First published in 1980 by editors Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg. This Genre Anthology contains thirteen Science Fiction stories that were first published in 1942, ranging in length from Short Story to Novelette. The introduction describes "the world outside reality" first, marking significant historical events, sports trivia, and literary publications. The "real world" is the science fiction and fantasy pop culture, the birth of what many in the 1970s were calling the Golden Age of Science Fiction.
Greenberg apologizes for inaccurately advising readers of the previous book to read The Past Through Tomorrow, and instead suggests The Unpleasant Profession Of Jonathan Hoag, Orphans of the Sky, and The Menace From Earth.
Works in this anthology:
- "The Star Mouse", by Fredric Brown
- "The Wings Of Night", by Lester del Rey
- "Cooperate Or Else", by A.E. van Vogt
- "Foundation", by Isaac Asimov
- "The Push Of A Finger", by Alfred Bester
- "Asylum", by A.E. van Vogt
- "Proof", by Hal Clement
- "Nerves", by Lester del Rey
- "Barrier", by Anthony Boucher
- "The Twonky", by Lewis Padgett
- "QRM Interplanetary", by George O Smith
- "The Weapon Shop", by A.E. van Vogt
- "Mimic", by Donald A Wollheim
Isaac Asimov Presents: The Great Science Fiction Stories, Volume 4 (1942) provides examples of:
- Artistic License – Biology: A.E. van Vogt's "Cooperate Or Else": Professor Jamieson misuses "bisexual" to mean "a species that can reproduce with any two members".
- Beneath the Earth: Lester del Rey's "The Wings Of Night": Lhin and the other Lunarian ancestors moved under the lunar surface many eons ago, when the moon's atmosphere evaporated away.
- Biography: Each story is prefaced by a short description of why this story (from this author) was chosen to represent one of the thirteen best stories of the year along with a paragraph from Isaac Asimov's perspective.
- Central Theme: Lester del Rey's "The Wings Of Night": The title is a metaphor for bigotry and exploitation, and choosing to prize sapience, not race, is symbolized by the dawn of a new day.
- Crapsack World: Even though we don't see it, The Future is implied to be this in "The Twonky". Machines to eradicate independent thought are standard household items, and a time traveller is amazed to see that workers in the present have a home instead of sleeping in the factory.
- For Want Of A Nail: "The Push Of A Finger" revolves around stopping a chance meeting of two persons that will result in the destruction of the Universe one thousand ears later.
- Funetik Aksent: Fredric Brown's "The Star Mouse": Herr Professor Oberburger's dialogue is given with a heavy German accent because he comes from Vienna and Heidelberg. Naturally, Mitkey (the titular mouse) speaks in similarly phonetic speech due to learning English from him.
- Hermaphrodite: A.E. van Vogt's "Cooperate Or Else": Professor Jamieson explains that one of the reason why he told the Interstellar Military Comission that Eristan II was not usable for a military base is that the snakes here reach over a hundred feet long and has hundreds of babies in its lifetime. He also calls them bisexual, meaning that any two snakes can mate and produce offspring (which isn't what bisexual means).
- Most Writers Are Writers: Alfred Bester's "The Push Of A Finger": The Character Narrator telling this story is a newspaper reporter.
- One-Word Title:
- "Asylum", by A.E. van Vogt
- "Barrier", by Anthony Boucher
- "Mimic", by Donald A Wollheim
- "Nerves", by Lester del Rey
- "Proof", by Hal Clement
- Pen Name: "The Twonky" is credited to Lewis Padgett, a name used by the team of Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore when co-authoring a story.
- Prescience by Analysis: Alfred Bester's "The Push Of A Finger": The computer in the Prog building (short for prognostication) supposedly creates its predictions based on accurate data fed into the machine. However, the machine is apparently able to take its own answers into account when making a prediction.
- Shout-Out: In the introduction, multiple works are mentioned as being first published or becoming hits in 1942:
- "Beyond This Horizon", by Robert A. Heinlein (under the name Anson Mac Donald).
- L Etranger'', by Albert Camus
- "Heritage", by Robert Abernathy
- Holiday Inn And Mrs Miniver
- How Green Was My Valley
- Lincoln Portrait, by Aaron Copland
- Little Gidding, by T. S. Eliot
- The Managerial Revolution, by James Burnham
- Mel Brooks is singled out as still using the name Melvin Kaminsky.
- The Moon Is Down, by John Steinbeck
- "Proof", which is also included as one of the best stories in this Genre Anthology.
- "QRM Interplanetary", which is included as one of the best stories in this Genre Anthology.
- "Red Landscape", painted by Graham Sutherland
- The Screwtape Letters, by C. S. Lewis
- Seventh Symphony, by Dmitri Shostakovich
- Stirring Science Stories stops publishing new issues
- "Windsor Castle" is painted by John Piper
- C. J. Cherryh, Samuel R. Delany, Langdon Jones, David Ketterer, Franz Rottensteiner, Douglas Trumball, William Joe Watkins, and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro are singled out for being born this year.
- Fredric Brown's "The Star Mouse": The two mice captured by Herr Professor are named Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, after Walt Disney's famous creations.
- Telepathic Spacemen:
- Fredric Brown's "The Star Mouse": The Prxlians, despite being only half an inch tall, are capable of telepathic communication and are much more intelligent than human beings.
- Lester del Rey's "The Wings Of Night": The Lunarians once considered speech to be evidence of intelligence, but by the time of Lhin, they were able to communicate mind-to-mind. Lhin is luckily able to read human minds and learn English from them, because they aren't able to reciprocate.
- A.E. van Vogt's "Cooperate Or Else": The ezwal from Carson's Planet is known to be capable of reading Jamieson's thoughts, as well as transmitting its own thoughts directly to his mind.
- Uplifted Animal: In "The Star Mouse", a mouse sent into space in an experimental rocket is found by aliens that give him human-like intelligence and send him back.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: In the introduction to "The Wings Of Night", Isaac Asimov claims that he and Lester del Rey always greet each other insultingly in public, but when alone they are congenial and verbose.
