 James Benjamin Blish (May 23, 1921 – July 30, 1975) was a leading science fiction author who had a bachelor's degree in microbiology from Rutgers University and, after serving as a medical technician in World War II, he became the science editor for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals.
His scientific background and training were obvious in the accuracy with which he presented the speculations in his own fiction and his high critical standards.
In the late 1930s he joined the Lunarians, the New York SF fan group that included such authors as Isaac Asimov and Frederik Pohl.
In the 1950's, Blish published stories in Astounding Science Fiction Magazine about a future with immortality and antigravity. These were later published as four novels — Earthman, Come Home (1955), They Shall Have Stars (1957), The Triumph of Time (1958), and A Life for the Stars (1962)— then combined into the omnibus Cities in Flight.
Blish's best-known novel was the Hugo-winning A Case of Conscience (1959), which dealt with the question of a planet whose inhabitants are born without Original Sin.
Blish further explored theological issues in Doctor Mirabilis (1964), a historical novel about Roger Bacon, and Black Easter (1968) a tale of technology summoning the Devil and its sequel, The Day after Judgment (1971).
He decided that these four books formed a thematic series, which he called After Such Knowledge.
Blish's biggest impact was probably as a pioneer of media fiction, with twelve short stories made from the televised episodes of Star Trek, as well as the first Star Trek novelization, Spock Must Die (1970).
During the last few years of his life, he moved with his family to England, where he died in 1975. [edit]
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