The Psychotechnic League - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Psychotechnic League is a future history

Future history

A future history is a postulated history of the future and is used by authors in the subgenre of speculative fiction to construct a common background for fiction...

created by science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

writer Poul Anderson

Poul Anderson

Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories...

. The name "Psychotechnic League" was coined by Sandra Miesel

Sandra Miesel

Sandra Louise Miesel is an American medievalist, writer and science fiction and fantasy fan. Her early work was science fiction and fantasy criticism, fields in which she has remained active. She is a literary analyst; has described herself as "the world's greatest expert" on Poul Anderson and...

in the early 1980s, to capitalize on Anderson's better-known Polesotechnic League future history. Anderson published 21 novels, novellas and short stories set in this future between 1949 and 1957, with a 22nd published in 1968.

Anderson did not write the stories in chronological order; instead, as Robert A. Heinlein

Robert A. Heinlein

Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...

did with his own Future History

Future History

The Future History, by Robert A. Heinlein, describes a projected future of the human race from the middle of the 20th century through the early 23rd century. The term Future History was coined by John W. Campbell, Jr. in the February 1941 issue of Astounding Science Fiction...

stories, he wrote whichever story in the series he wanted to, and trusted his readers to make the connections between them. Anderson included a series timeline in the Winter 1955 issue of Startling Stories

Startling Stories

Startling Stories was an American pulp science fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1955 by Standard Magazines. It was initially edited by Mort Weisinger, who was also the editor of Thrilling Wonder Stories, Standard's other science fiction title. Startling ran a lead novel in every issue;...

to accompany the novella "The Snows of Ganymede".

By the late 1950s, Anderson's political beliefs had altered to the point where he was uncomfortable with the political philosophy underlying the series, and he abandoned it. In particular, he had completely reversed his earlier strong support for the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

as the nucleus of a world government

World government

World government is the notion of a single common political authority for all of humanity. Its modern conception is rooted in European history, particularly in the philosophy of ancient Greece, in the political formation of the Roman Empire, and in the subsequent struggle between secular authority,...

, a stance which formed the main plot element of several earlier stories in the series.

Outline of events

Anderson's future history begins with an all-out nuclear war

Nuclear warfare

Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...

in the late 1950s that nearly destroys civilization.

Sandra Miesel

Sandra Miesel

wrote a new prologue that was added to the series' republication in the 1980s and formally transformed it from future history

Future history

A future history is a postulated history of the future and is used by authors in the subgenre of speculative fiction to construct a common background for fiction...

into alternate history. Her prologue took the divergence point from our own history as the (premature) death of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

in 1956 (who died in 1969 in our world), and the assumption of power by a younger, hotheaded Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

, which led to exacerbation of the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

and a devastating nuclear war

Nuclear warfare

in 1958.

In the war's aftermath, a science called psychodynamics is created. Like Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...

's psychohistory

Psychohistory (fictional)

Psychohistory is a fictional science in Isaac Asimov's Foundation universe which combines history, sociology, and mathematical statistics to make general predictions about the future behavior of very large groups of people, such as the Galactic Empire...

, psychodynamics can be used to predict and guide the future course of social evolution. An organization called the Psychotechnic Institute is founded in the 1970s that uses psychodynamics to influence government policy and popular attitudes, with the goal of redirecting society towards greater rationality and internationalism. The Psychotechnic Institute assists a reborn United Nations

United Nations

based in Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

to become a world government

World government

, and also encourages space colonization

Space colonization

Space colonization is the concept of permanent human habitation outside of Earth. Although hypothetical at the present time, there are many proposals and speculations about the first space colony...

. The Order of Planetary Engineers is established on the Moon

Moon

The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...

with the goal of assisting in the terraforming

Terraforming

Terraforming of a planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to those of Earth, in order to make it habitable by terrestrial organisms.The term is sometimes used more generally as a...

of the Solar System

Solar System

The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...

. Early in the 22nd century, as the settlements on the Moon, Venus

Venus

Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...

, Mars

Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...

, and the Asteroid Belt

Asteroid belt

The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets...

grow in importance, the United Nations is succeeded by the Solar Union.

By the late 22nd century, the Psychotechnic Institute becomes a victim of its own success. An automated

Automation

Automation is the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for human work in the production of goods and services. In the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization...

economy has created massive unemployment

Unemployment

Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...

, which gives rise to an antitechnology movement called Humanism (a term having little to do with the historical philosophy of Humanism

Humanism

Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....

, and is indeed in many ways antithetical to it). Around 2170 the Humanists seize control of Earth, withdraw from the Solar Union, and abolish the Psychotechnic Institute. The Humanist regime quickly grows unpopular, and is overthrown by a popular uprising aided by Mars and Venus. However, the Psychotechnic Institute is not revived, and in its absence technic civilization begins a slow and steady descent into extremism which results in a new dark age starting in the 24th century.

The Second Dark Ages lift in the 27th century, followed by the discovery of a form of faster-than-light

Faster-than-light

Faster-than-light communications and travel refer to the propagation of information or matter faster than the speed of light....

travel that leads to interstellar colonization and commerce, and the creation of the Stellar Union and its enforcement agency, the Coordination Service.

Eleven of the stories in the Psychotechnic League series take place before the Second Dark Ages, and eleven take place after; none take place during the Second Dark Ages.

The perception of human history as composed of civilizations which arise, flourish and fall, followed by a dark age and the rise of a new civilization, was also the basis of Anderson's later future history with the Polesotechnic League followed by the Terran Empire. Specifically, the situation depicted in "Brake" - with the protagonists heroically managing to put off, but unable to prevent, the inevitable destructive collapse of their civilization - clearly foreshadows the atmosphere of the Dominic Flandry

Dominic Flandry

Dominic Flandry is the central character in the second half of Poul Anderson's Technic History science fiction. He first appeared in 1951.The space opera series is set in the 31st century, during the waning days of the Terran Empire...

series.

Original publication

1949

"The Entity
The Entity (Anderson)
The Entity is a science fiction short story by Poul Anderson and John Gergen that appeared in the June 1949 issue of Astounding Science Fiction...

" (with John Gergen), June, Astounding

1950

"Gypsy", January, Astounding
"Star Ship", Fall, Planet Stories
"Quixote and the Windmill", November, Astounding

1951

"The Acolytes", February, Worlds Beyond

1953

"Un-Man
Un-Man
Un-Man is a science fiction novella by Poul Anderson that was first published in the January 1953 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. It was included in the 1962 collection Un-Man and Other Novellas, and the 1981 collection The Psychotechnic League...

", January, Astounding
"The Green Thumb", February, Science Fiction Quarterly
"The Troublemakers", September, Cosmos
"The Sensitive Man", November, Fantastic Universe

1954

"The Chapter Ends", January, Dynamic
"Teucan", July, Cosmos
"The Big Rain", October, Astounding
"The Stranger Was Himself", December, Fantastic Universe

1955

"The Snows of Ganymede", Winter, Startling
"What Shall It Profit?", June, If

1957

"Virgin Planet", January, Venture
"Cold Victory", May, Venture
"Marius
Marius (Anderson)
Marius is a science fiction short story by Poul Anderson that was first published in the June 1957 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the collections The Horn of Time and The Psychotechnic League...

", June, Astounding
"Out of the Iron Womb", Summer, Planet Stories
"Brake", August, Astounding
Star Ways, Ace

1968

"The Pirate
The Pirate (Anderson)
"The Pirate" is a science fiction short story by Poul Anderson that first appeared in the October 1968 issue of Analog. "The Pirate" was a prequel to the earlier Psychotechnic League novel Star Ways , and was the last story in the Psychotechnic series to be published...

", October, Analog

Subsequent publication

The first component of the series to achieve book publication was Star Ways, which appeared as half of Ace Double D-255 in 1957. This was followed by The Snows of Ganymede, half of Ace Double D-303 in 1958, and a paperback edition of Virgin Planet published by Beacon Books in 1959. "Un-Man" was included in Un-Man and Other Novellas as half of Ace Double F-139 in 1962. Star Ways was reprinted by Ace Books in 1978 under the title The Peregrine, and Virgin Planet was reprinted by Baen Books in 2000.

In the early 1980s, Tor Books

Tor Books

Tor Books is one of two imprints of Tom Doherty Associates LLC, based in New York City. It is noted for its science fiction and fantasy titles. Tom Doherty Associates also publishes mainstream fiction, mystery, and occasional military history titles under its Forge imprint. The company was founded...

collected sixteen of the stories (including Virgin Planet), with forewords and intertextual commentary by Sandra Miesel, into three volumes under the general title "The Psychotechnic League". The name was an homage to Anderson's better known future history series about the Polesotechnic League, a future interstellar version of the historical Hanseatic League

Hanseatic League

The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...

. The third volume also included a modified version of the timeline from Startling Stories. Miesel dealt with the divergence of the fictional 20th century history from actual history by converting the series from future history to alternate history

Alternate history (fiction)

Alternate history or alternative history is a genre of fiction consisting of stories that are set in worlds in which history has diverged from the actual history of the world. It can be variously seen as a sub-genre of literary fiction, science fiction, and historical fiction; different alternate...

The Psychotechnic League (June 1981)
- "Marius
  Marius (Anderson)
  Marius is a science fiction short story by Poul Anderson that was first published in the June 1957 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the collections The Horn of Time and The Psychotechnic League...
  
  "
- "Un-Man
  Un-Man
  Un-Man is a science fiction novella by Poul Anderson that was first published in the January 1953 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. It was included in the 1962 collection Un-Man and Other Novellas, and the 1981 collection The Psychotechnic League...
  
  "
- "The Sensitive Man"
- "The Big Rain"

Cold Victory (March 1982)
- "Quixote and the Windmill"
- "The Troublemakers"
- "Holmgang"
- "Cold Victory"
- "What Shall It Profit?"
- "Brake"

Starship (June 1982)
- "Gypsy"
- "Star Ship"
- "Virgin Planet"
- "Teucan"
- "The Pirate
  The Pirate (Anderson)
  "The Pirate" is a science fiction short story by Poul Anderson that first appeared in the October 1968 issue of Analog. "The Pirate" was a prequel to the earlier Psychotechnic League novel Star Ways , and was the last story in the Psychotechnic series to be published...
  
  "
- "The Chapter Ends"
- "Chronology of the Future"

Of the six stories not collected in "The Psychotechnic League" trilogy, "The Entity

The Entity (Anderson)

The Entity is a science fiction short story by Poul Anderson and John Gergen that appeared in the June 1949 issue of Astounding Science Fiction...

" and "The Stranger Was Himself", which had been included in the original Startling Stories timeline, were delisted; Star Ways had been published in book form as The Peregrine; and "The Snows of Ganymede", "The Acolytes", and "The Green Thumb" were simply not included.

"The Acolytes" was published in August Derleth

August Derleth

August William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first publisher of the writings of H. P...

's 1953 anthology Worlds of Tomorrow under the title "The Tinkler"; "The Green Thumb" was published in Ivan Howard's 1964 anthology Masters of Science Fiction; and "The Stranger Was Himself" was included in Anderson's 1989 collection Space Folk under the title "Symmetry".

Outline of events

Original publication

Subsequent publication

See also