Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction author. Often named the dean of science fiction authors, he was one of the most influential and controversial writers of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of literary quality. He was one of the first science fiction authors to break into mainstream magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post in the late 1940s. He was one of the best selling science fiction novelists for many decades. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke were known as the Big Three of science fiction.
Heinlein was a notable author of science-fiction short novels, and he was one of a group of authors who came to prominence under the editorship of John W. Campbell, Jr. in his Astounding Science Fiction magazine though Heinlein himself denied that Campbell influenced his composing to any great degree.
(Robert Heinlein photo #2)
Within the framework of his science fiction novels, Heinlein repeatedly addressed certain social themes: the importance of individual liberty and self-reliance, the obligation individuals owe to their societies, the influence of organized religion on culture and government, and the tendency of society to repress non-conformist thought. He also examined the relationship between physical and emotional love, explored various unorthodox family structures, and speculated on the influence of space travel on human cultural practices.
Robert Heinlein
