Damon Knight wrote, "As a science fiction writer she has few peers; her work is not only technically brilliant but has a rare human warmth and richness.

"[3] Brian Aldiss noted [citation needed] that she could "do the hard stuff magnificently," while Theodore Sturgeon observed [citation needed] that she "generally starts from a base of hard science, or rationalizes psi phenomena with beautifully finished logic."

Strongly influenced by Ludwig von Bertalanffy's General Systems Theory, her fiction has often demonstrated foresight about scientific advances.

[5] MacLean received a Nebula Award in 1971 for her novella "The Missing Man" (Analog, March, 1971) and she was a Professional Guest of Honor at the first WisCon in 1977.

"Six Fingers"), "Feedback", "Pictures Don't Lie", "Incommunicado", "The Snow Ball Effect", "Defense Mechanism" and "And Be Merry" (a.k.a.