People who read science fiction for the first time are always surprised to discover how much content there is in it. And just in terms of mechanical marvels.

But as any fan of this much-maligned form of writing knows, science fiction is primarily concerned with the development of ideas, ideas in all fields—sociology, psychology, the future, history, mechanics, the sciences—but last (and almost least since it is by now old-hat in s.f.) space travel.

Science fiction is the world of new ideas—its functions are in the real frontiers of the mind—and like most frontiers, it is sometimes frightening. Human beings don't really like to believe that some day large numbers of them will have the powers of the terrified little Girl in "Danger, Child at Large!" But they may... Already scientific tests have proved that the mind alone (of some individuals) can move material objects. It's the beginning. And it's only a matter of time. About twenty-five years ago, Hugo Gernsback wrote detailed descriptions of radar, with diagrams. It was simply a matter of time. Submarines, air travel, radar, radio, the telephone, even the atomic bomb—you name it, sometime, somewhere, it has all appeared in science fiction. And new methods of surgery, tranquilizing drugs, truth serums, psychological conditioning, space travel—all these have been there, waiting for the world to catch up with them!

Science fiction is the world of the future, some of it bad, some of it good—your future. Take a look. (And don't be surprised if you find it interesting!)

Edited by Frederick Pohl

Contains:

• Danger! Child at Large by C.L. Cottrell
• Twin's Wail by Elizabeth Mann Borgese
• The Holy Grail by Tom Purdon
• Angerhelm by Cordwainer Smith
• The Dreamsman by Gordon R. Dickson
• To Catch an Alien by John J. McGuire
• Press Conference by Miriam Allen deFord
• Invasion from Inner Space by Howard Koch