Mission of gravity
by Hal Clement · first published 1954
90% recommend10% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Hard science fiction built from first principles, set on an alien world whose extreme gravity and environment drive the story. Its imaginative science suits readers who enjoy rigorous world-building.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
From back cover Del Rey paperback January 1978: CAPTAIN COURAGEOUS For a profit -- and adventure -- Barlennan would sail the Bree thousands of miles across uncharted waters, into regions where gravity itself played strange tricks. He would dare the perils of strange tribes and strange creatures -- even dicker with those strange aliens from beyond the skies, though the concept of another world was unknown to the inhabitants of Mesklin. But in spite of the incredible technology of the strangers and without regard for their enourmous size, Barlennan had the notion of turning the deal to
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Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement The Song and the Pendant by Magnus Von Black
on “What are your favorite sci-fi and fantasy books?” ↗…and I did used to be able to do circa 3000wpm at a push. Good to know that even as a myopic 55YO I can still do half that without trying. Points of comparison: I originally read Hal Clement's classic Mission of Gravity in about 25min, and Joseph Conrad's Victory in about 3 hours.
on “The Lone Banana Problem in AI” ↗MISSION OF GRAVITY by Hal Clement. Addresses this very scenario. A fine fine bit of scifi.
on “A bug's life: Millimeter-tall mountains on neutron stars” ↗You might like Hal Clement's work, especially "Mission of Gravity", "Close to Critical", and "Cycle of Fire". "Iceworld" and his next to last "Half Life" are interesting but not as well written as some of his others. "The Nitrogen Fix" isn't paritcularly well written…
on “Has sci-fi run out of steam?” ↗Many of the already mentionned books. Hal Clement's Mission of Gravity, in the hard science genre. As a kid I was absolutely stunned by The Tripods. I highly recommend these books (trilogy) for your kids (10-13 yo).
on “What are your favourite sci-fi books?” ↗I thought the Dune series was most excellent. Also any Asimov books. I also quite enjoyed Hal Clement's Mission of Gravity. As for lighthearted...you can't go wrong with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
on “Ask HN: What are the best Sci-Fi books you've ever read?” ↗…N., ed. Contact. 1963, Paperback Library. Proposes the idea that life in the universe is all specialized by function, except on Earth. Scheckley's short stories are uniformly excellent. > Clement, Hal Mission of Gravity. 1962, Pyramid. Life on a massive, rapidly rotating planet. Clement is a high-school science teacher. . (A new edition of all his stories about this planet was issued in 2002 by TOR, under the title Heavy…
on “Science Fiction Stories with Good Astronomy and Physics: A Topical Index” ↗You should try the old master, Hal Clement. Mission of Gravity is a classic "start from first principles" story.
on “Permutation City (1994)” ↗Speaking of hard SF with imagination, Hal Clement's "Mission of Gravity" is a good example.
on “Where did all the starships go?” ↗Before this, there was Mission of Gravity, by Hal Clement (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_of_Gravity) He even wrote an article about the creation of his high-g planet, featured in Astounding SF in 1953.
on “Life on a neutron star (2004)” ↗