Harry Clement Stubbs (May 30, 1922 - October 29, 2003), better known by the pen name Hal Clement, was an American science fiction writer, a leader of the subgenre hard science fiction. May 30 is the 150th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (151st in leap years). ... 1922 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... October 29 is the 302nd day of the year (303rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 63 days remaining. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Hard science fiction, or hard SF, is a subgenre of science fiction characterized by an interest in scientific detail or accuracy. ...

He was born in Somerville, Massachusetts Seal of the city Somerville is a city located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. ...

During the World War II he was a pilot and copilot of the B-24 Liberator and flew 35 combat missions over Europe with 8th Air Force. He served in the Army Air Corps Reserve, and retired with the rank of colonel. He taught chemistry for many years at Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts. World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was by far the bloodiest, most expensive, and most significant war in... Royal Canadian Air Force B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was produced in greater numbers than any other American combat aircraft, and was used by most of the Allied air forces in World War II. Designed as a heavy bomber, it served with distinction not only in that... World map showing location of Europe When considered a continent, Europe is the worlds second smallest continent in terms of area, with an area of 10,600,000 km² (4,140,625 square miles), making it larger than Australia only. ... The Eighth Air Force was a World War II, United States Army Air Force unit, which carried out day-time bombing operations in western Europe from airfields in eastern England from 1942. ... 1. ... The Harrison Otis Apthorp Chapel, constructed in 1921. ... Milton is a town located in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. ...

He went to Harvard, graduating with a B.S. in astronomy in 1943. While there he published his first story, "Proof", in the June 1942 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. His further educational background includes an, M. Ed. (Boston University 1946), and M.S. in chemistry (Simmons College 1963). Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and a member of the Ivy League. ... In ancient Greece and other early civilizations, astronomy consisted largely of astrometry, measuring positions of stars and planets in the sky. ... This article is about the year. ... Astounding Stories was a seminal science fiction magazine founded in 1930. ... Boston University is a non-sectarian private university located in Boston, Massachusetts. ... 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Chemistry (in Greek: χημεία) is the science of matter that deals with the composition, structure, and properties of substances and with the transformations that they undergo. ... Simmons College is a womens college in Boston, Massachusetts. ... 1963 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Clement received the 1998 recognition as a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). In 1996 he retroactively received a 1946 Hugo Award for his short story "Uncommon Sense". 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Science Fiction Writers of America, or SFWA (pronounced siff-wah or seff-wah), was founded in 1965 by Damon Knight and James Blish. ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... The Hugo Award is given every year for the best science fiction or fantasy stories of the previous year, and for related areas in fandom, art and dramatic presentation. ...

His best-known novel, Mission of Gravity, is the account of a land and sea expedition across the superjovian planet Mesklin to recover a stranded scientific probe. The natives of Mesklin are centipede-like intelligent beings about 50 centimeters in length. Various episodes hinge on the fact that Mesklin's fast rotational speed causes it to be considerably deformed from the spherical, and its effective surface gravity to vary from approximately 3 G at the equator to approximately 700 G at the poles. Elong This territory of Elong is a terratiory of 3 species 1. ... A superjovian planet is any planet larger than Jupiter. ... Mesklin is the name of a fictional superjovian planet created by Hal Clement and used in a number of his stories. ...

Clement's article "Whirligig World" describes his approach to writing a science fiction story:

"Writing a science fiction story is fun, not work. ... the fun... lies in treating the whole thing as a game. ... the rules must be quite simple. They are; for the reader of a science-fiction story, they consist of finding as many as possible of the author's statements or implications which conflict with the facts as science currently understands them. For the author, the rule is to make as few such slips as he possibly can. ... Certain exceptions are made [e.g., to allow travel faster than the speed of light, but] fair play demands that all such matters be mentioned as early as possible in the story..."

He also painted astronomically oriented artworks under the name George Richard.

Clement was a frequent guest at science fiction conventions, especially in the eastern United States, where he usually presented talks and slide shows about writing and astronomy.

Bibliography

• Needle (1950)
• Iceworld (1953)
• Mission of Gravity (1954)
• The Ranger Boys in Space (1956) (for children)
• Cycle of Fire (1957)
• Close to Critical (1964)
• Star Light (1971) (sequel to Mission of Gravity)
• Ocean on Top (1973)
• Through the Eye of a Needle (1978) (sequel to Needle)
• The Nitrogen Fix (1980)
• Still River (1987)
• Fossil (1993)
• Half Life (1999)
• Noise (2003)

External links

• Hal Clement at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database