Mesklin is a vast, inhospitable, disc-shaped planet, so cold that its oceans are liquid methane and its snows are frozen ammonia. It is a world spinning dizzyingly, a world where gravity can be a crushing 700 times greater than Earth's, a world too hostile for human explorers. But the planet holds secrets of inestimable value, and an unmanned probe that has crashed close to one of its poles must be recovered. Only the Mesklinites, the small creatures so bizarrely adapted to their harsh environment, can help. And so Barlennan, the resourceful and courageous captain of the Mesklinite ship Bree,...

Hal Clement, one of the all-time greats of science fiction, was defining hard science fiction before such distinctions were even being thought of. He once described his approach to writing: " T]he 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."

He was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in...

A team of scientists are sent to Mercury aboard the Albireo to find out why it's developing an atmosphere. A series of events force the scientists out of their ship and onto the surface of Mercury where only their courage and intelligence can keep them alive. Clement paints a tense and completely believable image of Mercury. He was simply one of the best hard science fiction writers the field ever produced.