The professor was a thief

The Empire State Building has vanished into thin air!

Gone, too, are Grant's Tomb and Grand Central Station, and all hell is breaking loose in New York City!

One grizzled old newspaper reporter known simply as Pop-a role made for Walter Matthau-is on top of it . . . and better stay there, because his livelihood is on the line.

If Pop fails to get to the bottom of the vanishing landmarks, his job will disappear as well, not to mention the fate of Earth's remaining landmarks and the missing people within. Battle of the Wizards: When the natives of planet Deltoid refuse to grant mining rights to the Galactic Council, and invasion by force is impossible, a Battle of Wizards is the only option.

An epic battle between science and magic unfolds with an entire planet hanging in the balance. "A biting sci-fi satire." -- JG Dangerous Dimension: A mathematics professor who discovers an equation that enables him to teleport anywhere he can imagine even if he doesn't want to go. By the spring of 1938, L. Ron Hubbard's stature as a writer was well established.

As author and critic Robert Silverberg puts it: he had become a "master of the art of narrative." Hubbard's editors urged him to apply his gift for succinct characterisation, original plot, deft pacing and imaginative action to a genre that was new, and essentially foreign, to him-science fiction and fantasy.

The rest is Sci-Fi history.