George O. Smith
George O. Smith was an American electronics engineer and science fiction author, born on April 9, 1911. Known for his technologically focused narratives, Smith's early work contributed to the "golden age" of science fiction, particularly through his first story, "QRM—Interplanetary," published in 1942 in *Astounding Science Fiction*. This story marked the beginning of the Venus Equilateral series, which explored the concept of space communication stations, a groundbreaking idea at the time. Smith's writing, while often rich in technical detail, sometimes lacked character development and his technological predictions did not always stand the test of time. Nevertheless, he achieved recognition for his engaging storytelling and was praised by contemporaries like Arthur C. Clarke for his foresight in space communications. Among his notable works is "Highways in Hiding," which later became known as *The Space Plague*. Although his productivity diminished after 1960, Smith continued to publish sporadically until his death on May 27, 1981. He was inducted into the First Fandom Hall of Fame in 1980, solidifying his legacy in the science fiction community.
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George O. Smith
Writer
- Born: April 9, 1911
- Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois
- Died: May 27, 1981
- Place of death: Rumford, New Jersey
Biography
George Oliver Smith was born April 9, 1911. He was an electronics engineer who wrote highly technological science fiction, sometimes to the detriment of character development in his stories. Furthermore, some of his technology dated badly over time. Nonetheless, he was a readable author and produced one of the classics of the science-fiction field with his first story.
“QRM—Interplanetary” (1942) was the first of a series of stories involving a communications station orbiting in space near the planet Venus. It was published in Astounding (later Analog) Science Fiction, the most technologically oriented of the science-fiction magazines that proliferated at the time and arguably the most popular of them. Its editor, John W. Campbell, Jr., encouraged, guided and published work by Smith as well as genre luminaries such as Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury, kicking off what was called the “golden age” of science-fiction writing.
That first story by Smith and its sequels developed into what was called the Venus Equilateral series (all published in Astounding) and were assembled in book form under that title, with several new stories added, in 1947. The work was later expanded to a new edition titled The Complete Venus Equilateral.
Science-fact and -fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, who was the first to write about what would one day become communications satellites, described Smith in 1976 as “probably the first writer—certainly the first technically qualified writer—to spell out the uses of space stations for space communications. George Smith, I’m sure, correctly anticipates the future.”
Much of Smith’s work could be described as space opera. For example, Nomad deals with an alien invasion from a planet wandering through space. Similar novels include Pattern for Conquest: An Interplanetary Adventure and Hellflower.
Smith’s fiction output was irregular, interrupted by periods when his day job took all of his time. “Highways in Hiding,” a fast-moving magazine serial that combined the invasion theme with that of the superman with a kind of “disease” turning normal humans into near super- humans, came out in book form as The Space Plague. He published a well-received novel about an artificially-created superman in 1959, The Fourth R, and this time did concentrate on the character of the young protagonist.
Smith became relatively inactive after that time. He did continue publishing the occasional work up until about 1960. A collection of his shorter work appeared in the posthumous The Worlds of George O. Smith, which included Smith’s autobiographical notes about his friendship with Campbell, Robert Heinlein, and other science-fiction icons of the 1940’s.
Smith should not be confused with George H. Smith, who wrote science fiction during part of the same period. He received the First Fandom Hall of Fame award in 1980. George O. Smith died on May 27, 1981.