Editing Galaxy Science Fiction (section)

===Influence on the field===
Isaac Asimov, in his memoirs, recalled being deeply impressed by the first issue of ''Galaxy'', and that many fans, including himself, believed that the magazine became the field's leader almost immediately.<ref name=IMYG_602>Asimov, ''In Memory Yet Green'', p.&nbsp;602.</ref>  In critic John Clute's assessment, ''Galaxy'' indeed swiftly supplanted ''Astounding'' and remained the leading magazine in the field until Pohl resigned as editor in 1969.<ref name=SFTIE_102>Clute, ''SF: The Illustrated Encyclopedia'', p.&nbsp;102.</ref> Science fiction historian and critic Mike Ashley regarded ''Galaxy''{{'s}} success as the main reason for the subsequent boom in science fiction magazines,<ref name=TM_32-3/> commenting that it "revolutionized the field overnight".<ref name=TM_24>Ashley, ''Transformations'', p.&nbsp;24.</ref> Under Gold ''Galaxy'' provided a market for social science fiction stories that might not have been accepted by ''Astounding'' and ''Fantasy & Science Fiction'', the other leading magazines.<ref name="TA_306"/><ref>James Gunn, quoted in Rosheim, ''Galaxy Magazine'', p.&nbsp;10.</ref>

Pohl stated in 1965 that almost every major science fiction writer whose career began after 1950 primarily wrote for ''Galaxy'', and that others closely imitated Gold's magazine.<ref name="pohl196508">{{Cite magazine
 |last=Pohl
 |first=Frederik
 |date=August 1965
 |title=Old Home Month
 |department=Editorial
 |url=https://archive.org/stream/Galaxy_v23n06_1965-08#page/n3/mode/2up
 |magazine=Galaxy Science Fiction
 |pages=4–7
}}</ref> He described ''Galaxy'' as where "the stunning new kinds of science fiction ... flowered, and changed everything in science fiction".<ref name=G30_xii>Frederik Pohl, "Introduction", in Pohl, Greenberg & Olander, ''Galaxy: Thirty Years of Innovative Science Fiction'', p.&nbsp;xii.</ref> In his opinion, Gold's innovation was to ask writers to consider not just new technology, but the subsequent impact of that technology on society.  He adds, "What ''Galaxy'' brought to magazine science fiction was a kind of sophisticated intellectual subtlety. ... After ''Galaxy'' it was impossible to go on being naive."<ref name=G30_xii/> Science fiction author [[Brian Stableford]] argues that ''Galaxy'' quickly usurped ''Astounding''{{'}}s position as "pioneer of hardcore sf's progress" because it "embraced and gleefully pursued a new series of challenges to moral orthodoxy."<ref>Stableford, ''Heterocosms'', p.&nbsp;47.</ref>

SF historian David Kyle ascribes ''Galaxy''{{'s}} influence specifically to Gold, saying that "of all the editors in and out of the post-war scene, the most influential beyond any doubt was H. L. Gold" and that the new direction he set led, "inevitably", to the [[New Wave (science fiction)|New Wave]], the celebrated science fiction literary movement of the 1960s.<ref name=APHOSF_119-20>Kyle, ''A Pictorial History of Science Fiction'', pp.&nbsp;119–120.</ref> Kyle's assessment of Gold is echoed by writer [[Barry N. Malzberg]], who calls Gold "perhaps the greatest editor in the history of all fields for the first half of his tenure". SF authors and historians Brian Aldiss and [[David Wingrove]] summarize ''Galaxy''{{'s}} history by saying that it lasted for "thirty mainly glorious years":<ref name=TYS_228>Aldiss & Wingrove, ''[[Trillion Year Spree]]'', p.&nbsp;228.</ref> it "brought into the sunlight a number of excellent satirists, comedians and ironists"<ref name=TYS_237>Aldiss & Wingrove, ''[[Trillion Year Spree]]'', p.&nbsp;237.</ref> and, through the influence of its reduced focus on technology, played an important role in attracting women to write science fiction.<ref name=TYS_259>Aldiss & Wingrove, ''[[Trillion Year Spree]]'', p.&nbsp;259.</ref>