Campbell, John W.

John W. Campbell, in full John Wood Campbell, Jr., (born June 8, 1910, Newark, N.J., U.S.—died July 11, 1971, Mountainside, N.J.), American science-fiction writer, considered the father of modern science fiction.

Campbell, who spent his childhood reading widely and experimenting with science, began writing science fiction while in college. His first published story, “When the Atoms Failed” (1930), contained one of the earliest depictions of computers in science fiction.

Through the early 1930s Campbell wrote stories of outer space but also began writing a different kind of science fiction under the pseudonym of “Don A. Stuart” (derived from his wife’s name, Dona Stuart). In these stories, technology was secondary to the development of characterization and mood. One such story is “Twilight” (1934), in which machines work on incessantly, long after man is gone. These popular works prompted much imitation.

Campbell’s influence on other science fiction writers continued when he turned his attention in 1937 to editing Astounding Stories, later titled Astounding Science Fiction, then Analog. The magazine’s contributors, including Isaac Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein, dominated the field in the mid-20th century. It was partly because of Campbell’s influence that science fiction came to address major social issues.