Contents

• "Foreword"
• "The Wheels of If
  The Wheels of If
  "The Wheels of If" is a classic alternate history science fiction story by L. Sprague de Camp. It was first published in the magazine Unknown Fantasy Fiction for October, 1940, and first appeared in book form in de Camp's collection The Wheels of If and Other Science Fiction...
  
  "

Allister Park, a prosecutor and local politician is thrown into a parallel universe

Parallel universe (fiction)

A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...

 where due to very minor differences in the course of history, North America has been settled by descendants of the Vikings and New York is replaced by New Belfast. He endeavors to get back into his own universe using his ingenuity to gain influence in his new surroundings.

• "The Best-Laid Scheme"

This parody on other time travel

Time travel

Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...

 stories is about a scientist who uses a time travel device to threaten all of North America with destruction through time travel paradoxes, and the secret agent attempting to stop him using a copy of the device.

• "The Warrior Race"

Earth has been taken over by the Centaurians, former humans who came back from space as a supremely ethical and powerful people. The heroes in the story, aided by an enigmatic historian, are mostly trying to salvage their corrupt economic schemes.

• "Hyperpilosity"

An apparent plague makes people grow bodily hair similar to that of Gorilla

Gorilla

Gorillas are the largest extant species of primates. They are ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous apes that inhabit the forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies...

s. Two doctors attempt to find a cure while large-scale societal changes happen around them.

• "The Merman"

Vernon Brock is a biologist who experiments with turning lung

Lung

The lung is the essential respiration organ in many air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart...

s into gill

Gill

A gill is a respiratory organ found in many aquatic organisms that extracts dissolved oxygen from water, afterward excreting carbon dioxide. The gills of some species such as hermit crabs have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are kept moist...

s. After accidentally performing the transformation on himself, he is stuck underwater, unable to communicate, and attempts to resolve the situation using his limited knowledge.

• "The Contraband Cow"

In a future where many states have been united into a democratic state and the numerically superior Hindus are enforcing a ban on bovine meat, a young scientist working on in vitro meat

In vitro meat

In vitro meat, also known as cultured meat, is an animal flesh product that has never been part of a complete, living animal.This form of meat has been described, sometimes derisively, as "laboratory-grown" meat. In vitro meat should not be confused with imitation meat, which is a vegetarian food...

 gets into trouble with police and with meat smugglers.

• "The Gnarly Man"

An anthropologist meets a curious "ape-man" at a circus, who turns out to be a Neanderthal

Neanderthal

The Neanderthal is an extinct member of the Homo genus known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia...

 who stopped aging when he was struck by lightning 50,000 years ago. Struggles over the scientific value and rights of this "non-human" ensue.

Reception