This volume is the definitive collection of the best science fiction novellas published between 1929 and 1964, containing eleven great classics by Poul Anderson, John W. Campbell, Jr., Lester del Rey, Robert A. Heinlein, C. M. Kornbluth, Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore, Eric Frank Russell, Cordwainer Smith, Theodore Sturgeon, H. G. Wells, Jack Williamson. No anthology better captures the birth of science fiction as a literary field.

Published in 1973 to honor stories that had appeared before the institution of the Nebula Awards, The Science Fiction Hall of Fame introduced tens of thousands of young readers to the wonders of science fiction and was a favorite of libraries across the country.