WI campbell does not go into SF?

[tom]

What if Campbell never becomes a science fiction figure? How much did his writing and editing affect the field? What would sci-fi be like now without him?

[TxCoatl1970]

Campbell was editor and thus architect for pushing SF from pulp adventure stories to literary-quality stories. Campbell was smart enough to know the era of pulps was dying and he needed to offer more than just ray guns and BEM's.

Without his influence, the New Wave of more socially-relevant/critical stuff in the 1960's doesn't find purchase on this side of the pond.
I'd argue JG Ballard, Micheal Moorcock, and many other leading New Wave UK-based authors still publish, but Frank Herbert, PK Dick, Tom Disch, and a slew of other US-based SF authors who got big in the 1960's and 1970's don't or end up emigrating or sending their stuff to London instead of NY.

Asimov, Robert Silverberg, and Arthur C Clarke probably could still have had great writing careers, but Asimov's Robots of Dawn was something Asimov did b/c Campbell demanded work of that caliber and provided a ready market for it, as well as a fertile garden for nurturing emerging talents.

[HARRY]

Whe n I first saw the heading I though it was going to be a DBWI on Sir Donald Campbell http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Campbell who after conquering the Land and Water speed records (and not dying) went on to break the air speed record opening up non-government Space Flights.