<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

Galaxy Magazine was one of the most influential science magazines. Begun in October 1950, under the editorship of H. L. Gold (Horace Leonard Gold), it soon became known as a source of literate, witty SF, often with a note of social and political satire.

Among the novels serialized in Galaxy Magazine in the '50s were The Demolished Man, by Alfred Bester; The Space Merchants, by Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth; and The Caves of Steel, by Isaac Asimov. The magazine also published stories by these writers, as well as fiction by Robert Sheckley, Theodore Sturgeon, Philip K. Dick, and William Tenn.

Gold edited Galaxy Magazine from his apartment because he suffered from agoraphobia. When he was finally persuaded to leave the apartment, he was injured in an automobile accident. Declining health forced him away from the magazine. Pohl became more involved in the running of the magazine, officially becoming editor in 1961. He continued the high literary level of the magazine. When Robert Silverberg was considering a return to SF, Pohl gave him carte blanche to write whatever he wanted, eventually publishing the stories that became To Open the Sky and The World Inside, as well as serializing Downward to the Earth and the Nebula-winning A Time of Changes.

Galaxy Magazine also was known for the quality of its book reviewing. The first reviewer was the famed SF anthologist Groff Conklin. In 1955, Conklin was succeeded by Gold's brother Floyd, writing as Floyd C. Gale. From 1965 to 1969, Algis Budrys was the reviewer; his thoughtful discussions were collected as Benchmarks. Later, Theodore Sturgeon and Spider Robinson offered enthusiastic if not discriminating discussions of new SF.

Galaxy Magazine fell on hard times in the '70s, as editors Ejler Jakobsson, Jim Baen, and John J. Pierce were unable to overcome lack of financial support from the publishers. There have since been efforts to revive Galaxy Magazine, either in print or online.

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