Off the Main Sequence

Off the Main Sequence: The Other Science Fiction Stories of Robert A. Heinlein (ISBN 1-58288-184-7) is a collection of 27 short stories by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, including three that were never previously collected in book form.

The title is a play on the astronomy concept off the main sequence, and refers to these stories not being part of Heinlein's Future History.

Table of contents

 * "Introduction" by Greg Bear
 * "Foreword" by Michael Cassutt
 * "Editor's Note" by Andrew Wheeler
 * "Successful Operation" (as "Heil") by Lyle Monroe, Futuria Fantasia, April 1940
 * "Let There Be Light" by Lyle Monroe, Super Science Stories, May 1940
 * ""—And He Built a Crooked House—"", Astounding Stories, February 1941
 * "Beyond Doubt" by Lyle Monroe & Elma Wentz, Astonishing Stories, April 1941 (*)
 * "They", Unknown, April 1941
 * "Solution Unsatisfactory" by Anson MacDonald, Astounding, May 1941
 * "Universe", Astounding, May 1941
 * "Elsewhen" (as "Elsewhere") by Caleb Saunders, Astounding, September 1941
 * "Common Sense", Astounding, October 1941
 * "By His Bootstraps" by Anson MacDonald, Astounding, October 1941
 * "Lost Legacy" (as "Lost Legion") by Lyle Monroe, Super Science Stories, November 1941
 * "My Object All Sublime" by Lyle Monroe, Future Fiction, February 1942 (*)
 * "Goldfish Bowl" by Anson MacDonald, Astounding, March 1942
 * "Pied Piper" by Lyle Monroe, Astonishing Stories, March 1942 (*)
 * "Free Men", The Worlds of Robert A. Heinlein, 1966
 * "On the Slopes of Vesuvius", Expanded Universe, 1980
 * "Columbus Was a Dope", Startling Stories, May 1947
 * "Jerry Was a Man" (as "Jerry Is a Man"), Thrilling Wonder Stories, October 1947
 * "Water Is for Washing", Argosy, November 1947
 * "Nothing Ever Happens on the Moon", Boys' Life, April 1949
 * "Gulf", Astounding, November 1949
 * "Destination Moon", Short Stories, September 1950
 * "The Year of the Jackpot", Galaxy Science Fiction, March 1952
 * "Project Nightmare", Amazing Stories, April/May 1953
 * "Sky Lift", Imagination, November 1953
 * "Tenderfoot in Space", Boys' Life, May 1958
 * "All You Zombies—", Fantasy & Science Fiction, March 1959


 * (*) Previously uncollected in a Heinlein collection