- LEY, Willy
- (1906-1969)German-born scientist and scientific writer who emigrated to the USA in 1935. In Germany he had been part of a small group which, early on, had believed in the potential of rocket propulsion (some went on to become famous for the construction of the V2). His first book was Die Fahrt ins Weltall ("Journey into Space") (1926); his second, DieMoglichkeit der Weltraumfahrt ("The Possibility of Interplanetary Travel") (1928), was to be one of the inspirations behind the film (and book) Die FRAU IM MOND (1929; vt The Girl in the Moon). In the USA his well researched, precise science articles became a notable feature of the SF MAGAZINES, especially ASTOUNDING SCIENCE-FICTION (from 1937) and AMAZINGSTORIES (from 1940). He became Science Editor of GALAXY SCIENCE FICTION in Sep 1952, having in March of that year begun there a science column which would last until his death. During the brief period when science-fact articles were a HUGO category, he received 2. He wrote 3 sf stories as Robert Willey.WL was also a prolific author of books on science,especially on ROCKETS and SPACE FLIGHT. Perhaps his best-known (and certainly most beautiful) book was The Conquest of Space (1949), with splendid illustrations, many in colour, by Chesley BONESTELL; it won the nonfiction category of the INTERNATIONAL FANTASY AWARD in 1951. Lands Beyond (1952) with L. Sprague DE CAMP, a historical account of strangeexplorations and discoveries, won the same award in 1953. Of the science-fact writers intimately connected with GENRE SF, only De Camp, Arthur C. CLARKE and Isaac ASIMOV could rival WL. One of the Moon'scraters is named in his honour.PNOther works (all nonfiction): The Lungfish and the Unicorn (1941; rev vt The Lungfish, the Dodo and the Unicorn 1948); The Days of Creation (1941; rev 1952); Shells and Shooting (1942); Rockets (1944; rev vt Rockets and Space Travel 1947; rev vt Rockets, Missiles and Space Travel 1951; rev 1957; rev vt Rockets, Missiles and Men in Space 1968); Dragons in Amber (1951); Engineer's Dreams (1954); Salamanders and Other Wonders (1955); The Exploration of Mars (1956; vt Project Mars 1962 UK) with Wernher von Braun (1912-1977), illus Bonestell; Satellites, Rockets and Outer Space (1958; rev 1962); Space Stations (1958); Space Travel (1958); Exotic Zoology (1959)featuring rearranged selections from his previous books on natural history; Watchers of the Skies (1963); Beyond the Solar System (1964) illus Bonestell; Missiles, Moonprobes and Megaparsecs (1964); Ranger to the Moon (1965); On Earth and in the Sky (coll 1967); Another Look at Atlantis (coll 1969); The Drifting Continents (1969); Events in Space(1969); Gas Giants: The Largest Planets (1969); Visitors from Afar: The Comets (1969).
Science Fiction and Fantasy Encyclopedia. Academic. 2011.