Astounding Stories of Super-Science January 1931Various
Science
Astounding Stories of Super-Science January 1931
Various
Science fiction -- Periodicals; Science fiction, American -- Periodicals
Specimens of stalagmites will be collected and reconstructed for the
American Museum of Natural History. The explorers expect to find also
flying fish, flying salamanders, rare insects and thousands of bats. A
Government representative will go along, and drawings and motion
pictures will be made.
_The Readers' Corner_
_A Meeting Place for Readers of ASTOUNDING STORIES_
_A Letter and Comment_
Three or four times in the year we have been issuing Astounding
Stories the Editor has received letters calling attention to fancied
scientific errors in our stories. All these letters were published,
but until now we have not cut in on the space of "The Readers' Corner"
to answer such objections because they were very obviously the result
of hasty or inaccurate readings.
The other week one more such letter reached us--from Mr. Philip Waite,
this time--claiming that there was "an atrocious flaw" in two stories
of Captain S. P. Meek's. This we could not let go unanswered, first
because of the strong terms used, and second because the objection
would sound to many like a true criticism; so we turned the letter
over to Captain Meek, and his answer follows Mr. Waite's letter below.
We welcome criticism of stories in our "The Readers' Corner." Never
yet have we withheld from it any criticism or brickbats of
importance--and we never intend to. But space is limited; there's not
room now for all the good letters that come in; and we do not want to
intrude too much with editorial comment. Therefore when we do not stop
and answer all criticisms we are not necessarily admitting they are
valid. In most cases everyone will quickly see their lack of logic or
accuracy, and in the rest we will ask you to remember that our Staff
is meticulously careful about the scientific facts and laws and
possibilities that enter our stories, so it's extremely unlikely that
anything very "atrocious" will get by.
Well, we'd better cut short now, before we take up too much "Corner"
room. But first, thanks to Captain Meek for going to the trouble of
defending two stories that needed no defense. And thanks, too, to Mr.
Waite, for his kindness in writing in to inform us of what he
thought--unquestionably because of hasty reading--were errors.--_The
Editor._
P. S. (Now we'll have to be _super_ careful of our science, for if Mr.
Waite ever gets anything on us--!!)
Dear Editor:
Just a note to tell you to keep up the good work. There was an
atrocious flaw, however, in the two stories by Capt. S. P. Meek about
the Heaviside Layer. How, may I ask, do meteors penetrate through that
imaginary substance which is too much for a powerful space flyer?
Also, how about refraction? A substance denser than air would produce
refraction that would have been noticed long ago. I don't mind minor
errors, but an author has no right to ignore the facts so
outrageously. Fiction goes too far when an author can invent such
false conditions.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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