This anthology spans more than a century from Edgar Allan Poe to James Blish. Most of the contributions are from authors not known for their science fiction, thus there are short stories from Rudyard Kipling, E. M. Forster, Jack London and Stephen Vincent Benet. The classics include two excerpts from Edwin A. Abbott's famous novel Flatland and Theodore Sturgeon's often-reprinted story "Killdozer". The anthology provides a marvelous introduction and overview of the vast terrain of science fiction wonder.