Astounding Science Fiction/Volume 44/Number 05/The Analytical Laboratory

by John Wood Campbell

THE ANALYTICAL LABORATORY

Because there were seven stories in the October, 1949 issue, the point scores inevitably run higher than usual. Because there was considerable disagreement as to just which yarn merited first place, the scattering of point-votes made the scores come out high on the first few places, too. And it's well worthy of mention that a short story—"Production Test"—succeeded in making second place despite the fact that experience shows novelettes have a big advantage in the voting.

Incidentally, next month's scores should be very interesting! We had considerable fun fixing up that November issue that way!

However, here are the standings for the October, 1949 issue:

Place	Story	Author	Points
1.	The Automagic Horse	L. Ron Hubbard	2.71
2.	Production Test	Raymond F. Jones	3.00
3.	The Aristocrat	Chan Davis	3.13
4.	Time Heals	Poul Anderson	3.75
5.	Defense Mechanism	Katherine MacLean	4.14

So, gentlemen, have you voted. Incidentally, if you haven't the time and/or energy for a letter, a penny postcard gets your opinion properly scored on the tally. What you think of the stories will, of course, have no influence on my choice of material—unless you communicate that opinion!The Editor.