An American publisher, editor, and author, Gernsback is perhaps best known as the founder of the modern science fiction literary genre. It was his publication of Amazing Stories (1926) that gave him this distinction and drew Americans into reading stories about an unknown future. Indeed, Gernsback's imagination was not only limited to the abstract—not in the sense that what he wrote about was impossible—but his speculation about future technological advancements had a solid basis in science … as any good science fiction does. In this sense, he was one of the twentieth century's greatest visionaries.

Gernsback immigrated to the United States from Luxembourg in 1904 and established The Electro Importing Company, the first electrical importing business in America. In 1905 he designed and produced the world's first home radio set and began publishing a mail-order catalog, which he filled with articles discussing new technologies. By 1908, Gernsback's...