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But, if you were to add to my science fiction list for this summer, what would you add?

Just chiming in with some of my science fiction experience, which started nearly 50 years ago, during a couple of week's hospitalisation. I read some of the classics, including Stapleton's 'Last and First Men', along with Welles and Verne. Some short stories, including Blish's 'Surface Tension' and Azimov's 'Nightfall' I found completely spell binding. Some of the novels of the early 1950's, including Bester's 'The Demolished Man', and Heinlein's (?) 'The Stars My Destination' were interesting and different from more recent formulaic SF.

Naturally Heinlein's future history stories, which recorded an alternate history 20th century, and Azimov's Foundation series, and the 'prequels' which were worked into the sequence of the history of the Galactic Empire based on Trantor, and its collapse, and rebuilding by the Foundation project were totally fascinating to a history buff.

Anderson and Niven are always fine, as are the military themed stories of Gordon Dickson (sp?) (The Dorsai stories), and Hal Clement for super-hard SF. I liked Zelazny's early stuff too, and Laumer's Retief stories are a hoot. If you haven't read the classics of the 40's and 50's, the summer is a good time to build a good 'foundation' (forgive the pun) in the nature of SF.

For TV SF, the only way to travel is by Stargate (without the bad guys of that series, of course), and the only previous real captain of the Enterprise was Jean Luc Picard!

Now if I can't get a flame war going here with some of these opinions, I don't know what will!

Hmmm, I agree with every story on this list that I've read. The Stars my Destination is by Alfred Bester, not Heinlein - funny how often it gets accredited to Heinlein, though. I'm not sure why, it didn't remind me of Heinlein. Asimov's Foundation books are great, as are some of his stories. Clarke's short stories are wonderful, especially the Tales from the White Hart. There's a collection of all his short stuff you can probably find at the library - worth reading! It includes the shortest science fiction story ever written (17 words), the longest (fits on one page, but it's the longest) and everything in between, including what I think is the funniest shaggy-dog story in all SF. (If you've read it, I don't remember the title but it's the one about the US space ship that got crushed by a neutron star, and what they found of it....)

Um. Agree about Picard, but the new guy, Archer, has some guts. And he's much more my style than Baldy was.

Hair, ksen, you were debating over the word to describe someone who has the characteristics of a dwarf; might I suggest dwarvish?

Blish's 'Surface Tension' and Azimov's 'Nightfall'

Two classics of the genre... I would also recommend Blish's short story 'Beep', and Asimov's Robot stories (many of them collected in I, Robot.)

Bester's 'The Demolished Man', and Heinlein's (?) 'The Stars My Destination'

As Jen pointed out, The Stars My Destination is also by Alfred Bester... both of these are classics. I call Stars my "wow" book, because the first time I read it I kept saying "Wow!"

classics of the 40's and 50's

Don't leave out the dean of early SF, E.E. "Doc" Smith and his Lensmen series. The first space opera, it introduces a lot of SF ideas that became commonplace later.

the only previous real captain of the Enterprise was Jean Luc Picard

You mean that French guy who couldn't get past the first hour of the first episode without bleating out, "We surrender"? (rolling eyes)