prove to the reader to whom the idea of a voyage to Mars or the world of 1,000 years hence is something to marvel at.

"For the moment, therefore, I would suggest that you confine yourselves to simple variations of "commonplace" themes, as they now appear to as, although they will be unusual enough to startle this type of reader. At the same time, you should try to approach these old themes from a new angle, since the widely read, critical science-fiction fan has also to be catered for, and will demand at least as certain amount of originality of treatment."

Eric F. Russell, Liverpool author-member, suggests that there is no great lack of authors who can write science-fiction, but who prefer not to do so since there is little demand for it, he goes on to guggest that, with the publication of TALES OF WONDER, science-fiction authors will appear in plenty; that many good science-fiction stories are turned down by editors of ordinary magazines because they can use only a few, and that Newnes' difficulty in obtaining sufficient suitable material was due, not to the lack of authors, but to the fact that their own plans were not generally known. However, he agrees that amateur authors should be encouraged, and gives the following advice:-

DON'T try to copy the style of your favourite author. Originality commands a higher price, and finds a surer market, than any cheap imitation.

Always try to write with the greatest enthusiasm of which you are capable. Enthusiasm is contagious. Editors catch it, readers catch it.

DON'T accept criticism of your first story from friends or relatives - they are intellectually dishonest, Ask the opinion of your worst enemy.

Always try to make your finished story completely satisfactory to yourself. Nothing on earth is more certain than a yarn which doesn't please you won't please an editor.

DON'T conceal the fact that you are writing for money by creating a strong impression that you write only because you love your art -- it will merely make editors so sympathetic that they'll send your stories back instead of just throwing them away.

Always concentrate upon seeing that the interest is maintained from first to last. Be ruthless, and cut out any irrelevant conversation and any verbiage which does not advance the action.

DON'T spend nights filled with agony in perfecting your first epic, then send it to an editor without farther-revision. Take pains to make the finished manuscript presentable, in fact pleasing. A story that is worth writing is worth presenting decently.

Always make certain that you really DID know how to spell that awkward word and that you really HAVE corrected every mistake you were able to discover.

DON'T take it for granted that because your first story has been accepted you know all the answers and have nothing else to learn. If you do you'll slip up -- and your first story will prove to be your last. An author has finished his education the day he is lowered into his grave.

Always remember that a plot is not a story, but merely its skeleton. You have got to add, to the VERY best of your ability, characterisation, action,. atmosphere and style, keeping all four in due proportion, and balancing the introduction, crisis and 'conclusion.

Always remember that authorship entails damned hard work, and

DON'T expect to become a successful author without damned hard work.

In turn, Festus Pragnell gives the following advice:-

DON'T introduce too many characters. If there are too many people in a story the reader will become confused,

DON'T "show off" your knowledge. You must have confidence in yourself to write, but if any parts of your story have been put in just to show how much you know, (and we all do it) cut them out.

DON'T use long words if you can help it.

DON'T be in too big a hurry to put your thoughts down on paper. The longer you take quietly thinking over things the better the result will be.

DON'T send off your story without reading it through several times. If you find this tedious, the story will be tedious to others too. If any parts read dull, read them until you know why they are dull, and write these parts again.

DON'T write about scenes that are familiar to you every day; or if you do take great care that you do not go into details that are not part of the story, or are uninteresting or too technical for the general public.

DON'T be disheartened if you "get stuck" and seem unable to go on. This has happened to me in every story I have written. Put the tale aside for a week or more and then come back to it fresh.

' DON'T let your characters behave in any other way than normal human beings behave, unless they are definitely abnormal characters.

DON'T listen to the advice of your friends or relatives, unless they are professional authors, Well-meaning as they may be, they will put you all wrong. In fact, it is best not to let them see it until it is in print.

A third author-member, who prefers to remain anonymous, advises amateur authors as follows:-

DON'T write the one about the old professor who constructs some mysterious machine which merely encompasses his own death, leaving everyone so much the wiser. It's the most hackneyed plot in science-fiction.

DO bring a short story to some sort of a climax. A surprise twist at the finish is all to the good, if you can manage it without forcing it.

DON'T write supernatural yarns, or ones in which the phenomena are not given fairly plausible scientific explanations.

DO keep abreast of the times by reading current science magazines and books, thus encountering new ideas and theories.

DON'T think that a lecture in the form of a yarn is necessarily a science-fiction story.

DO enclose the necessary return postage in all cases.

DON'T use cliches like "sickening thud" or "deafening bang": describe things in your own words.

DO type double-space on quarto sheets, on one side of the paper only, leave a wide margin, and quote the total number of words on the front page.

Other valuable advice on the art of writing can be obtained from many good books on the subject, obtainable from most public libraries. Lack of space forbids a more detailed consideration of the matter, but we will always be willing to see the works of amateur authors, and either discuss or criticise them ourselves, or pass them on to some authority.

Finally, we wish to announce, as a three months' experiment, the publication of three issues of AMATEUR SCIENCE STORIES, Each issue will contain one or more science-fiction stories by amateur authors. All stories received for consideration will be passed on to a committee (to be appointed later) who will award marks -- some marks for originality, some marks for development of plot, some marks for style, etc. Stories receiving more than a certain total of marks will be accepted and published. The three issues will be published in September, October and November, at a price of 6d, each, or 1/- for all three issues (post

free). Should the experiment prove of interest, the magazine will be continued indefinitely. Copies should be ordered in advance.

As conclusion, we extend to all amateur authors the wishes that their efforts will soon be crowned with success, and an invitation that they should let us see their stories (all of which will be ultimately returned), with a view to our publishing them in AMATEUR SCIENCE STORIES.

PUBLICATIONS INCLUDE:

Tomorrow.
Novae Terrae.
Science-Fiction Gazette.
British Science-Fiction Bibliography.
Amateur Science Stories.

HONORARY MEMBERS INCLUDE:

Prof. A.M. Low.
Dr. Olaf Stapledon.
All prominent fans.
Most British s-f authors.

SUBSCRIPTION: 5/- per year or 1/6 per quarter.

FOR FURTHER DETAILS APPLY:
5, Florist Street, Leeds 3.