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ASTOUNDING

SCIENCE-FICTION I nconse quential Detail
TITLE REG ISTERED U. S. PATENT OFFICE
CONTENTS JANUARY, 1940 VOL. XXIV NO. 5
The entire cont_ents of this magazine has not been published before and is pro- Science-fiction deals with invention and progress, and loud is the call for
tected by copyright and must not be reprinted without the publishers' permission.
great and sweeping ideas. But it is, in the land of present reality, remarkably
difficult to distinguish between a "great invention" and an "improvement in incon-
NOVELETTES
sequential detail." _The immediate reaction to that statement is probably a vociferous
NEUTRAL VESSEL . • • • . . • Harl Vincent . 9 disbelief. Does sound slightly screwy, doesn't it? It's a painful fact, however-
In space war, all you need is one good, big
runaway ship, and the war'll be sell led! painful for those fellows who make a minor improvement, just a slight change in
THE SMALLEST GOD . . . . . . Lester del Rey • 43 detail, that turns a one-percent efficient and wholly uneconomic "great idea" into
Something new in science-fiction; the biography of a \
rubbeT doll-and, of course, a lump of curious tar- a ninety-percent efficient and useful device. Sometimes the man who makes it work
gets the credit; generally he doesn't. Edison was lucky, in this respect, and Nernst
SHORT STORIES. correspondingly unlucky. Nernst produced an incandescent electric light that was
MOON OF DELIRIUM . D. L. James 30
There's one curious thing about the considerably more efficient than Edison's carbon-filament bulb.
menace of a really efficient parasite-
REQUIEM • • Robert A. Heinlein . 80 Unfortunately, Nernst lamps required a rather delicate thermo-relay and a
Rockets can be a matter of business. a mat- platinum pre-heater coil, and ran at a temperature that slowly but surely evaporated
ter of insanity-or a matter of dreams-
away the platinum. _(Incidentally, if they'd persisted to modern times, broadcast
IN THE DAY OF THE COLD . . . Sam Weston . . . 92
The wise ones could read and write and build- but they couldn't live! radio wouldn't have come into existence. Each little incandescent rod would have
been the source of a wonderful howl of static.)
ARTICLE
TRANSMUTATION, 1939 • . . Jack Hatcher 69 Still this subtle art of differentiating between a minor change of design, in-
"For further details, see your local newspapers-" the science
of atoms advances too swiftly for a monthly magazine! tended to squeeze an infringing patent through the Patent Office, and a major,
revolutionary development would not, on the surface, seem to require much insight
SERIAL
E. E. Smith, Ph.D. into the intricacies of science. If Inventor A patents a cooling tube with disk-
GRAY LENSMAN • • • • • 102
Conclusion shaped fins for dissipating heat, and Inventor B tries to patent a cooling tube with
The last of Smith's greatest novel. disk-shaped fins for diss1pating heat, the latter fins differing somewhat in shape
READERS' DEPARTMENTS and number, InventorB is, obviously, a pare-faced chiseler.
THE EDITOR'S PAGE • • • • . . 5
· "Inconsequential Detail." Only, it happens, he isn't. Inventor B has, in fact, made a vital and revolu-
IN TIMES TO COME • • • • • • • • • • • • 29
Department of Prophecy and Future Issues. tionary invention. In this case, it applies to the cylinder of an air-cooled airplane
engine, and that small change in shape and placement of air-cooling fins is one of
BOOK REVIEW • • • • 79
BRASS TACKS AND SCIENCE DISCUSSIONS • • 155 the year's major inventions. It boosted the power of the largest engines from
The Open House of Controversy.
twenty-four hundred horsepower to thirty-six hundred 11orsepower-made possible
Illustrations by M. Isip, R. Isip, Koll and Schneeman
an entirely new understanding and system of design for aircraft engines.
COVER BY SCHNEEMAN
Monthly publicatlon issued by Street & Smith Publicationsincorporated 79-89 Seventh Avenue New The NACA, at the same time it a1mounced that new engine, announced a new
York, N. Y. Allen L. Grammer, President;Henry W. Raiston, Vice President and Treasurer
Copyright 1939, by Street & Smtih Publications Inc " New York. Copyright 1939 by Street & type of aircraft wing. It differs minutely in the exact curve employed, the cross-
Smith Publications Inc • GreatBritain. Reentered at Second-class Matter February 7 1938 al the
.
Post Office at New York N. Y.,. under Act of Congressof March 3, 1879.' Subscriptionsto Canada
Cuba. Dom. Republic Haiti Spain, Central and South American Countries,except The Guianas section has a slightly different shape. The combination, they stated, would make
and British Honduras S2.25 per year To all other Foreign Countries, including The Guianas and
British Honduras $2.75 per year possible ships of five hundred miles per hour and better.
• All characters used In fictionand semi-fictionstories In thh magazineare fictitious
Any similarity In name or characterizationtopersons, living or dead is coincidental
for
• 1
We do not acceptresponsibility the return of unsolicited manuscripts 1 artwork'
Printed in To facilitate handling, the author should inclose • self-addressed envelopes with the
the u. S. A . requisite postage attached, anti artists should incloseor forward returns postage.
STREET & SMITH PUBLICATIONS, INC. • 79 7th AVE., NEW YORK, N. Y.