Where Do We Go From Here? edited by Isaac Asimov. A collection of science fiction short stories, each selected with a view toward use in the classroom, and each followed by a series of questions and comments intended to elicit discussion. There is also an appendix with suggested further reading. This book was published in 1971, by Doubleday and Company and has a Library of Congress Catalog Number of 75-142033. Although the book is long out of print, I list it because it can still be found in libraries, because it contains many wonderful stories, and because I have fond memories of reading it myself in the 1970s.
Contents:
- A Martian Odyssey
by Stanley G. Weinbaum - Night
by Don A. Stuart - The Day Is Done
by Lester Del Rey - Heavy Planet
by Milton A. Rothman - –And He Built a Crooked House–
by Robert A. Heinlein - Proof
by Hal Clement - A Subway Named Moebius
by A. J. Deutsch - Surface Tension
by James Blish - Country Doctor
by William Morrison - The Holes Around Mars
by Jerome Bixby - The Deep Range
by Arthur C. Clarke - The Cave of Night
by James E. Gunn - Dust Rag
by Hal Clement - Pate’ de Foie Gras
by Isaac Asimov - Omnilingual
by H. Beam Piper - The Big Bounce
by Walter S. Tevis - Neutron Star
by Larry Niven
Stanley G. Weinbaum’s Martian Odyssey was written in 1934 but it is far less dated than date would indicate. Weinberg was among the first (if not the first) to write about alien creatures clearly as intelligent as humans, but just as clearly different from humans in thought as well as body, and was also one of the few writers in any field to become famous after the publication of his first story. If Weinbaum had lived longer (he died in 1936), he would almost certainly be named among the big three of science fiction (Asimov, Clarke and Heinlein). Thirty-five years after this story was written, it was selected as the second best science fiction short story ever.
Teachers should note the flaws in the story: the stock characters (German scientist, etc.) and the assumption that the heroes’ desire to explore (and acquire) trumps all other concerns, but should also note that the story encourages that quintessential science fiction feeling – the sense of wonder.
Don A. Stuart was the pseudonym of the very influential editor, John W. Campbell, who edited the leading science fiction magazine (Astounding later renamed Analog) for several decades. Campbell began his career writing in the style known as "space opera" but changed his style dramatically as demonstrated with stories like Night. As an editor, Campbell developed dozens of writers who would become famous, often giving the same spark of an idea to several authors and publishing many of the resulting stories; Campbell’s most remembered story these days is likely to be "Who Goes There?" a thriller which was filmed twice (and both times called "The Thing.")
Hal Clement has two stories in this collection, which is perhaps not a coincidence, because under his real name, he was a science teacher for many decades. He is widely regarded as one of the premier "hard science fiction" writers, and the yearly award for best science fiction novel for young adults is called the "Hal Clement Award."
