Pohl went on to edit Astonishing Stories, Super Science Stories, Galaxy and If magazines, as well as an original anthology series, Star Science Fiction. As a book editor, he worked on Samuel R Delaney's Dhalgren and Joanna Russ's The Female Man. As a literary agent, Pohl represented Algis Budrys, Hal Clement, Fritz Leiber, John Wyndham and helped Isaac Asimov publish his first novel Pebble in the Sky in 1950.He is also credited with launching the careers of James Blish and Larry Niven. Although he devoted much of his time to writing in the 1970s, he also was science fiction editor at Bantam Books.

Mr. Pohl’s grasp of science was impressive; although entirely self-taught, he was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1982. He was also in demand as a so-called futurist, speaking to business executives and other audiences about the shape of things to come in a science-dominated future — and about the unreliability of even short-range predictions.