042124b

Back in the 60s and 70s I collected Astounding/Analog until only the high-priced and crumbling issues had eluded me. I read them all, and 40+ years later I am doing so again. So far, in the Sept. 1951 Astounding, I found the novella version of Alan E. Nourse's The Universe Between. Astonishing differences between this and the novel-length version I read in middle school. Briefly, experiments with matter transmission are sending the transmitted objects through another universe, causing untold havoc, unbeknownst to the experimenters. They still don't get it when, in retaliation, the denizens of the other universe take San Francisco and send it God knows where. This leaves a big hole with sharp edges and a very different look to the bay. I still like the story, but it has some highly problematic elements. For instance, the head scientist takes the only copy of the blueprints for the first spaceship, currently under construction, to a meeting in New York. I'm sorry, that would not happen. Then he brings them back and drops his briefcase casually on a table littered with miscellaneous subjects. No, this would not happen either. Of course the briefcase is destroyed. Even more egregious though, one of the scientists deliberately gets pregnant and spends a lot of time while carrying her baby in the other universe, and continues to take him there frequently after he is born. Human brains are not capable of dealing with the other universe, but she's figuring that the baby will be able to because he grew up with it. This is analogous to learning a second language from birth. I can't see any mother doing that, even in 1951. No one in the story has a problem with it. There are all kinds of other problems of this nature, but if you like vintage hard science fiction, you will probably enjoy this story anyway.