Description:

Visit a world where robots strain to remember the existence of their creators; hear the report of a man who returns from a trip to the future; see the snake-armed Thing that emerges from the minds of people conjuring it. You meet a souvenir hunter in the 30th Century & a schoolgirl who tries to cope with the teaching methods of the 22nd. You share the terror of an astronaut in a haunted space suit & the dilemma of a wife whose spouse knows a common chemical formula for destroying earth. 50 Short Science Fiction Tales have been selected for conciseness & punch lines leaving readers "surprised, shocked & delighted at the final sentence." According to the editors, another aspect of the genre is "evocation of a background differing from our own." An Egg a Month from All Over 52 story by Margaret St. Clair [aka Idris Seabright] Appointment at Noon 54 story by Eric Frank Russell Barney 51 story by Will Stanton Built Down Logically 51 story by Howard Schoenfeld Counter Charm 51 story by Peter Phillips Double-Take 53 story by Winston K. Marks Emergency Landing 40 story by Ralph Williams Narapoia/Dr Manly J. Departure 48 story by Alan Nelson Obviously Suicide 51 story by S. Fowler Wright Project Hush 54 story by William Tenn Prolog 51 story by John P. McKnight See? 54 story by Edward G. Robles Jr Six Haiku 62 poem by Karen Anderson Spectator Sport 50 story by John D. MacDonald Talent 53 story by Theodore Sturgeon The Available Data on the Worp Reaction 53 story by Lion Miller The Business, As Usual 52 story by Mack Reynolds The Cricket Ball 55 story by Avro Manhattan The Fly 52 story by Arthur Porges The Great Judge 48 story by A.E. van Vogt The Hunters 52 story by Walt Sheldon The Martian & the Magician 52 story by Evelyn E. Smith The Perfect Woman 53 story by Robert Sheckley Tiger by the Tail 51 story by Alan E. Nourse Two Weeks in August 51 story by Frank M. Robinson We Don't Want Any Trouble 53 story by James H. Schmitz Who's Cribbing? 53 story by Jack Lewis Introduction #1 63 essay by Isaac Asimov Introduction #2 63 essay by Groff Conklin Ballade of an Artificial Satellite 58 poem by Poul Anderson The Fun They Had 51 story by Isaac Asimov Men Are Different 54 story by Alan Bloch The Ambassadors 52 story by Anthony Boucher The Weapon 51 story by Fredric Brown Random Sample 53 story by T.P. Caravan Oscar 41 story by Cleve Cartmill The Mist 52 story by Peter Grainger [aka Peter Cartur] Teething Ring 53 story by James Causey The Haunted Space Suit=Who's There? 58 story by Arthur C. Clarke Stair Trick 52 story by Mildred Clingerman Unwelcome Tenant 50 story by Roger Dee The Mathematicians 53 story by Arthur Feldman The Third Level 50 story by Jack Finney Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful 52 story by Stuart Friedman The Figure 47 stry by Edward Grendon The Rag Thing 51 story by Donald A. Wollheim [aka David Grinnell] The Good Provider 52 story by Marion Gross Columbus Was a Dope 47 story by Robert A. Heinlein Texas Week 54 story by Albert Hernhuter Hilda 52 story by H.B. Hickey The Choice 52 story by Wayland Hilton-Young [aka W. Hilton-Young] Not With a Bang 50 story by Damon Knight The Altar at Midnight 52 story by C.M. Kornbluth A Bad Day for Sales 53 story by Fritz Leiber