Alan E. Nourse


Alan Edward Nourse was an American science fiction writer and physician. He wrote both juvenile and adult science fiction, as well as nonfiction works about medicine and science. His SF works sometimes focused on medicine and/or psionics.
His most notable pen name was Doctor X. He used this pseudonym when writing for a medical column in a science fiction magazine, allowing him to combine his expertise in medicine with his passion for science fiction.

Biography

Alan Nourse was born August 11, 1928, to Benjamin and Grace Nourse in Des Moines, Iowa. He attended high school in Long Island, New York. He served in the U.S. Navy after World War II. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1951 from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He married Ann Morton on June 11, 1952, in Linden, New Jersey. He received a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1955 from the University of Pennsylvania. He served his one-year internship at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle and practiced medicine in North Bend, Washington, from 1958 to 1963 and also pursued his writing career.
He had helped pay for his medical education by writing science fiction for magazines. After retiring from medicine, he continued writing. His regular column in Good Housekeeping magazine earned him the nickname "Family Doctor".
He was a friend of fellow author Avram Davidson. Robert A. Heinlein dedicated his 1964 novel Farnham's Freehold to Nourse. Heinlein in part dedicated his 1982 novel Friday to Nourse's wife Ann.
His novel The Bladerunner lent its name to the Blade Runner movie, but no other aspects of its plot or characters. In the late 1970s an attempt to adapt The Bladerunner for the screen was made, with Beat Generation author William S. Burroughs commissioned to write a story treatment; no film was ever developed but the story treatment was later published as the novella Blade Runner (a movie).
Nourse died of unknown causes on July 19, 1992, in Thorp, Washington.

Selected works

Short stories

  • ""
  • ""
  • ""
  • ""
  • ""
  • "Mirror, Mirror"
  • "The Counterfeit Man"
  • "The Canvas Bag"
  • "An Ounce of Cure"
  • ""
  • "Circus"
  • "My Friend Bobby"
  • "The Link"
  • "Image of the Gods"
  • "The Expert Touch"
  • "Second Sight"

Novelettes

  • "High Threshold"
  • "The Universe Between"

Novels

Trouble on Titan A Man Obsessed Rocket to Limbo Gold in the Sky Scavengers in Space The Invaders Are Coming! Star Surgeon Raiders from the Rings The Universe Between The Mercy Men The Bladerunner The Practice
  • ''The Fourth Horseman''

Collections

Tiger by the Tail and Other [Science Fiction Stories] The Counterfeit Man Psi-High and Others Rx for Tomorrow
  • ''Short Works of Alan Edward Nourse''

Nonfiction books

So You Want to Be a Doctor Nine Planets So You Want to Be a Nurse The Body Intern Universe, Earth and Atom: The Story of Physics Venus and Mercury: A First Book The Backyard Astronomer The Giant Planets: A First Book The Asteroids: A First Book Viruses: A First Book Hormones: An Impact Book Herpes: An Impact Book AIDS: An Impact Book The Elk Hunt Teen Guide to Safe Sex Sexually Transmitted Diseases
  • ''The Virus Invaders: A Venture Book''