Otto Willi Gail
Otto Willi Albert Gail (born July 18, 1896 in Gunzenhausen , † March 29, 1956 in Munich ) was a German science journalist and writer .
Life
Otto Willi Gail was the son of the Gunzenhausen merchant Georg Gail and his wife Susette, b. Medes. Father Georg Gail dealt with the problems of the dirigible airship of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in essays that appeared in the " Münchener Neuesten Nachrichten " . Otto Willi grew up in Gunzenhausen and went to school here. Then he studied electrical engineering and physics at the TH Munich .
In 1949 Gail became an honorary member of the Society for Space Research.
plant
In addition to his work for newspapers and radio (from 1928 initially as a freelancer for Deutsche Welle in Bavaria, from 1933 head of the reporter school of Bayerischer Rundfunk in Munich) he wrote non-fiction books on physics, astronomy and space travel . On the side, Gail also wrote science fiction to get young people excited about these topics. As he was in constant contact with the space pioneers Max Valier and Hermann Oberth , his novels are characterized by a wealth of knowledge and technical attention to detail. His novels were translated into American English and greatly influenced the utopian literature that developed there .
bibliography
- Novels
- The shot into space. A novel of tomorrow (1925)
- The stone from the moon. Cosmic Novel (1926)
- Hans Hardt's trip to the moon. An Adventurous Tale (1928)
- HaDeWe energy collector (1929)
- The blue ball (1929)
- The Lord of the Waves (1949)
- Non-fiction books and textbooks
- Into Space with Rocket Power - From Fire Chariot to Spaceship (1928)
- We chat through physics (1931)
- Reaching for the Atom (1947)
- Ebb and Flow (1947)
- Space Physics (1948)
- What do you know about the world (20 booklets, Bayerischer Schulbuch-Verlag, Munich from 1947)
literature
- Hans Joachim Alpers , Werner Fuchs , Ronald M. Hahn : Reclam's science fiction guide. Reclam, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-15-010312-6 , p. 165.
- Hans Joachim Alpers, Werner Fuchs, Ronald M. Hahn, Wolfgang Jeschke : Lexicon of Science Fiction Literature. Heyne, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-453-02453-2 , p. 465 f.
- John Clute : Gail, Otto Willi. In: John Clute, Peter Nicholls : The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction . 3rd edition (online edition), version dated April 4, 2017.
- Henning Franke: Gail, Otto Willi . In: Lexicon of Science Fiction Literature since 1900. With a look at Eastern Europe , edited by Christoph F. Lorenz, Peter Lang, Frankfurt / Main 2016, ISBN 978-3-63167-236-5 , pp. 311-320.
- Donald H. Tuck : The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy through 1968. Advent, Chicago 1974, ISBN 0-911682-20-1 , p. 178.
Web links
- Literature by and about Otto Willi Gail in the catalog of the German National Library
- Otto Willi Gail in the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (English)
- Works by and about Otto Willi Gail at Open Library
- Otto Willi Gail in Fantastic Fiction (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Wilhelm Lux: Otto Willi Gail. Radio pioneer and technical writer from Gunzenhausen. In: Alt-Gunzenhausen 43 (1987), pp. 98-101, here: p. 99
- ↑ Radiowelt 30 (1949), based on: Lux, p. 99f.
- ↑ Lux, p. 99
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gail, Otto Willi |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Gail, Otto Willi Albert (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German science journalist and writer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 18, 1896 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Gunzenhausen |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 29, 1956 |
| Place of death | Munich |