Contents: 6 • Fog • [Editorial (Astounding)] • essay by John W. Campbell, Jr. [as by The Editor] 9 • Old Man Mulligan • novelette by P. Schuyler Miller 33 • Legacy • short story by Nelson S. Bond 44 • Spheres • novelette by D. M. Edwards 68 • Justinian Jugg's Patent • essay by L. Sprague de Camp 80 • Fog • novelette by Willy Ley [as by Robert Willey] 103 • Wanted: Suggestions • essay by R. S. Richardson 112 • In Times to Come (Astounding, December 1940) • [In Times to Come (Astounding)] • essay by The Editor 112 • The Analytical Laboratory: October 1940 (Astounding, December 1940) • [The Analytical Laboratory] • essay by The Editor 113 • Brass Tacks (Astounding, December 1940) • [Brass Tacks] • essay by The Editor 113 • Letters 119 • Slan (Part 4 of 4) • [Slan • 1] • serial by A. E. van Vogt 162 • Cheap Fuel • essay by uncredited.
John Wood Campbell, Jr. was an influential figure in American science fiction. As editor of Astounding Science Fiction (later called Analog Science Fiction and Fact), from late 1937 until his death, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction.
Isaac Asimov called Campbell "the most powerful force in science fiction ever, and for the first ten years of his editorship he dominated the field completely."
As a writer, Campbell published super-science space opera under his own name and moody, less pulpish stories as Don A. Stuart. He stopped writing fiction after he became editor of Astounding.