On the weekend of May 5-7, the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle hosted two major events: The Eaton Conference and the Science Fiction Hall of Fame Class of 2005 Induction Ceremony. Both events included recognition of this year as the 75th anniversary of Analog Science Fiction and Fact, which began publication in January 1930 as Astounding Stories of Super-Science.
The Eaton Conference is a gathering of college-level teachers of science fiction and science-fiction-related courses, sponsored by the University of California Riverside and presenting academic papers on a variety of topics. The Friday afternoon session, titled "The Astounding Age: The Past, Present, and Future of SF," included introductory remarks by Analog editor Stanley Schmidt, a paper on "Economics and the Real Future of Space" by regular contributor and UC Irvine professor Gregory Benford, and a panel on "The Future of Magazine SF" with Gregory Benford, Charles N. Brown, John Cramer, George Slusser, Eileen Gunn, and Stanley Schmidt.
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame was established in 1996 by the Kansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society and the J. Wayne and Elsie M. Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas, and moved to the Science Fiction Museum when that was opened in 2004. Each year it honors four individuals for their long-time contributions to the science fiction field. This year's inductees were animator Harry Harryhausen, artist Chesley Bonestell (who did, among many other things, covers for this magazine), author Philip K. Dick, and movie director Steven Spielberg. The inductions were announced at a banquet on May 6 with actor Robert Picardo of Star Trek: Voyager as MC and Stanley Schmidt presenting a brief slide show of highlights of Astounding/Analog's first 75 years.
