Line #167 Creator/RobertAHeinlein


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Heinlein_8665.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:Robert Heinlein and his wife Virginia on the set of ''Film/DestinationMoon'' (1950)]]
3
4	->''"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."''
5	-->-- '''Lazarus Long''', ''Literature/TimeEnoughForLove''
6
7	Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) is widely considered one of the most influential and iconic writers of ScienceFiction and SpeculativeFiction of the Twentieth Century. He is counted as one of the "Big Three" of ScienceFiction along with Creator/ArthurCClarke and Creator/IsaacAsimov. Often the standard to which other {{science fiction}} writers are compared, although he caught considerable flak for some of his [[WriterOnBoard recurring philosophical and political themes.]] His works range from space adventure Young Adult novels to political manifestos, and generally score towards hard science fiction.
8
9	In stark contrast to the largely spiritual tone of Clarke's work, and to Asimov's longstanding fascination with human psychology, Heinlein's works are noted for their strong political themes and their strident idealism. In an era when most science-fiction authors were using the genre as a platform for speculating about what the future ''might'' look like, Heinlein preferred to voice his thoughts on what the future ''should'' look like. As such, his fiction (particularly in his later career) is known for being heavily influenced by his rather outspoken libertarian ideals.
10
11	Much as is often said about libertarians in general: nearly all readers will likely agree with ''some'' of the political beliefs espoused in Heinlein's works, but very few are likely to agree with ''all'' of them. Left-leaning readers tend to sympathize with his works' criticism of organized religion and their strong sex-positive themes (many of his works feature surprisingly sympathetic depictions of LGBT characters and polyamorous relationships), while right-leaning readers are more likely to sympathize with their strong pro-military and anti-communist themes--as well as their support for the virtues of self-reliance and personal responsibility.
12
13	Given his status among the pantheon of science fiction authors, {{Shout Out}}s to his work are very widespread in modern science fiction. He tends to be popular among the military as well, particularly for ''Starship Troopers'', which has in the past been on the required reading lists for both the US Marine Corps and the US Navy.
14
15	Heinlein's most notorious and most dividing novel is ''Literature/StrangerInAStrangeLand'', an AuthorTract which contributed hugely to the rise of the hippie movement. However, he's probably best known with the general public for penning ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'', which was very, ''very'' loosely adapted into a film.
16
17	Nearly all of his characters are prodigies and geniuses, to the point where this can be considered his CreatorThumbprint.
18	----
19	!!Heinlein has probably written -- and in some cases [[TropeMaker created]] -- every major form of story in {{science fiction}}, including:
20
21	* Revolution and its aftermath (''Literature/TheMoonIsAHarshMistress'' and the first part of its [[NonLinearSequel sorta-sequel]] ''The Cat Who Walks Through Walls'', "Literature/IfThisGoesOn", later packaged in the collection ''Revolt in 2100'')
22	* Organized crime invading an industry (''Literature/MagicInc'', "Let There Be Light")
23	* Space travel (''Literature/TheRollingStones1952'' along with most of his short stories)
24	* TimeTravel and Paradoxes ("Literature/ByHisBootstraps", "Literature/AllYouZombies", ''Literature/TimeEnoughForLove'', ''The Door Into Summer'')
25	* TheMultiverse and cross-universe travel (''Literature/TheNumberOfTheBeast'', ''Literature/GloryRoad'')
26	* Age extension and immortality (''Literature/MethuselahsChildren'', ''Literature/TimeEnoughForLove'', ''Literature/TheMoonIsAHarshMistress'')
27	* Labor strikes by people critical to the economy ("The Roads Must Roll")
28	* Crabby old man has brain transplanted [[GenderBender into gorgeous woman]] (''Literature/IWillFearNoEvil'')
29	* {{Generation ship\|s}}; Society on a self-contained spaceship forming its own religious mythos (''Orphans of the Sky/Universe'')
30	* Problems of precognition and knowing the future ("Life-Line")
31	* War and the government it creates (''Literature/StarshipTroopers'', frequently considered one of the best military novels ever written.)
32	* Slavery, freedom, and the forms each can take (''Citizen of the Galaxy'')
33	* [[SettlingTheFrontier Settling on and civilizing new and unfamiliar worlds]] (''Farmer in the Sky'', ''Tunnel in the Sky'')
34	* Human-alien relations (''Literature/RedPlanet'', ''Literature/HaveSpaceSuitWillTravel'', ''Literature/{{Space Cadet\|Heinlein}}'', ''Literature/DoubleStar'', ''Literature/StarmanJones'', ''Literature/TheStarBeast'', ''Literature/StrangerInAStrangeLand'').
35	* The transformative power of innocence plus observations of humanity from an Outsider (''Literature/StrangerInAStrangeLand'')
36	* The idea of [[TheWorldAsMyth fiction creating worlds]] (''Literature/TheNumberOfTheBeast'' and its sequels)
37	* The idea of [[HellOfAHeaven heaven not being heaven without your loved ones]]. (''Literature/JobAComedyOfJustice'')
38	* ArtificialIntelligence (''Literature/TheMoonIsAHarshMistress'', ''Literature/TimeEnoughForLove'', and their sequels)
39
40	Heinlein's protagonists are typically geniuses, often with perfect memory and a love for mathematics. They have held opinions covering most of the political spectrum, to the point where the oft-made argument "Heinlein's heroes all have his political opinions!" needs to account for the fact that the sum total of "political opinions held by Heinlein protagonists" includes many mutually contradictory ideas. For that matter, Heinlein himself expounded the merits of wildly different political opinions; several of his earliest books were essentially guided tours through a couple of (non-Marxist) anarcho-libertarian [[{{Utopia}} future paradises]] -- though these paradises also valued sexual freedom and the right to bear arms. He would later write of yet another such (alien) paradise in his famous AuthorTract ''Literature/StrangerInAStrangeLand'' -- and he would reference this paradise throughout much of his future work.
41
42	His protagonists can be expected to believe in [[EternalSexualFreedom sexual freedom]], the right to bear arms, the death penalty, and private ownership and private enterprise, and to [[AuthorFilibuster not be shy in expounding on those beliefs.]] Most believe in hard work and although they often suffer bad luck, in the end it pays off for them. HumansAreSpecial, a fact often expounded upon by his heroes, who are often, by birthright, training, or sheer openmindedness even "specialer" than regular humans. They also tend to be ''ridiculously'' smart. This has led to some (not always unwarranted) accusations of Sueism in Heinlein's writing. [[note]]And, well, his book introducing the "World as Myth" concept has every single villain be named with an anagram of Heinlein or his wife's names or pen names.[[/note]] Expect there to be at least [[StrawLoser one foolish and lazy person]] to [[{{Foil}} contrast to]] [[TheHero the heroes]]. However, ''[[BrilliantButLazy smart]]'' [[BrilliantButLazy lazy people]] are usually respected -- see "The Tale of The Man Who Was Too Lazy To Fail" in ''Time Enough For Love''. (Usually, but not always. In ''Literature/ThePuppetMasters'', the main characters praise engineers but disdain scientists, as the latter merely sit around making up theories without actually ''building'' anything.)
43
44	Mutual respect and personal autonomy are key themes, and {{Polyamory}} is presented as the most rational and reasonable form of partnership. It's also not uncommon for Heinlein's heroes to explore the idea of incest -- in any case, family bonds are always very strong. Education (particularly math and linguistics) is a vital (but personal and freely chosen) process, and on occasion there are allusions to naive forms of chaos magic (i.e. mankind's ability to manipulate nature simply by being clever).
45
46	In addition to that, [[ColonyDrop throwing rocks at people]] who don't agree with one's personal beliefs is quite okay when one's personal beliefs are enlightened enough -- although Heinlein's heroes tend to bluff rather than use lethal violence. Racism is also always rejected. Heinlein was indirect about it, but many (if not most) of his main characters are implied to be multiracial or at least not white.
47
48	His later books valued individual autonomy much more than the earlier ones, and his opinion of government, politics, and politicians changed accordingly. By the end, his opinion appeared to be that there are two types of politician: the WideEyedIdealist who can't be trusted because anyone who can convince him it's for the greater good will get him to abandon a promise, and the CorruptPolitician who can be trusted because he knows he has a reputation to maintain as someone worth buying.
49
50	!!Heinlein's stories are populated by certain stock characters:
51
52	* The Genius Child: A very common character both in Heinlein's Young Adult novels and in his political work. The genius child is often completely unaware that he or she is a prodigy, and simply dreams of going into space and having wild space adventures. Some of these characters, however, fully know how smart they are, and learn an important lesson about humility. Knowing next to nothing about interstellar politics, they tend to wise up by the end of the story and accept responsibility for their actions. Kip, Max, Peewee, and the twins Cas and Pol embody this, and Valentine Michael Smith is this character type taken to its logical extreme.
53	* The Competent Man (sometimes woman): Essentially your classic leading man character, he or she is competent in a reasonably wide range of fields (usually including several languages, sciences and/or technologies), and usually is also The Man (or Woman) Who Learns Better, having learned an important lesson and experienced considerable personal growth by the end of the story. The latter aspect is more prominent in Heinlein's juveniles. This can also be an adult version of the Genius Child who already knows how to deal with adult life, or simply the Genius Child's close friend.
54	* The Wise Old Mentor (usually, but not always, male): Professor Bernardo de la Paz, Hazel Meade Stone, Joseph Bonforte, Jubal Harshaw, and of course Lazarus Long, who also falls into the above category.
55	* The Gorgeous Woman: Spirited, beautiful and complex. Many of them have red hair, like Heinlein's [[AuthorAppeal wife]] Virginia. In fact, it is often tempting to assume the Gorgeous Woman is essentially Virginia in various guises. Star, in ''Literature/GloryRoad,'' is described as hundreds of women in one body, along with a number of men, and amply describes the more universal version of the character.
56
57	These characters are best seen in ''The Puppet Masters'', which is also his Alien Invasion plot.
58
59	!!His characters are often very intelligent, highly skilled (or they [[InstantExpert quickly learn any skills needed]]), good at math, and sometimes without major mental or physical defect. On this last qualification, there are notable exceptions:
60	* Waldo, a physical and emotional cripple in need of redemption.
61	* Oscar Gordon, a self-described grunt with a prominent facial scar, whose genius mainly lies in forms of violence and the practical application of personal ethics. After serving his time in the military, he gets recruited from an endless beach vacation by Star.
62	* Juan "Johnnie" Rico, another grunt, who doesn't have the stuff to join one of the more glamorous organizations but proves to be an above-average officer and the right man at the right time.
63	* The protagonist of "Literature/AllYouZombies", a heartless cad with an intersexual condition (and a time machine).
64	* Manuel Garcia O'Kelly "Mannie" Davis, a one-armed computer engineer (lost the other arm in an accident), who is otherwise the archetype for a technically competent hero.
65	* While Roger Stone is a Competent Man, he freely admits that he's the least intelligent and adaptable person in his entire family, not to mention one of the least so among Heinlein's roster of Competent Men. He is nevertheless the successful leader and moral conscience of the entire Stone family, and is perhaps the only being in the entire multiverse that Heinlein has written winning an argument with Hazel Stone.
66	* Hugh Farnham in ''Farnham's Freehold'' is ''not'' extensively educated or much more intelligent than the norm and his mathematical abilities are unknown, but he does have access to a long list of useful books, which come in handy when he becomes a freeholder.
67	* Podkayne Fries in ''Podkayne of Mars'' is a naive and optimistic 16-year-old girl who isn't really capable of understanding evil, and thus can't quite comprehend the villains or the seriousness of the political drama in the midst of which she finds herself.
68	* Podkayne's brother Clark, who in contrast is a sociopathic Pre{{teen Genius}} only barely kept in check by his affection for his older sister -- and who is only redeemed by [[spoiler:Poddy's (near)-death as a result of the plots in which they've become entangled]].
69	* Valentine Michael Smith from ''Literature/StrangerInAStrangeLand'' is a human raised on Mars who is intelligent but with NoSocialSkills (but later becomes a charismatic preacher). Apparently Heinlein had a bet going with L. Ron Hubbard to see which one could inspire a cult... Heinlein lost, nanu-nanu. (But many people grok that it was a close race for a while there.)
70	* While not a main character, Boss (the mentor/competent man archetype) of ''Friday'' is a one-eyed cripple, and apparently a former resident of Luna. Friday herself is neurotically insecure as a result of her upbringing.
71	* Andrew Jackson "Pinky" (later "Slipstick") Libby, a mathematical genius (and lost Howard Family member), who was clumsy and socially awkward in his youth, and turned out to have the genetic disorder [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klinefelter_syndrome Kleinfelter's Syndrome]].
72
73	Heinlein's most notable protagonist is Lazarus Long, a [[TheOlderImmortal near-immortal]] rogue and AntiHero. Lazarus Long appears across much of Heinlein's work, often being both the Competent Man and the Wise Old Man. He is a strong proponent of the atheistic, libertarian, FreeLoveFuture worldview that became a trademark of Heinlein's work, and is a frequent target of criticism for being a MartyStu and AuthorAvatar.
74
75	Heinlein's approach to female characterization is [[ValuesDissonance sometimes controversial.]] While his female characters are a reasonably varied lot, they tend to have a few things in common: [[MenActWomenAre The men spend a lot of time explaining things to them.]] They [[NeverASelfMadeWoman rarely end the story un-paired with a man]], [[NeverASelfMadeWoman and they often see motherhood as their highest goal.]] Many stories feature underage (barely teenage) girls "bundling" with far older men. It should be considered, however, that [[FairForItsDay at the time he wrote most of his novels]] an actively dominant female character was an extreme rarity, not to mention that his female characters tend to be [[GuileHero guile]] [[ActionGirl action girls]].
76
77	Heinlein's adult years were during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, and he was ''extremely'' hawkish, believing that the Soviets were a serious threat to the US, and that a strong military with lots of nuclear missiles was the only sane response. (For example, one of his characters regarded the difference between the Soviets and mind-controlling alien slugs as nearly irrelevant). Further, he apparently ''supported'' Joe [=McCarthy=]'s anti-communist witch hunts. His views were not uncommon at the time, but given that the Soviet Union folded shortly after Heinlein's death, understanding his Soviet-phobia can be difficult for modern readers, but is necessary to grokking his work. (Saying the genocidal hive-minded Bugs from ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'' are stand-ins for the Soviets is ''not'' a stretch.)
78
79	He also invented and explored the concept of Pantheistic Solipsism in his later works, also known as "TheWorldAsMyth" philosophy: where powerful writers create universes via the act of writing. He uses this for multiple {{Crossover}}s between world lines, including at least one [[CanonWelding meeting between every major hero he created in a single scene]]. It's also noted that later characters would [[RageAgainstTheAuthor call him (as the author) out for the horrible actions his characters suffer if this idea is true.]]
80
81	His impact can be best seen in Larry Niven's short story ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Return_of_William_Proxmire The Return of William Proxmire]]'' where a fictional version of the infamously Luddite U.S. Senator Proxmire -- who wishes to prevent the "waste" of the space program -- decides to use time travel to cure Heinlein's pulmonary tuberculosis, because every scientist and engineer "fanatic" in the space program credits him as being their inspiration. (For the interested, curing Heinlein means he rises to prominence in the Navy and pays attention in 1940 when Goddard tries to warn the military about the potential and dangers of rockets. When Proxmire returns to the present, Admiral Heinlein's Navy-run program has set up lunar colonies, orbital solar power stations, and prevented the Russians from developing [=ICBMs=]).
82	----
83	[[foldercontrol]]
84
85	[[folder:Works by Robert A. Heinlein with their own {{trope}} pages include:]]
86	[[index]]
87	* "Literature/AllYouZombies"
88	* "Literature/AndHeBuiltACrookedHouse"
89	* ''Literature/BetweenPlanets''
90	* ''Literature/BeyondThisHorizon''
91	* "Literature/ByHisBootstraps"
92	* ''Literature/TheCatWhoWalksThroughWalls''
93	* ''Literature/CitizenOfTheGalaxy''
94	* ''Film/DestinationMoon'' (wrote the {{novelization}}, and served as a script writer and technical consultant for the film)
95	* ''Literature/TheDoorIntoSummer''
96	* ''Literature/DoubleStar''
97	* ''Literature/FarmerInTheSky''
98	* ''Literature/FarnhamsFreehold''
99	* ''Literature/ForUsTheLivingAComedyOfCustoms''
100	* ''Literature/{{Friday}}''
101	* ''Literature/GloryRoad''
102	* "Literature/TheGreenHillsOfEarth"
103	* ''Literature/{{Gulf}}''
104	* ''Literature/HaveSpaceSuitWillTravel''
105	* ''Literature/IfThisGoesOn''
106	* ''Literature/IWillFearNoEvil''
107	* ''Literature/JobAComedyOfJustice''
108	* ''Literature/MagicInc''
109	* ''Literature/MethuselahsChildren''
110	* ''Literature/TheMoonIsAHarshMistress''
111	* ''Literature/TheNumberOfTheBeast''
112	* ''Literature/OrphansOfTheSky''
113	* ''Literature/PodkayneOfMars''
114	* ''Literature/ThePuppetMasters''
115	* ''Literature/RedPlanet''
116	* ''Literature/RocketShipGalileo''
117	* ''Literature/TheRollingStones1952''
118	* ''Literature/SixthColumn''
119	* ''Literature/SpaceCadetHeinlein''
120	* ''Literature/TheStarBeast''
121	* ''Literature/StarmanJones''
122	* ''Literature/StarshipTroopers''
123	* ''Literature/StrangerInAStrangeLand''
124	* ''Literature/TimeEnoughForLove''
125	* ''Literature/TimeForTheStars''
126	* ''Literature/ToSailBeyondTheSunset''
127	* ''Literature/TunnelInTheSky''
128	* ''Literature/VariableStar''
129	* "Literature/{{Waldo}}"
130	[[/index]]
131	[[/folder]]
132
133	[[folder:Works presently without trope pages:]]
134	* "Literature/BlowupsHappen"
135	* ''Literature/{{Elsewhen}}''
136	* "Literature/ItsGreatToBeBack!"
137	* "Literature/JerryWasAMan"
138	* "Literature/LetThereBeLight"
139	* "Literature/LifeLine"
140	* "Literature/TheLongWatch"
141	* "Literature/TheManWhoSoldTheMoon"
142	* "Literature/TheMenaceFromEarth"
143	* "Literature/{{Misfit}}"
144	* "Literature/OrdealInSpace"
145	* "Literature/TheRoadsMustRoll"
146	* "Literature/SpaceJockey"
147	* ''Literature/TheUnpleasantProfessionOfJonathanHoag''
148	[[/folder]]
149
150	!!Works by Heinlein that are presently without trope pages include examples of:
151
152	* AchievementsInIgnorance: Hugh Hoyland, the protagonist of ''Orphans of the Sky'', on learning his people's world is actually a space ship, decides to teach himself how to pilot the ship. According to all common sense of astrogation, no single person can learn the necessary skills to fly a ship by himself, especially one of the size Hoyland was on. However, because all knowledge of this common sense was never printed in text, he never realized this and thus taught himself all the skills. This was repeated later in the novel when Hoyland, not realizing the difficulty of managing a landing and the sheer danger his life is in, successfully lands his craft on a planet.
153	* AlienGeometries: In "And He Built a Crooked House" a Hollywood architect sells a friend and his wife on a new house built with tesseracts. There wind up being drawbacks, such as the fact that when you go in you don't really know where you'll be when you come out.
154	* AncientTradition: "Lost Legacy". A benevolent secret society of people with psychic abilities lives under Mount Shasta. Their membership has included UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln, Creator/AmbroseBierce, Creator/MarkTwain and Creator/WaltWhitman. They help the protagonists refine their mental abilities and fight the opposition group that wants to keep humanity ignorant.
155	* ArtificialGravity: In "--We Also Walk Dogs", a company that advertises that it can deal with any problem is called on to bring about the invention of antigravity, to enable an interplanetary peace conference whose delegates mostly come from planets or moons with lower gravity than Earth.
156	* BadFuture: Heinlein apparently didn't care for much of the sixties and seventies and foresaw only the worst. On the one hand, yeah, the eighties. On the other, he predicted the complete disintegration of all nations and woke laws more absurd than the alt-right could dream of today.
157	* BlandNameProduct: "The Man Who Sold the Moon" features a rivalry between soft drink manufacturers "Moka-Coka" and "6+".
158	* BlindingCameraFlash: Used as a political dirty trick in "A Bathroom of Her Own". A political candidate is blinded by an unexpected camera flash, with a second picture being taken a moment later as he tries to recover. The picture from the second camera -- showing the candidate looking confused, dazzled and dopey -- is then used by his opponents in their attack ads.
159	* BottledHeroicResolve: "Coventry". The hero and a companion take a powerful stimulant called a "pepper pill" ("improbable offspring of common coal tar") in order to complete a long hike and deliver a vital message. The drug can cause heart attacks and burns the body's tissues to provide energy after normal reserves are gone, requiring days to recover from its use.
160	* ButNotTooGay: Heinlein's own sexuality may never be resolved, but his characters all ''wanted'' to be bisexual. They were all ''mostly'' straight and ridiculously horny, but stopped at being curious. He waffled about male homosexual acts being "sad" even though many of his male characters "gave it a try, not so great, had a game of tennis instead" and gave female homosexuality [[GirlOnGirlIsHot a bit more leeway]]. Whether he was bi/pan and couldn't overcome his 1902 Missouri upbringing or ridiculously open and 40 years too early for bi/pan to really be a thing, we may never know. When it comes to his published works, however, his opinion was "give the readers what the publishers will allow".
161	* CelestialBureaucracy: Taken to 11 in ''Job.'' Inverted in ''Hoag'' with the Sons of the Bird.
162	* CityInABottle: ''Orphans of the Sky'' is about a [[GenerationShips multi-generational space craft]] where the inhabitants lost the knowledge that they were on a ship (along with most other knowledge) after a failed mutiny, so the current generation thinks the whole universe is just the ship.
163	* TheCoronerDothProtestTooMuch: In "Lost Legacy". "The coroner's verdict of heart failure did not fully account for the charred condition of his remains."
164	* CouldntFindAPen: In "Goldfish Bowl", the protagonist is captured by aliens. He repeatedly scratches himself to make scars and form a message on his skin, so that if he doesn't get out alive he can still warn whoever finds his body.
165	* CrookedContractor: In "It's Great to Be Back!", one of the troubles faced by two people who have recently returned to Earth from the Moon is dealing with a plumber who isn't a crook but refuses to help them for petty reasons.
166	* CuckooNest: In the story ''Literature/{{They}}'', the protagonist is a paranoid being held in a mental hospital, convinced that the purpose of the entire world is to prevent him from learning some great truth that he can only glimpse in dreams. Eventually, [[spoiler:it is revealed that his 'paranoia' is nothing but the truth; the entire world was created just to prevent him from returning to his previous (somewhat unclear) existence entirely outside of our world.]]
167	* DefaceOfTheMoon: In "The Man Who Sold the Moon", DD Harriman gets some of his financing for his moon trip by approaching rival soft drink companies and getting them to pay him ''not'' to paint their rival's logo on the face of the moon. And also by convincing another businessman, deeply opposed to Communism, that the Russians were planning to send up a mission to paint the Hammer and Sickle on the moon.
168	* DoUntoOthersBeforeTheyDoUntoUs: In "Solution Unsatisfactory", one of the U.S. characters considers having everyone who knows about the secret of the radioactive dust shot, but decides that the enemies of the U.S. would eventually discover it and use it against the U.S. anyway. The U.S. goes ahead with creating and using the dust itself.
169	* TheExile: In "Coventry", the United States has used AppliedPhlebotinum to put a force field wall around an area of the country. Because of the respect for human rights, it is the law that anyone may choose to go to Coventry rather than have to agree to psychological therapy for criminal or antisocial behavior. The protagonist, David [=MacKinnon=], is a romantic idealist who imagines a paradise without the noisy interfering big government getting in the way of rugged freedom lovers.
170	* EurekaMoment: Played with, in ''Hoag,'' when the title character suddenly remembers who he is, mid-sentence, and even his personality and tone changes.
171	* FantasticNoir: "The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag".
172	* FoodPorn: The restaurant menu and the breakfast food description in the short story "Cliff and the Calories".
173	* ForeseeingMyDeath: "Life-line". Professor Pinero builds a machine that can electronically predict the exact date and time of a person's death. He writes down when his own death will occur and seals it inside an envelope. When he's murdered, the envelope is opened and the prediction turns out to be correct.
174	* TheGadfly: In ''Rocket Ship Galileo'', Dr. Cargraves adopts this role when debating with his three teenage apprentices, to get them to question their own assumptions and realize the importance of being able to prove their assertions. His contrary position is that the Moon might not have a "far side", because no one has ever seen it (the book was written before spacecraft were sent to photograph the far side).
175	* GenerationShips: ''Orphans of the Sky'' has the massive generation ship ''Vanguard'' whose inhabitants have forgotten their origins and fallen into barbarism, yet [[RagnarokProofing the ship still functions after centuries of neglect]] (albeit with an assist from CargoCult maintenance procedures). Guess they don't make them like they will have used to. An excerpt indicates the ship was specifically designed in a way that minimized the amount of automation and moving parts, thus reducing wear and tear and extending the functional lifespan of the ship.
176	* AGlitchInTheMatrix: "They". A man realizes that something is wrong with the world when it's raining when he's outside his house, but when he goes upstairs and looks through a window it's clear and sunny.
177	* GoingCritical: "Blowups Happen" is about a nuclear reactor which not only is in danger of exploding at any moment but is discovered to be capable of [[spoiler:destroying all life on Earth by having such a massive explosion that the Earth's atmosphere is blown away]].
178	* GoodWithNumbers: Andrew Jackson "Slipstick" Libby from the ''Future History'' series. In his introductory short story "Misfit", he replaces a spaceship navigation computer by performing all spatial calculations needed to navigate the ship in real time ''in his head''. And his mathematical genius comes to light when he warns of a critical calculation error made in setting a small nuclear charge based on what he's learned about laying the charges just by watching the officer making the calculations. ("Slipstick" is a nickname for a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slide_rule slide rule]], a type of analog calculation aid common before hand-held calculators got good enough to do things like logarithms.)
179	* HoverBot: ''Friday''. Police had Public Eyes that they used to perform surveillance. The Eyes had cameras that allowed an officer monitoring them to see what was going on, with a memory that could hold 12 hours of visual record. An unmonitored Public Eye floated around, following any object with the temperature of a human body.
180	* ImmortalityPromiscuity: Lazarus Long, prominent in novels like ''Literature/MethuselahsChildren and ''Literature/TimeEnoughForLove'' lives for millennia and by the 40th century is a common ancestor to a majority of the long-lived Howards, largely due to DarwinistDesire. He does tend to marry most of his lovers, but is also polyamorous.
181	* InscrutableAliens: "Goldfish Bowl". Unknown creatures (it's not clear if they're from Earth or aliens) suck a huge pillar of seawater into a cloud and then return it to the ocean. They also send out fireballs that kidnap people. They're never seen by humans and don't communicate directly with humanity.
182	* IntangibleTheft: In "The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag", Ted and Cynthia Randall are private detectives who are hired by Jonathan Hoag to find out why he has amnesia about his daily work. The Sons of the Bird steal Cynthia's soul in an attempt to coerce Ted into giving up the investigation, leaving her in a coma.
183	* JustBeforeTheEnd: "Year of the Jackpot" takes place in 1952 when a confluence of the cycles of human civilization are causing humanity to go crazy. There is horrible weather, a nuclear war, and just when things are looking up, [[ShootTheShaggyDog the sun goes nova]].
184	* KindheartedCatLover: In "Ordeal in Space", the protagonist likes cats. Also, when he hears a kitten [[spoiler:out on a ledge, he rescues it and cures his agoraphobia]].
185	* LowCultureHighTech: ''Orphans of the Sky''. The characters live on a generation ship whose crew mutinied several generations back. By the time the novel takes place, the crew has become so backward that they think the ship is the whole Universe, and a large portion live as subsistence farmers. The only reason the ship still works is that it's powered by a reactor that can convert any matter into energy at pretty much 100% efficiency. Everything that is no longer useful, including the dead, is used as fuel for the reactor.
186	* {{Masquerade}}: In a number of stories, mainly relating to the nature of the universe. Usually has to do with the questions of creation, creator, and the fabric of the universe itself.
187	** In ''Number of the Beast,'' we are introduced to the notion of fiction as literal universe-building, raising the spectre of a SlidingScaleOfFreeWillVsFate.
188	** In ''Job,'' ''Hoag,'' and others; particularly that [[spoiler: the universe can be changed, erased, and even recreated at will by God... or ''a'' god]].
189	* MegaMealChallenge: "Cliff and the Calories".
190	-->'''Cliff:''' Have you ever had a Mount Everest?\
191	'''Maureen:''' Huh?\
192	'''Cliff:''' They start with a big platter and build up the peak with twenty-one flavors of ice cream, using four bananas, butterscotch syrup, and nuts to bind it. Then they cover it with chocolate syrup, sprinkle malted milk powder and more nuts for rock, pour marshmallow syrup and whipped cream down from the top for snow, stick parsley around the lower slopes for trees, and set a little plastic skier on one of the snow banks. You get to keep him as a souvenir of the experience.\
193	'''Maureen:''' Oh, my!\
194	'''Cliff:''' Only one to a customer and I don't have to pay if you finish it.
195	* MirrorMonster: In "The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag", the Sons of the Bird are powerful evil entities that enter and exit our world through mirrors.
196	* MissingFloor: In ''Hoag,'' one of the protagonists track down where the title character works, [[spoiler: but when he goes back to the building with his partner to show them, the floor doesn't exist.]]
197	* MissingTime: In "The Unpleasant Profession Of Jonathan Hoag", the title character experiences this every time he goes to work -- everything between leaving home in the morning and returning in the evening is a blank. He hires a private detective to find out what it is he actually does. [[spoiler: It turns out to be AlternateIdentityAmnesia.]]
198	* MultipleHeadCase: Joe-Jim the two-headed mutant from ''Universe''.
199	* TheMole: In "Coventry", "Fader" [=McGee=] is a Secret Service agent.
200	* TheMutiny: In ''Orphans of the Sky'' (originally two short stories, "Universe" and "Common Sense"), the conditions on the generation ship are partly due to a mutiny during which the ship's piloting crew was killed off, the survivors later forgetting their original purpose.
201	* MyArtMyMemory: "They". A man believed to be insane can play beautiful music on the violin. Later on he dreams about his past life in a higher level of being, including hearing music swelling out of every living thing -- presumably the source of his musical ability.
202	* TheNounWhoVerbed: "The Man Who Sold the Moon".
203	* OccupiersOutOfOurCountry: "Free Men" is about the resistance movement against invaders who occupied the US following the "Twenty Minute War". The origin of the occupiers is not specified.
204	* {{Omnibus}}: {{Creator/Servire}} published a [[{{Doorstopper}} 500+ page volume]] in 1970, titled ''Science Fiction Omnibus'', a Dutch translation of four American ScienceFiction {{Novel}}s; ''Literature/TheBigEye'' by Creator/MaxEhrlich, ''Literature/TheManWhoSoldTheMoon'' by Creator/RobertAHeinlein, ''Literature/{{Requiem}}'' by Creator/RobertAHeinlein, and ''Literature/PebbleInTheSky'' by Creator/IsaacAsimov.
205	* OneWheeledWonder: Futuristic unicycles (sometimes explicitly described as "gyro-stabilized" to explain how the heck they stay upright) appear in or are mentioned in "If This Goes On—", "The Roads Must Roll", and ''Stranger in a Strange Land''.
206	* PeacefulInDeath: In "The Roads Must Roll", a man is murdered while trying to negiotiate with the striking workers. The main character is struck by the nobility of his expression, seeing him dead.
207	* PenalColony: In "Coventry", the United States has used AppliedPhlebotinum to put a force field wall around an area of the country. Because of the respect for human rights, it is the law that anyone may choose to go to Coventry rather than have to agree to psychological therapy for criminal or antisocial behavior.
208	* PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny: In the short story "Coventry", the most totalitarian nation in the Coventry is called "The Free State".
209	* ReadTheFinePrint: In ''The Man Who Sold the Moon'', Delos D. Harriman, "the last of the Robber Barons", mentions that the roadways he owns that are used by most of the population to commute and move goods have small print on the ticket that says that the company will only "attempt" to get them or their goods to their destination and if the company fails it is only liable to refund the price of the ticket. Using the roadway means agreeing with this. Harriman says he got idea when he worked as a clerk for the Western Union telegram service. By signing the front of a telegram form most people didn't realize they were agreeing to all the small print listed on the back of the form. Harriman read the back in his free time on the job and admired it. This sort of caveat is actually fairly common in contracts, in the form of a "force majeure" clause that releases someone from a contractual obligation if uncontrollable circumstances make it impossible to comply.
210	* RebelliousRebel:
211	** In "The Roads Must Roll", when the workers are organizing their strike on the grounds that transportion being so necessary, they should use their clout for extortion, one worker objects that the terms of their employment are not actually oppressive; when the strike actually occurs, he goes to the boss to offer his help. [[spoiler:The strikers murder him in a parlay.]]
212	** In "The Long Watch", Interplanetary Patrol Lieutenant John Dahlquist, after a superior attempts to recruit him into a coup attempt, instead makes a HeroicSacrifice by barricading himself in the nuclear armory and manually disabling all the nuclear weapons, taking a fatal dose of radiation in the process. He [[DyingAlone dies alone]], sitting by the door he barricaded. Radiation levels are so high that robots must be used to recover his body and put it in a lead coffin for [[DueToTheDead a hero's funeral]].
213	* ReflectiveTeleportation: The evil Sons of the Bird have the ability to travel to other locations using mirrors, both in reality and in dreams. Painting over a mirror prevents them from passing through it.
214	* RestAndResupplyStop: The short story "Misfit" details how a group of young men in the "Cosmic Construction Corps" work to convert a small asteroid into Space Station E-M3 (including moving said asteroid into a new orbit, between the orbits of Earth and Mars). When Space Station E-M3 (and two other stations, E-M1 and E-M2) are in place and completed "no hard-pushed traveler of the spaceways on the Earth-Mars passage would ever again find himself far from land--or rescue".
215	* SecretTest: In the short story "Space Jockey", spaceship pilots are monitored to make sure they are psychologically stable. A space pilot is bothered by a "stupid tourist" who is secretly a psychiatrist to determine his state of mind before a flight.
216	* SelfInflictedHell: In the short story "Elsewhen", when a person dies, they get whatever afterlife they expect they will find. If they were very religious, they go to a form of heaven where they subsist with God, etc. But nobody ever ceases to exist because it's impossible to believe in annihilation.
217	* SpaceBase: In ''Rocket Ship Galileo'', the protagonists discover a hidden Nazi base on the Moon after the end of World War II.
218	* SpaceCadet: "Misfit", which takes inspiration from the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps.
219	* SpaceMadness: The main character of "Ordeal in Space" develops severe acrophobia after an EVA accident sends him adrift in space until rescue arrives, forcing him to give up space flight. [[spoiler:He snaps out of it when he nerves himself up to rescue a kitten stuck on a ledge]].
220	* StrollingOnJupiter: Implied at least a couple of times in passing, in ''Literature/TunnelInTheSky'' and in "—We Also Walk Dogs". In the latter neither the Jovians nor their homeworld are directly described, but they are portrayed as requiring a high-gravity environment to be comfortable (provided by a centrifuge—or using artificial gravity), but their "apartments" otherwise seem to be rooms with floors and so on, not some kind of a tank for LivingGasbag aliens.
221	* StupidJetpackHitler: Heinlein brought this trope into its modern form by creating Nazis with atomic spaceships on the Moon in ''Rocket Ship Galileo'', written only a couple of years after WWII ended. For the readers of the time, the Nazis were probably the least fantastic part. Men on the Moon indeed!
222	* TemptingFate: In "Lost Legacy",
223	-->''Brother Artemis, "[[SinisterMinister God's Angry Man]]", faced the television pick-up. "And if these things be not true," he thundered, "then may the Lord strike me down dead!"\
224	The coroner's verdict of heart failure did not fully account for the charred condition of his remains.''
225	* TerminallyDependentSociety: In "The Roads Must Roll", America has replaced all their roads with massive moving walkways, which have to be maintained by teams of engineers and mechanics for the country's economy to function. Then one of the engineers attempts to use his control over the roads to effect a coup.
226	* ThrownOutTheAirlock: In ''Rocket Ship Galileo'', one of the heroes threatens to do this to a Nazi prisoner to get him to talk. He has to partially carry it out before the Nazi cracks.
227	* TitleRequiem: The short story "Requiem" is about D.D. Harriman's attempt to fulfill his dream of landing on the Moon. He succeeds, but dies soon after landing.
228	* TomatoSurprise: "Columbus Was A Dope". Some men are in a bar, discussing the launch of a new space ship. One of the men declares that it's ridiculous for men to go out exploring when everything is fine just the way it is. It's revealed in the very last sentence of the story that [[spoiler:the whole thing has been taking place on a bar on the Moon]].
229	* VenusIsWet: Venus is depicted as a swamp planet in the short stories "Logic of Empire" and "Tenderfoot on Venus", and in the novels "Between Planets" and "Space Cadet".
230	* ViewersAreGeniuses: Heinlein never dumbed down his juvenile sci-fi novels, as he wanted to encourage his readers to become interested in science.
231	* WatchTheWorldDie: "Year of the Jackpot" is about a man who studies trends and realizes that the world is about to go to Hell in a hand basket. He and a young lady decide to live off the grid, as far away from civilization as possible, to avoid the madness and wait while everyone goes to pieces. [[spoiler:His plan fails, as the story ends [[ShootTheShaggyDog with the sun going nova]].]]
232	* WeightWoe: Maureen, called "Puddin'", in the short story "Cliff and the Calories". She thinks her boyfriend would like her better if she were thinner, so she tries desperately to lose weight.
233	* WorkplaceHorror: ''The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag'' sees a pair of private investigators hired by the titular character to find out what he himself does for a living. Despite encountering several terrifying events and a literally monstrous cult called the Order of the Bird, the pair continue the investigation to its conclusion.
234	* YourSoulIsMine: In "The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathon Hoag", the Sons of the Bird drain out the soul of one of the protagonists and place it in a bottle, leaving her in a coma.

Context Creator / RobertAHeinlein