Editing Robert A. Heinlein (section)

===Author===
[[File:Heinlein-decamp-and-asimov.jpg|thumb|left|Robert A. Heinlein, [[L. Sprague de Camp]], and [[Isaac Asimov]], [[Philadelphia Naval Shipyard|Philadelphia Navy Yard]], 1944]]

While not destitute after the campaign—he had a small disability pension from the Navy—Heinlein turned to writing to pay off his mortgage. His first published story, "[[Life-Line]]", was printed in the August 1939 issue of ''[[Astounding Science Fiction]]''.<ref name="isfdb ..." /> Originally written for a contest, it sold to ''Astounding'' for significantly more than the contest's first-prize payoff. Another [[Future History (Heinlein)|Future History]] story, "Misfit", followed in November.<ref name="isfdb ..." /> Some saw Heinlein's talent and stardom from his first story,<ref name="earlyyears79_82">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/earlyasimovorele00asim#page/78/mode/2up |title=The early Asimov; or, Eleven years of trying |last=Asimov |first=Isaac |publisher=Doubleday |year=1972 |location=Garden City NY |pages=79–82}}</ref> and he was quickly acknowledged as a leader of the new movement toward [[social science fiction|"social" science fiction]]. In California he hosted the [[Mañana Literary Society]], a 1940–41 series of informal gatherings of new authors.<ref>Williamson, Jack "Who Was Robert Heinlein?" in ''Requiem: new collected works by Robert A. Heinlein and tributes to the grand master'' NY 1992 pp. 333–34 {{ISBN|0-312-85523-0}}</ref> He was the guest of honor at Denvention, the 1941 [[Worldcon]], held in Denver. During [[World War II]], Heinlein was employed by the Navy as a civilian aeronautical engineer at the Navy Aircraft Materials Center at the [[Philadelphia Naval Shipyard]] in [[Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Patterson | first = William | title = The Martian named Smith : critical perspectives on Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a strange land | publisher = Nitrosyncretic Press | location = Sacramento, Calif | year = 2001 | isbn = 0967987423 }}</ref> Heinlein recruited [[Isaac Asimov]] and [[L. Sprague de Camp]] to also work there.<ref name="Expanded Universe"/> While at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyards, Asimov, Heinlein, and de Camp brainstormed unconventional approaches to kamikaze attacks, such as using sound to detect approaching planes.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Latham|first=Rob|title=Beyond pulp: trailblazers of science fiction's golden age.|journal=Nature|date= October 10, 2018|volume=562|issue=7726|pages=189–190|doi=10.1038/d41586-018-06943-8|bibcode=2018Natur.562..189L|doi-access=free}}</ref>

As the war wound down in 1945, Heinlein began to re-evaluate his career. The [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]], along with the outbreak of the [[Cold War]], galvanized him to write nonfiction on political topics. In addition, he wanted to break into better-paying markets. He published four influential [[short story|short stories]] for ''The Saturday Evening Post'' magazine, leading off, in February 1947, with "[[The Green Hills of Earth]]". That made him the first science fiction writer to break out of the "[[Pulp magazine|pulp ghetto]]". In 1950, the movie ''[[Destination Moon (film)|Destination Moon]]''—the documentary-like film for which he had written the story and scenario, co-written the script, and invented many of the effects—won an [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] for [[special effect]]s. 

Heinlein created SF stories with social commentary about relationships. In ''The Puppet Masters'', a 1951 alien invasion novel, the point of view character Sam persuades fellow operative Mary to marry him. When they go to the county clerk, they are offered a variety of marriage possibilities; “Term, renewable or lifetime”, as short as six months or as long as forever.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Olson |first=Glen W. |date=January 1, 2024 |title=Heinlein's Influence on Dating and Marriage Patterns in America, a Perspective |url=https://www.heinleinsociety.org/heinlein-journal/ |website=The Heinlein Journal}}</ref>

Also, he embarked on a series of [[young adult literature|juvenile novels]] for the [[Charles Scribner's Sons]] publishing company that went from 1947 through 1959, at the rate of one book each autumn, in time for [[Christmas]] presents to teenagers. He also wrote for ''[[Boys' Life]]'' in 1952.

Heinlein used topical materials throughout his [[Heinlein juveniles|juvenile series]] beginning in 1947, but in 1958 he interrupted work on ''The Heretic'' (the working title of ''[[Stranger in a Strange Land]]'') to write and publish a book exploring ideas of civic virtue, initially serialized as ''Starship Soldiers''. In 1959, his novel (now entitled ''[[Starship Troopers]]'') was considered by the editors and owners of Scribner's to be too controversial for one of its prestige lines, and it was rejected.<ref>{{cite web|last=Causo |first=Roberto de Sousa |url=http://www.wegrokit.com/causost.htm |title=Citizenship at War |access-date=March 4, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060315171915/http://www.wegrokit.com/causost.htm |archive-date=March 15, 2006 }}</ref> Heinlein found another publisher ([[G. P. Putnam's Sons|Putnam]]), feeling himself released from the constraints of writing novels for children. He had told an interviewer that he did not want to do stories that merely added to categories defined by other works. Rather he wanted to do his own work, stating that: "I want to do my own stuff, my own way".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MQPHAgAAQBAJ|title=Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century: Volume 2, 1948–1988 The Man Who Learned Better|last=Patterson|first=William H. Jr.|date=June 3, 2014|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-1-4299-8796-7|page=207|language=en|access-date=August 28, 2016|archive-date=January 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101172143/https://books.google.com/books?id=MQPHAgAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> He would go on to write a series of challenging books that redrew the boundaries of science fiction, including ''Stranger in a Strange Land'' (1961) and ''[[The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress]]'' (1966).