Nat Schachner

Nathaniel Schachner, who published under the names Nat Schachner and Nathan Schachner, was an American writer, historian, and attorney, as well as an early advocate of the development of rockets for space travel. A prominent author of historical works on figures from America's Revolutionary Era, Schachner also was a regular contributor to the genre leading up to and during the early years of what came to be referred to as the Golden Age of Science Fiction (c. 1938-1946). Best known for his biographies of American historical figures such as Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, Schachner began his writing career contributing short stories to leading "pulp magazines" that specialized in science fiction, horror, mystery, and adventure genres. During the heart of the Great Depression, he contributed more than fifty stories to magazines such as Astounding Stories, Terror Tales, Horror Stories, Dime Mystery Magazine, and Fantastic Adventures. He then turned to writing historical non-fiction and fiction, gaining recognition for his prodigious research. Schachner, a practicing attorney, was a founder and officer of the American Interplanetary Society, which pioneered liquid fuel rocketry in the United States in the early 1930s. Later known as the American Rocket Society, the organization eventually became part of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, a professional society in the field of aerospace engineering that today has nearly 30,000 members world-wide.