Armageddon—2419 A.D.
By Philip Francis Nowlan
I should state therefore, that I, Anthony Rogers, am, so far as I know, the only man alive whose normal span of eighty-one years of life has been spread over 573 years. To be precise, I lived the first twenty-nine years of my life between 1898 and 1927; and the other fifty-two since 2419. The gap between these two, a period of nearly five hundred years, I spent in a state of suspended animation, free from the ravages of katabolic processes, and without any apparent effect on my physical or mental faculties.
Here, once more, is a real scientific story plus. It is a story that will make the hearts of many readers leap with joy.
We have rarely printed a story in this magazine that for scientific interest, as well as suspense, could hold its own with this particular story. We prophesy that this story will become more valuable as the years go by. It certainly holds several interesting prophecies, of which no doubt, many will come true. For a wealth of science, it will be hard to beat for some time to come. It is one of those rare stories that will bear reading and re-reading many times.
This story has impressed us so favorably, that we hope the author may be induced to write a sequel to it soon.
When I began my long sleep, the man had just begun his real conquest of the air in a sudden series of transoceanic flights in airplanes driven by internal combustion motors. He had barely begun to speculate on the possibilities of harnessing sub-atomic forces and had made no further practical penetration into the field of ethereal pulsations than the primitive radio and television of that day. The United States of America was the most powerful nation in the world, its political, financial, industrial, and scientific influence being supreme; and in the arts also it was rapidly climbing into leadership.
I awoke to find America I knew a total wreck—to find Americans a hunted race in their land, hiding in the dense forests that covered the shattered and leveled ruins of their once magnificent cities, desperately preserving, and struggling to develop in their secret retreats, the remnants of their culture and science—and the undying flame of their sturdy independence.
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Philip Francis Nowlan
Philip Francis Nowlan (November 13, 1888 – February 1, 1940) was an American science fiction writer, best known as the creator of Buck Rogers.
Biography
Nowlan was born on November 13, 1888. While attending the University of Pennsylvania, Nowlan was a member of The Mask and Wig Club, holding significant roles in the annual productions between 1907 and 1909. After attending the University of Pennsylvania he worked as a newspaper columnist. Nowlan was married to Theresa Junker, and they had ten children.
He moved to the Philadelphia suburb of Bala Cynwyd and created and wrote the Buck Rogers comic strip, illustrated by Dick Calkins. He remained a writer on the strip until 1939. The comic strip ran from 1929-1967. Spin-offs included a radio-serial series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (sporadically aired from 1932-1947), a 1939 movie serial Buck Rogers, a brief 1950-51 television series, and a 1979-1981 television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
Nowlan also wrote several other novellas for science fiction magazines as well as the posthumously published mystery, The Girl from Nowhere. He died from a stroke at his home in Bala in 1940.
Works
Armageddon 2419 A.D. (1928)
The Girl from Nowhere (1928)
The Airlords of Han (1929)
The Airlords of Han by Philip Francis Nowlan at Project Gutenberg on Project Gutenberg
The Onslaught from Venus (1929)
The Time Jumpers (1934)
The Prince of Mars Returns (1940)
Space Guards (1940)
Wings Over Tomorrow: The Collected Science Fiction of Philip Francis Nowlan
Philip Francis Nowlan
