fuggedaboudit, frog and toe

[James A. Landau]

In a message dated 9/3/02 12:46:05 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
t20mxs1 at CORN.CSO.NIU.EDU writes:

> * See "The endochronic properties of resublimated thiotimoline", a
>  breakthrough experiment by Isaac Asimov, published in ASF (John W.
>  Campbell, Jr., editor) around 1947 plus or minus a year.  That was so
>  long ago that Asimov had only published two books at the time.  (One of
>  those was his doctoral dissertation in biochem, so it doesn't really
>  count.)

1948.  I can give you the date of the ASF issue if you want.
To my surprise I find that Asimov published over 30 pieces of short fiction
by 1948 but not one single book until 1950.  Also Asimov wrote the
Thiotimoline article as a spoof on his own doctoral dissertation  then in
progress.  He asked Campbell to publish it under a pseudonym, since he didn't
want the embarrassment of having such a spoof floating around before his own
thesis was accepted.  Campbell agreed, but despite having "a steel-trap mind"
(Asimov's own description), forgot.  Yes, the dissertation committee had read
it.  At his orals, the final question was "What can you tell us about the
endochronic properties of resublimated thiotimoline?"


      - Jim Landau