Stanley G. Weinbaum

In "The Worlds of If," author Stanley Weinbaum plays with a concept that has been at the center of countless science fiction tales before and after: how the most minute shifts can alter the past, present and future. In this case, nutty professor Haskel van Manderpootz invents a contraption that allows users to view alternate life paths that might have transpired if they had made different choices along the way. "Imagine a machine that can take you across time. It’s just what the famous physics professor Haskel van Manderpootz has invented. When Dixon Wells misses his flight to Moscow, which later crashes over the Atlantic Ocean, he is determined to use the subjunctivisor and find out what would have happened if he had been on time." First published August 1935 Ovi magazine publishing: May 2023