# Explorers of the Infinite
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{{Short description|1963 work of collective biography by Sam Moskowitz}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Explorers of the Infinite
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = Explorers of the Infinite.jpg
| caption = First edition
| author = [Sam Moskowitz](/source/Sam_Moskowitz)
| illustrator =
| cover_artist = [Ellen Raskin](/source/Ellen_Raskin)
| country = United States
| language = English
| series =
| subject = [biography](/source/biography)
| genre =
| publisher = [World Publishing Company](/source/World_Publishing_Company)
| release_date = 1963
| english_release_date =
| media_type = Print ([Hardback](/source/Hardcover))
| pages = 353 pp.
| dewey=
| congress= PN3448.S45 M65
| oclc= 66128692
| preceded_by =
| followed_by = [Seekers of Tomorrow](/source/Seekers_of_Tomorrow)
}}
'''''Explorers of the Infinite: Shapers of Science Fiction''''' is a work of collective [biography](/source/biography) on the formative authors of the [science fiction](/source/science_fiction) genre by [Sam Moskowitz](/source/Sam_Moskowitz), first published in [hardcover](/source/hardcover) by the [World Publishing Company](/source/World_Publishing_Company) in 1963, and reprinted in trade paperback in 1966. A photographic reprint of the original edition was issued in both hardcover and trade paperback by [Hyperion Press](/source/Hyperion_Press) in 1974. Most of its chapters are revised versions of articles that initially appeared in the magazines ''[Satellite Science Fiction](/source/Satellite_Science_Fiction)'' and ''[Fantastic Science Fiction Stories](/source/Fantastic_(magazine))'' from 1958-1960.[{{ISFDB title|id=831491|title=Explorers of the Infinite}}]
The work presents the early history of the genre via a discussion of the lives and works of eighteen of its most important formative authors, followed by a more general discussion of more recent writers.
==Contents==
#"Introduction"
#"[Cyrano DeBergerac](/source/Cyrano_de_Bergerac_(person)) - Swordsman of Space"
#"The Sons of Frankenstein" ([Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley](/source/Mary_Shelley))
#"The Prophetic [Edgar Allan Poe](/source/Edgar_Allan_Poe)"
#"The Fabulous Fantast, [Fitz-James O'Brien](/source/Fitz_James_O'Brien)"
#"Around the Worlds With [Jules Verne](/source/Jules_Verne)"
#"The Real Earth Satellite Story" ([Edward Everett Hale](/source/Edward_Everett_Hale))
#"Ghosts of Prophecies Past, or, [Frank Reade, Jr.](/source/Luis_Senarens) and 'Forgotten Chapters in American History'"
#"The Wonders of [H. G. Wells](/source/H._G._Wells)"
#"The World, the Devil, and [M. P. Shiel](/source/M._P._Shiel)"
#"[Arthur Conan Doyle](/source/Arthur_Conan_Doyle) - A Study in Science Fiction"
#"To Barsoom and Back with [Edgar Rice Burroughs](/source/Edgar_Rice_Burroughs)"
#"The Marvelous [A. Merritt](/source/A._Merritt)"
#"[Karel Capek](/source/Karel_%C4%8Capek): The Man Who Invented Robots"
#"[Hugo Gernsback](/source/Hugo_Gernsback): 'Father of Science Fiction'"
#"The Lore of [H. P. Lovecraft](/source/H._P._Lovecraft)"
#"[Olaf Stapledon](/source/Olaf_Stapledon): Cosmic Philosopher"
#"Space Opus: [Philip Wylie](/source/Philip_Wylie)"
#"Dawn of Fame: The Career of [Stanley G. Weinbaum](/source/Stanley_G._Weinbaum)"
#"How Science Fiction Got Its Name"
#"The Future in Present Tense"
==Reception==
[Theodore Sturgeon](/source/Theodore_Sturgeon), although noting the book's many imperfections, praised ''Explorers of the Infinite'', saying "no one has surveyed the roots of SF as well as Mr. M.; probably no one ever will; prossibly {{sic}}, no one else can."["Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf", ''[Galaxy Science Fiction](/source/Galaxy_Science_Fiction)'', December 1963, p.124. It is not evident whether "prossibly" is a typographical error or a [portmanteau](/source/portmanteau).]
[Kirkus Reviews](/source/Kirkus_Reviews), while recognizing Moskowitz's tracing of the genre to "Odysseus' Trojan horse and such devices as Arthur's incredibly able sword Excalibur, the Houyhnhnms of Gulliver's Travels, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the historical Cyrano de Bergerac's A Voyage to the Moon (1650), Robinson Crusoe, and even ... Moby Dick," saw the book largely as the author's paen to ''[Amazing Stories](/source/Amazing_Stories)'', "the great si-fi pulp mag of the Thirties, which [he] here apostrophizes as an American efflorescence of the scientific imagination." It noted with apparent approval the fact that "Jules Verne and H. G. Wells get whole chapters, but [also that] a fantastically vast up-literature of sci-fi exists from the turn of this century and before Amazing started in 1926 (all of it composed by authors less than amazingly memorable to many a living librarian)."[[https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sam-moskowitz/explorers-of-the-infinite-shapers-of-science-fi/#review Kirkus Reviews - Explorers of the Infinite]]
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
==References==
* {{ISFDB title|id=831491}}
* {{OL work|id=5154065W|cname=''Explorers of the Infinite''}}
*[http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/sam-moskowitz/explorers-of-infinite.htm Fantastic Fiction entry for ''Explorers of the Infinite'']
{{Authority control}}
Category:1963 non-fiction books
Category:Biographies about writers
Category:American non-fiction books
Category:English-language non-fiction books
Category:Science fiction studies
Category:World Publishing Company books
Category:Cultural depictions of Cyrano de Bergerac
Category:Cultural depictions of Mary Shelley
Category:Cultural depictions of Edgar Allan Poe
Category:Cultural depictions of Jules Verne
Category:Cultural depictions of H. G. Wells
Category:Cultural depictions of Arthur Conan Doyle
Category:Cultural depictions of Edgar Rice Burroughs
---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Explorers of the Infinite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explorers_of_the_Infinite) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explorers_of_the_Infinite?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.