John W. Campbell, Jr. was an American science fiction writer and editor, known predominantly for the sub-genre 'Hard Science Fiction', and further credited for his role in the Golden Age of Science Fiction. He began writing science fiction in his teens and attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He then studied at Duke University where he gained his Bachelor of Science in Physics. By the time he reached his early twenties, however, he was already a well-known writer for the Pulp Magazines.

Campbell played a crucial and influential part in the careers of Isaac Asimov, Ben Bova, Arthur C. Clarke, Tom Godwin, Robert A. Heinlein, Theodore Sturgeon, and A.E. van Vogt. He was further considered as one of THE most influential editors working in the world of science 
* or Pulp - fiction: he edited 'Astounding Science Fiction' and 'Analog
Science Fiction and Fact'.

As a writer his most famous work is the novella 'Who Goes There?' first printed in 'Astounding Stories' August 1938. A tale of isolation, cabin fever, and alien invasion, the story has been filmed three times: as The Thing from Another World (1951), as The Thing (1982) by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell, and as The Thing (2011). The story has also made into video game format. His short story 'The Machine' was filmed in the 1950's Tales of Tomorrow (1951).

In 1996 John W. Campbell Jr. was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

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John W. Campbell Jr.

Writer

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