The Man Who Sold The Moon

The Man Who Sold the Moon (1950) is an SF collection of Future History stories. It contains six stories, published from 1939 to 1949, and a Preface. - Preface (1949) states the follies of predicting the future. The author created the Future History Timeline to track the background of his stories. Some of these prediction came true while he was still writing these stories and others will probably never happen. But the Timeline produced a consistency not found elsewhere in science fiction. Note: This Preface is not found in later editions. - "Let There Be Light" (Super Science Stories, 1940) concerns two scientists who invent a new power source. - "The Roads Must Roll" (Astounding, 1940) is about an illegal work stoppage on the mechanical roads. - "The Man Who Sold the Moon" (First publication, 1949) relates the story of D. D Harriman and his efforts to establish a base on the Moon. - "Requiem" (Astounding, 1940) exposes the fate of D. D Harriman. - "Life-Line" (Astounding, 1939) tells of the man who could predict the time of death of an individual; this was Heinlein's first sale. - "Blowups Happen" (Astounding, 1940) depicts the tensions among the workers in an atomic breeder plant. The title story was copyrighted in 1949, but was first published in this collection. Note that the title story is a prequel to "Requiem". The author added "The Man Who Sold the Moon" as an original story for this collection. Various versions of this collection have been published with different contents. This version contains all the tales associated with this title. But the order varies from other editions. In 1939, Heinlein submitted his first SF work -- For Us, the Living -- to various publishers, but it didn't sell. The feedback pointed out that the novel lacked adventure and excitement. So he started writing short stories for the magazines to learn his trade and was a success. But many of the ideas for his stories came from the original novel. This was the first collection of stories in the Future History series by the author. The second collection is The Green Hills of Earth. Read and enjoy! Highly recommended for Heinlein fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of strange talents, future engineering, and a huckster who led the way to Luna. For those who want more tales by Heinlein, these and many other stories were included in The Past Through Tomorrow. -Arthur W. Jordin

"Let there Be Light" This is a story about two scientists who discover a method to use sunlight for energy. (Sound familiar). The scientists run into a snag, however, because the power company doesn't want the world to have cheap, non-polluting power. In this story, Heinlein is, as always, ahead of his time. The story itself has a few loose ends such as, who is really the father of the scientist. The story hints that he may be a politician but never lets us know. Also, and this is a spoiler question, do the two scientists form a romatic relationship? A good, quick read. "The Roads Must Roll" In this story all transportation is done by moving roads, which sound rather similar to a juiced up, horizontal escalator. The story looks at what happens if a small group of disgruntled employees decide they want to be in charge and take over one of the moving roads. A good look at specialization and unionization. "Blowups Happen" This is a story about the occupational stress workers experience at a nuclear power plant. This is a great look at occupational hazards and the extremes society will go to ensure they have power when they want it. "The Man Who Sold the Moon" and "Requiem" These stories are about D. D. Harriman, a man who dreamed of going to the moon as a boy, and makes sure it happens as an adult. Both are great stories that look at how determination can get you almost anything. "Life Line" This was my personal favorite story. It is the story about a man who discovers a way to tell exactly when a person will die. This story takes a look at our fear of death and how knowledge is not always a good thing. It also takes a quick jab at insurance companies and their greedy ways. This was a very enjoyable collection from Heinlein, which I have come to expect. He truly is the master.

Robert A. Heinlein was in his thirties when he first took up writing. That relatively advanced age for a beginning science fiction writer may account for the power of his work, its feeling of authenticity. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Heinlein wasn't just interested in science and technology. He also had a knowledge and appreciation of how the worlds of business, law, and politics worked and how they intersected with the world of the lab.The stories in this collection represent the beginnings of Heinlein's Future History series. Events since their publication in the 30s and 40s have dated them, but most still entertain. "Life-Line" and '"Let There Be Light"' have dated the least, and both concern supression of new technologies. The former concerns a scientist who earns the murderous ire of insurance companies because he can predict the date of a person's death. The latter concerns development of a very efficient capture method for solar energy.The extrapolation around the dated, but still enjoyable, "The Roads Must Roll" probably seemed quite reasonable at the time of its writing. America's increasing use of cars, resultant urban sprawl and expense, coupled with increased fuel cost and "super-highways", would lead to giant, high-speed conveyor belts carrying people and products between cities. Some of the engineers who tend the road decide to bring it to a stop unless their demands are met. Their political philosophy of "functionalism" sounds modern and plausible though it's really an old idea found in the Bible and Roman history."Blowups Happen" is one of those atomic power stories from the forties. Like "The Roads Must Roll", Heinlein is as interested in the men maintaining the machines as the machines themselves. Here the technicians who tend a giant nuclear pile in Arizona frequently crack under the stress of knowing what disaster a mistake could bring.Heinlein the social animal is on full display in "The Man Who Sold the Moon". Less concerned with scientific and technical details than with political, legal, and business intrigues, it tells the story of how one Delos Harriman gets man to the moon. He's the first in a new line of robber barons and, perhaps, the founder of a new imperialism that will show up later in the Future History series. Harriman's real goal, though, is denied him. He isn't interested in putting just anyone on the moon. He wants to go there.Heinlein's famous "Requiem" is both prequel and sequel to "The Man Who Sold the Moon". In it, we get the details of Harriman's lunar obsession and the realization of his dream. Unusual for Heinlein, it's a very emotional story full of poignancy Anyone interested in classic science fiction, the beginnings of Heinlein's influential career, or just how the future looked in the forties should enjoy this collection.

AN INCREDIBLE COLLECTION OF STORIES ESPECIALLY LIFE-LINE, THE MAN WHO SOLD THE MOON, AND REQUIEM. THE REST OF THE STORIES HELP BUILD UPON THE TECHNOLOGY OF RAH FUTURE HISTORY STORYLINE. VERY ENTERTAINING AND IMAGINATIVE. IN THE END YOU WANT TO HAVE THE DRIVE THAT D.D. HARRIMAN HAS FOR THE MOON.

You can't stop reading this book once you start. I'm not much of a SF freak, but this book really got me hooked.Heinlein doesn't focus on the inventions and discoveries in the future, he looks into the social impact they have.In "The roads must roll",Heinlein concentrates on the workers' unions and politics surrounding mechanized roads rather than the technology itself.A must-have for every Heinlein fan.A pity it is out-of-print.