sci fi was one of my favorite reading genres as a kid in the 60s. I recall reading Asimov and others. (History was my other favorite. )
The “space race” drove alot of the interest. But recall too that the Laser had just been invented in 1960 and so the “ray gun” and laser communicactions had become “real”.
Nuclear submarines, computers, satellites, space travel, etc etc all helped with the “suspension of disbelief” that sci fi needs to be interesting.
