Edward E. "Doc" Smith Papers, 1912-1994

E.E. Smith (born May 2, 1890, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, U.S.— died August 31, 1965, Seaside, Oregon) American science-fiction author who is credited with creating in the Skylark series (1928–65) and the Lensman series (1934–50) the subgenre of "space opera," action-adventure set on a vast intergalactic scale involving faster-than-light spaceships, powerful weapons, and fantastic technology.

Smith received a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Idaho, Moscow, in 1914 and became a chemist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. During 1915 Smith began writing what would become the novel The Skylark of Space with his neighbour, Lee Hawkins Garby, who wrote the romantic parts of the story that Smith felt he could not write. Smith continued to write while completing (1919) a doctoral degree in chemistry from George Washington University, Washington, D.C.

In 1919 Smith became a chemist at the milling company F.W. Stock and Sons in Hillsdale, Michigan, and, aside from a period of one year during World War II when he was an ordnance inspector, he specialized in doughnut mixes for the remainder of his chemistry career. In 1920 Smith and Garby completed the novel; however, Smith was unable to find a publisher until 1928, when the novel was serialized in Amazing Stories.

Smith's works were criticized for having many of the faults of pulp writing, such as wooden dialogue and clichéd characters. However, his groundbreaking adventures, with their breathless action and cosmic scale, were an enormous influence on the science fiction that followed.

from https://www.britannica.com/biography/E-E-Smith

He's 1914 thesis that he co-wrote "Some Clays of Idaho" is available on line: https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/etd/items/etd_538.html

Doc Smith was also chosen as the MosCon Science Fiction Conventions(1979-2001)'s "patron saint" in 1979.