Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 40

About this issue

Issue No. 40, December 15, 1953 This issue features a full-length novel The Best Laid Scheme by Kelvin Strike, set in the twenty-fifth century, depicting logician Stebbing Joseph working on advanced Boolean algebraic symbolism when a mysterious shrieking sound announces the arrival of an alien spacecraft that materializes near his rural English home, scorching the surrounding fields. Short stories include Dan Morgan's Amateur Talent about an interplanetary theater impressario; M. Dogge's debut story The Inner Worlds and My Uncle; J. F. Burke's For You, The Possessed; Martin Jordan's Cuckoo, featuring alien infiltration with a twist; and A. P. Kift's competition-winning Go to the Ants. The issue also contains nonfiction articles on Saturn, Extra-Sensory Perception, and projectiles. Editor H. J. Campbell contributes an editorial from Canada discussing science fiction's cultural influence and commercial advertising there.