Hal Clement facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Hal Clement
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | Harry Clement Stubbs May 30, 1922 Somerville, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | October 29, 2003 (aged 81) Milton, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Pen name | George Richard (as artist) |
| Occupation |
|
| Education | Harvard University (BS) Boston University (MEd) Simmons College (MS) |
| Period | 1942–2003 |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Literary movement | Hard science fiction |
| Notable works |
|
Harry Clement Stubbs (born May 30, 1922 – died October 29, 2003), known to many as Hal Clement, was an American science fiction writer. He was a very important person in a type of science fiction called hard science fiction. This means his stories used real science and made sure everything was super accurate! Hal Clement also painted cool space pictures using the name George Richard.
In 1998, Hal Clement joined the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. This is a special place for people who have made a big difference in science fiction. The next year, he was named the 17th SFWA Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. This is one of the highest honors a science fiction writer can get!
Contents
About Hal Clement
Harry Clement Stubbs was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, on May 30, 1922.
His Education and Early Writing
He went to Harvard and studied astronomy, finishing in 1943. While he was there, he wrote his first story, "Proof." It was published in a magazine called Astounding Science Fiction in 1942. He wrote a few more stories that same year. He also earned more degrees later, one in education from Boston University and another in chemistry from Simmons College.
Serving His Country and Teaching
During World War II, Clement was a pilot. He flew 35 important missions over Europe in a B-24 Liberator plane. After the war, he stayed in the United States Air Force Reserve and became a colonel. For many years, he taught chemistry and astronomy at Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts. Imagine having a science fiction writer as your science teacher!
His Most Famous Books
From 1949 to 1954, Clement wrote his first three novels. These were published in parts in Astounding magazine. His most famous book is Mission of Gravity (1954).
This book tells the story of an adventure on a giant planet called Mesklin. This planet spins so fast that it's squashed flat! The gravity on Mesklin is super strong at its poles (about 700 times Earth's gravity) and much weaker at its equator (about 3 times Earth's gravity). The people who live there are intelligent, centipede-like creatures about 50 centimeters long. They go on an expedition to find a lost science probe. Many parts of the story depend on the strange gravity of Mesklin.
Hal Clement had a special way of writing science fiction. He said that writing these stories was like playing a game. The rule for the writer was to make as few mistakes as possible when it came to science facts. He wanted his stories to be scientifically accurate.
Hal Clement often visited science fiction conventions, where he would give talks and show slides about writing and astronomy. He passed away peacefully in Massachusetts on October 29, 2003, when he was 81 years old.
Awards and Special Mentions
Hal Clement received many awards for his amazing work. In 1998, he was put into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. The next year, he was given the SFWA Grand Master Award.
His short story "Uncommon Sense" (from 1945) won a special award called a Retro Hugo Award in 1996. This award is given to older works that would have won a Hugo Award if the award had existed back then. His novel Mission of Gravity was also named the best foreign novel by the Spanish Science Fiction Association in 1994.
There was even an award named after him for young adult science fiction! It was called the Hal Clement Award for Young Adults for Excellence in Children's Science Fiction Literature. It was given out from 1992 to 2016.
Artist Wayne Barlowe drew two of Clement's alien creatures, the Abyormenites and the Mesklinites, in his book Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials.
His Books
Hal Clement wrote many books, including:
- Needle (1950) – This was the first book in a series. It's considered young adult fiction and has some complex science ideas.
- Iceworld (1953)
- Mission of Gravity (1954) – The first book in his famous Mesklin series.
- The Ranger Boys in Space (1956) – This book was written especially for children!
- Cycle of Fire (1957)
- Close to Critical (1958) – Another book in the Mesklin series.
- Natives of Space (1965) – A collection of three shorter stories.
- Small Changes (1969) – A collection of 9 short stories.
- Space Lash (1969) – A paperback version of Small Changes.
- First Flights to the Moon (1970) – Hal Clement edited this book, which had short stories by other authors.
- Star Light (1971) – A sequel to Mission of Gravity and part of the Mesklin series.
- Ocean on Top (1973)
- Left of Africa (1976) – A historical novel for young adults.
- Through the Eye of a Needle (1978) – The second book in the Needle series.
- The Best of Hal Clement (1979) – A collection of 10 short stories.
- The Nitrogen Fix (1980)
- Intuit (1987) – A collection of all four Laird Cunningham stories.
- Still River (1987)
- Fossil (1993) – This story is set in Isaac Asimov's Universe.
- Half Life (1999) – A story about humanity trying to find a cure for a disease on Titan.
- The Essential Hal Clement, Volume 1: Trio for Slide Rule and Typewriter (1999) – A collection of his novels Needle, Iceworld, and Close to Critical.
- The Essential Hal Clement, Volume 2: Music of Many Spheres (2000) – A collection of 17 short stories.
- The Essential Hal Clement, Volume 3: Variations on a Theme by Sir Isaac Newton (2000) – A collection of all his Mesklin stories (except Close to Critical) and his article "Whirligig World."
- Heavy Planet (2002) – Another version of The Essential Hal Clement, Volume 3.
- Noise (2003) – A story set on a planet covered in ocean.
Images for kids
-
Editor Sam Merwin Jr. added 10,000 words to Clement's novella "Planetfall" for its publication in the February 1957 issue of Satellite Science Fiction as "Planet for Plunder".
-
Clement's short story "Hot Planet" took the cover of the August 1963 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction.
See also
In Spanish: Hal Clement para niños
