About the Author

Cordwainer Smith was the pseudonym under which Dr. Paul Linebarger wrote science fiction. His first story, "Scanners Live in Vain," appeared in 1950 and rocked the science fiction world as few first stories have. He was born in Milwaukee, and grew up in Japan, China (where he became the godson of Sun Yat-Sen, then president of China), France and Germany. He was a Professor of Asiatic Studies at Johns Hopkins University, was on the U.S. Operations, Planning and Intelligence Board during World War II, and became a Colonel in Army Intelligence. After the war, he was advisor to the British forces in Malaya and to the U.S. Eighth Army in Korea, and wrote the book Psychological Warfare, regarded for decades after as the most authoritative text in the field. He died in 1966.