Great Science Fiction by Scientists

Worth keeping for Learning Theory, by James McConnell. A satirical short story about an experimental psychologist who finds himself abducted by an alien race and forced to run mazes and push levers in testing situations that are all too familiar to him. The Gold-Makers by J. B. S. Haldane is an adventure and escape story in the Hannay / Buchan mode, also fun.

What If · Isaac Asimov - 3* fantasy
The Ultimate Catalyst · Eric Temple Bell - 2.5* pseudo-scientific horror
The Gostak and the Doshes · Miles J. Breuer - 2.5* commentary on propaganda
Summertime on Icarus · Arthur C. Clarke - 3.5* brief survival story akin to A Fall of Moondust, ie 'man against nature'
The Neutrino Bomb · Ralph S. Cooper - unstarred because I don't know enough science to get the joke
Last Year's Grave Undug · Chan Davis - 3.5* haunting post-apoc.
The Gold Makers · J. B. S. Haldane - 3* reads like a cloak & dagger thriller which is not what I like
The Tissue Culture King · Julian Huxley - 1.5* misguided white scientist in darkest Africa
A Martian Adventure · Willy Ley - 3* finally a 'real' SF story, unfortunately not show more v. good
Learning Theory · James McConnell - 2.5* - I've seen the 'gotcha' done better elsewhere
The Mother of Necessity · Chad Oliver - 4* - Oliver knows how to write; this is both interesting and well-done, with good What If
John Sze's Future · John R. Pierce - 2.5* basically a joke that still has threads in it to leave loose
Kid Anderson · Robert S. Richardson - 4* interesting enough, reminded me of a classic Twilight Zone episode, but then the end, Whammo! aka [a:Philip Latham|6542705|Philip Latham|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]
Pilot Lights of the Apocalypse · Dr Louis N. Ridenour - 3* cautionary fable about nuclear bombs, written between WWII and the Cold War
Grand Central Terminal · Leo Szilard - 1.5* humanity through the eyes of aliens who visit just the one installation after all life on earth is extinct; too many gaffes
The Brain · Norbert Wiener - 3* - wordy but makes an interesting speculation, as in, What If surgeons had perfected the art of frontal lobotomies & related alterations of ppls' brains...

Overall, a very dated collection, with few strong stories, but I am glad it was published and that I read it. It is avl. on openlibrary so give it a try, at least the Richardson and Oliver stories. I found no new authors to explore, but will continue to read what I can find from [a:Chad Oliver|23122|Chad Oliver|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png].

Btw, I just checked openlibrary and they not only have plenty of books by Oliver, but they also have a 1985 'companion' (or something?) to this, [b:Great Science Fiction Stories by the World's Great Scientists|1271716|Great Science Fiction Stories by the World's Great Scientists|Isaac Asimov|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1228450969l/1271716._SY75_.jpg|1109819] ed. by Asimov. show less