Alan E. Nourse (August 11, 1928 - July 19, 1992) was an American science fiction author and physician. He wrote both juvenile and adult science fiction, as well as nonfiction works.

Alan Nourse was born August 11, 1926 to Benjamin and Grace (Ogg) Nourse in Des Moines, Iowa. He served in the U.S. Navy after World War II and married Ann Morton on June 11, 1952 in Lynden, New Jersey. He attended high school in Long Island, New York. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1951 from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey and his Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree in 1955 from the University of Pennsylvania. He served his one year internship at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle, Washington. He practiced medicine in North Bend, Washington from 1958 to 1963 and also pursued his writing career.

After retiring from medicine, he continued writing. His regular column in Good Housekeeping magazine earned him the nickname "Family Doctor".

He was a friend of fellow author Avram Davidson.

His novel The Bladerunner lent its name to the Blade Runner movie, but no other aspects of its plot or characters, which were taken from Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

His pen names included Al Edwards and Doctor X.

Some confusion arose among science fiction readers who knew Andre Norton used the pen name "Andrew North". They mistakenly assumed Alan Nourse to be another Norton pen name.

He died on July 19, 1992 in Thorp, Washington.

Bibliography

• "The Universe Between" (1951, short story)
• "High Threshold" (1951, short story)
• Trouble on Titan (1954, novel)
• A Man Obsessed (1955, novel)
• The Mercy Men (1955, novel)
• Scavengers in Space (1958, novel)
• Star Surgeon (1959, novel)
• Intern (1965, novel) under the pseudonym Doctor X
• Tiger by the Tail and Other Science Fiction Stories (1961, collection)
• Raiders from the Rings (1962, novel)
• The Counterfeit Man and Other Stories (1963, collection)
• The Universe Between (1965, novel based on short stories previously published in 1951)
• Psi-High and Others (1967, collection)
• Rx for Tomorrow (1971, collection)
• The Bladerunner (1974, novel)