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Cai

Martin Caidin guest stars as
G. H. Beck in "Deadly Countdown"

Caidin

Caidin, in a jovial mood

Martin Caidin (14 September 1927 - 24 March 1997) was the author of the book series on which The Six Million Dollar Man is based. From 1972-1975, he wrote four novels featuring a bionic protagonist named Steve Austin. Like his hero, Caidin had a long history in military aviation, and most of his work tends to center around the adventures of pilots and astronauts. A number of his books were notable for their reasonable, realisitc predictions of then-futuristic technology.

Several years before publishing the first Steve Austin novel, Cyborg, Caidin featured bionics in a speculative science fiction novel entitled The God Machine (1968).

Caidin's canon was prolific and varied, ranging from additional speculative/SF novels such as Marooned, which was made into an acclaimed film and considered a harbinger of the Apollo 13 accident, to a novel based upon the character Indiana Jones. He also wrote many non-fiction books about science, aviation and warfare, including several co-written with Jay Barbree who would write the SMDM novelization Pilot Error.

Despite the changes made to his characters, he enjoyed his association with the program enough to be a guest star during the show's final season.

Caidin also received screen credit on the original The Bionic Woman series, due to the inclusion of characters originating in Cyborg.

Years later, Caidin wrote Buck Rogers: A Life in the Future, an updated retelling of the pulp hero's origins. In the novel, Caidin has Rogers revived in the 25th Century with some of his body parts replaced by advanced bionics -- and the book includes several subtle references to Steve Austin as a result.

Credits[]

Caidin did not receive any screen credit on the 2007 remake of The Bionic Woman as the series was considered to have been distanced enough from Cyborg and used no characters from the original book.

Appearances[]

as G. H. Beck
The Six Million Dollar Man

Bibliography[]

1954 - Rockets and Missiles Past and Future (co-written by David Cooke) (non-fiction)
1954 - Worlds in Space (non-fiction)
1955 - Rocets Beyond the Earth (non-fiction)
1956 - The Long Night
1957 - Air Force (non-fiction)
1958 - Thunderbolt! (co-written by Robert Johnson) (non-fiction)
1959 - Boeing 707 (non-fiction)
1960 - Race for the Moon
1960 - A Torch to the Enemy: Fire Raid on Tokyo (non-fiction)
1960 - Black Thursday (non-fiction)
1961 - Test Pilot (non-fiction)
1962 - Aviation and Space Medicine (non-fiction)
1962 - Rendezvous in Space (non-fiction)
1963 - Flying: Principles of Flight and the Development of Aircraft (non-fiction)
1963 - Red Star in Space
1963 - The Long Arm of America (non-fiction)
1963 - Man in Space Dictionary (non-fiction)
1963 - By Apollo to the Moon (non-fiction)
1964 - Marooned
1964 - Everything But the Flak (non-fiction)
1964 - The Silken Angels: A History of Parachuting (non-fiction)
1964 - The Mighty Hercules (non-fiction)
1965 - Barnstorming: The Great Years of Stunt Flying (non-fiction)
1966 - The Ragged, Rugged Warriors (non-fiction)
1966 - Devil Take All
1967 - The Last Fathom
1968 - Four Came Back
1968 - Flying Forts: The B-17 in World War II (non-fiction)
1968 - Me 109: Willy Messerschmitt's Peerless Fighter (non-fiction)
1969 - The God Machine
1969 - Zero Fighter (non-fiction)
1970 - Anytime, Anywhere
1970 - Ballantine Inactive
1971 - Fork-Tailed Devil: The P38 (non-fiction)
1971 - Almost Midnight
1971 - The Mendelov Conspiracy (also published as Encounter Three)
1971 - The Cape
1971 - Zero! The Story of Japan's Air War in the Pacific - As Seen By the Enemy (non-fiction)
1972 - Cyborg
1972 - Maryjane Tonight at Angels Twelve
1972 - When War Comes
1972 - Destination Mars (co-written by Jay Barbree) (non-fiction)
1972 - Golden Wings: A Pictorial History of the United States Navy and Marine Corps in the Air (non-fiction)
1973 - Operation Nuke
1974 - The Last Dogfight
1974 - Planetfall
1974 - High Crystal
1974 - Bicycles in War (co-written by Jay Barbree (non-fiction)
1975 - Three Corners to Nowhere
1975 - Cyborg IV
1976 - Whip
1978 - Aquarius Mission
1979 - Jericho 52
1979 - Wingborn
1979 - Kill Devil Hill (co-written by Harry B. Combs)
1979 - The Night Hamburg Died
1979 - Manfac
1979 - The Saga of Iron Annie (non-fiction)
1980 - The Final Countdown
1980 - Tigers Are Burning
1982 - Deathmate
1984 - Ragwings and Heavy Iron (non-fiction)
1984 - Killer Station
1984 - Star Bright
1985 - Samurai! The Autobiography of Japan's Bravest Fighter Ace (co-written by Saburo Sakai) (non-fiction)
1986 - Zoboa
1987 - Exit Earth
1989 - Prison Ship
1989 - Beamriders
1990 - Black Thursday
1990 - Thunderbolt: The Fabulous US 56th Fighter Group (non-fiction)
1991 - Ghosts of the Air (non-fiction)
1991 - Pioneer Bush Pilot (non-fiction)
1992 - Test Pilots: Riding the Dragon (non-fiction)
1993 - Indiana Jones and the Sky Pirates
1994 - Indiana Jones and the White Witch
1995 - Buck Rogers: A Life in the Future
1995 - A Journey Through Time: Exploring the Universe with the Hubble Space Telescope (co-written by Jay Barbree) (non-fiction)
1997 - Natural or Supernatural

Martin Caidin's Cyborg series of novels
Cyborg (1972) | Operation Nuke (1973) | High Crystal (1974) | Cyborg IV (1975)
Six Million Dollar Man numbered Warner paperbacks
#1 Wine, Women and War | #2 The Solid Gold Kidnapping | #3 High Crystal | #4 PIlot Error
#5 The Rescue of Athena One | #6 Cyborg IV
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