Murray Leinster

Murray Leinster was the pen name of American writer William Fitzgerald Jenkins (1896–1975), one of the most prolific authors of early and mid-20th-century science fiction. Beginning his career in the pulp magazines, he wrote hundreds of stories across science fiction, adventure, mystery, westerns, and fantasy, becoming especially known for his inventive treatment of technology, space travel, alien worlds, and speculative science.

His science-fiction career began with The Runaway Skyscraper in 1919, and his later work helped introduce or popularize ideas that became staples of the genre. Sidewise in Time explored alternate realities, First Contact became an influential story about encounters between humans and extraterrestrials, and Exploration Team won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette. Other notable works include The Forgotten Planet, Operation: Outer Space, Space Platform, Space Tug, The Pirates of Ersatz, and Talents, Incorporated.

A substantial part of Leinster's fiction is now in the public domain in the United States and freely available through Project Gutenberg. Its collection includes dozens of his novels, novellas, and short stories, among them The Runaway Skyscraper, The Forgotten Planet, Operation: Outer Space, Exploration Team, and The Ambulance Made Two Trips. These freely accessible works preserve an important part of the history of science fiction and show why Leinster is remembered as one of the genre's most imaginative and influential pulp-era writers.