L. Taylor (Lucile Taylor) Hansen

Lucile Taylor Hansen (1897–1976) was an American writer who published both fiction and nonfiction, often under the name L. Taylor Hansen. Early in her career, she used a male pen name, and she became known for science-fiction stories as well as articles and books that popularized anthropology and geology.

Her short fiction appeared in pulp science-fiction magazines, while her nonfiction explored ancient civilizations, Indigenous traditions, and speculative questions about the human past. Readers who come to her today often know her for blending research, curiosity, and imagination in a way that feels very characteristic of mid-20th-century popular science writing.

She was also the daughter of geologist Frank Bursley Taylor, which fits neatly with the strong geological and historical interests that run through her work. Even when her conclusions were controversial or highly speculative, her writing stands out for its energy, range, and sense of wonder.