User:Herzbube/ExpandedUniverse

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Expanded Universe

I changed a number of titles in my copy of Heinlein's "Expanded Universe":

  • How to Be a Survivor: The Art of Staying Alive in the Atomic Age
  • They Do It With Mirrors: An Edison Hill Crime Case
  • Who Are the Heirs of Patrick Henry? Stand Up and Be Counted!
  • No Bands Playing, No Flags Flying —
  • 1950 Where To?

If I find the time/courage, I should ask the verifiers of the other publications of "Expanded Universe" to check their books if any of the titles above do not match with what is in their verified pub.


"Pandora's Box" vs. "Where To?"

This is about an article originally published in Galaxy in 1952. It has a complicated revision/publication history that currently is captured incorrectly in the ISFDB.


The "Pandora's Box" essay that appears in "Expanded Universe" explains the revision history of the article in detail, in Heinlein's own words. The revision history can be summarized like this:

  • "Pandora's Box" was the original title of an article researched and written in 1949 for publication in 1950.
  • The article was then published (possibly with editorial changes) under the title "Where To?".
  • The article was published again in revised form in "The Worlds of Robert A. Heinlein". The revision adds footnotes to some (all?) of the 1950 predictions, with new information from the point of view in 1965.
  • The article was revised again for publication in "Expanded Universe". This time the text was changed so that each prediction consists of 3 parts, one for the original prediction from 1950, and two more for comments from 1965 and 1980.


Currently we have these title records:


Observations, conclusions and TODOs:

  • Our pub record of the February 1952 issue of Galaxy contains an essay titled "Where To?". So far so good.
  • Our pub record of the first printing of "The Worlds of Robert A. Heinlein" contains an essay titled "Pandora's Box", but NOT an essay titled "Where To?" (nor one titled "1950 Where To?")
    • My conclusion: Although Heinlein's revision history does not mention the title change, this "Pandora's Box" essay is likely to be the first revision of the original "Where To?" essay from 1952
    • The title record already contains a note that explains this
  • Some, but not all, of the later reprints of "The Worlds of Robert A. Heinlein" (actually those from 1969, 1972 and [undated]) contain an essay titled "Introduction: Pandora's Box"
    • My conclusion: This "Introduction: Pandora's Box" essay is likely to be the same as the "Pandora's Box" essay
    • TODO: Verify that this is true
    • TODO: Make the "Introduction: Pandora's Box" title record into a variant of the "Pandora's Box" title record. Primary verifiers need to check that the two essay are indeed the same. If they are not, things get complicated.
  • Our pub record of the first printing of "Expanded Universe", and all verified pub records of the later printings, contain an essay titled "Pandora's Box"
    • My conclusion, from looking at my copy of the book: This is NOT the same "Pandora's Box" essay that appeared in "The Worlds of Robert A. Heinlein". It possibly contains some of the text of the "Worlds" essay, but certainly not all (some parts have been split off, in revised form, into the "1950 Where To?" essay - see below). It also contains information from 1980, i.e. information that cannot be present in the "Worlds" essay.
    • TODO: Add a new title record for this "Pandora's Box" essay, with the disambiguation title "Pandora's Box (Expanded Universe)". Fix all "Expanded Universe" pub records to use this new title record.
    • TODO: The existing title record should be disambiguated to "Pandora's Box (The Worlds of Robert A. Heinlein)". This title record should only be used in "The Worlds of Robert A. Heinlein" pub records.
    • TODO: Add explanatory notes to both title records
  • Our pub record of the first printing of "Expanded Universe", and all verified pub records of the later printings (except my own), contain an essay titled "Where To?". Some pub records of the later printings contain an additional essay titled "1950 Where To?".
    • Additional observation: In my copy of the book, the "Pandora's Box" essay is followed immediately by a section titled "Where To?" that contains a very short text that is half-poem and half-prose. The first line is "A bloomin', foolish sparrow".
    • My conclusion: These two essays "Where To?" and "1950 Where To?" are likely to be the same, and they represent the second revision of the original "Where To?" essay from 1952.
    • TODO: Change those pub records that contain only "Where To?" to instead contain only "1950 Where To?". Primary verifiers need to check if their book actually contains "1950 Where To?". If it does not, things get complicated.
    • TODO: Remove "Where To?" from those pub records that contain both "Where To?" and "1950 Where To?". Primary verifiers need to give their assent. In my verified pub record I have chosen to NOT include this as a separate content record since it is just a bit of poem/prose at the end of "Pandora's Box" that connects "Pandora's Box" with "1950 Where To?". It should be sufficient to add this information as a pub note.
    • TODO (only if primary verifiers insist on keeping a "Where To?" content record): Apply the same disambiguation strategy as outlined above for "Pandora's Box", i.e.
      • Create a new title record named "Where To? (Expanded Universe)"
      • Disambiguate the original title record to "Where To? (Galaxy Science Fiction)"
      • Add explanatory notes to both title records.
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