Neatly Paradoxical

Frederick Pohl is one of the ablest of the established writers of science fiction. With C. M. Kornbluth, he is the author of two competent SF novels: The Space Merchants and Gladiatorat-Law. Alternating Current is a collection of his most recent short stories, and they are a fair sampling of his range. He applies the method of “extrapolation,” common to all the SF authors, both to physical science (space travel, electronics) and—with special verve—to business and social organization.

Two stories of this new collection are, like The Space Merchants, projections of the advertising industry, about which Mr. Pohl is considerably more serious than the much touted “business novelists.” His account of a girl used as a “memory bank” to store astronautical data too complicated for the electronic computers is neatly paradoxical.

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Frederick Pohl is one of the ablest of the established writers of science fiction. With C. M. Kornbluth, he is the author of two competent SF novels: The Space Merchants and Gladiatorat-Law. Alternating Current is a collection of his most recent short stories, and they are a fair sampling of his range. He applies the method of “extrapolation,” common to all the SF authors, both to physical science (space travel, electronics) and—with special verve—to business and social organization.

Two stories of this new collection are, like The Space Merchants, projections of the advertising industry, about which Mr. Pohl is considerably more serious than the much touted “business novelists.” His account of a girl used as a “memory bank” to store astronautical data too complicated for the electronic computers is neatly paradoxical.