History Literature / MissionOfGravity

* AlienNonInterferenceClause: Played with. The human crew attempt to minimize the impact they have on the natives of Mesklin. They're even loathe to share anything more than they have to with Barlennan, and their audio-visual communication abilities are treated as [[ClarkesThirdLaw magical]] by natives. Despite this they still are forced to depend on Barlennan's help and collaborate with him the entire way.

* TheFederation: The mention of humans having other races along for the expedition is made, but not dwelled upon.

* MovingTheGoalposts: [[spoiler: Barlennan stops just short of the goal to renegotiate.]]

* TheWorldIsNotReady: The justification the humans use for why they're so cagey about sharing any information with Barlennan. [[spoiler: Eventually he gets fed up and demands more information before he'll complete his mission]]

* WorldShapes: Due to the planet's intense gravity, the density of Mesklin's atmosphere varies so strongly with altitude that refraction makes it look bowl-shaped. The Mesklinites can ''see'' that the world curves up around them, so they believe that they live in a giant bowl. They are skilled sailors and map-makers and should know better, however when you are measuring distances on a curved surface, there are two different shapes that will make all the math work out (convex and concave). The Mesklinites -- at least those who usually live far from the equator -- chose the wrong one for their maps and never noticed. The result is perfectly accurate and usable maps based on a fundamentally flawed premise.

!!Tropes in ''Mission of Gravity'':
* AllThereInTheManual: Clement published an essay titled ''Whirligig World'' along with the novel when it was serialized in the magazine Analog, detailing the planet Mesklin and his process for designing it - including a couple of points where he admitted to not following physics for the sake of the story.

* BoldExplorer / IntrepidMerchant: Barlennan and his crew travel into the unknown, for their planet. But they hope to make a profit, eventually.

* WorldShapes: Due to the planet's intense gravity, the density of Mesklin's atmosphere varies so strongly with altitude that refraction makes it look bowl-shaped. The Mesklinites can ''see'' that the world curves up around them, so they believe that they live in a giant bowl. They are skilled sailors and map-makers and should know better, however when you are measuring distances on a curved surface, there are two different shapes that will make all the math work out (convex and concave). The Mesklinites - at least those who usually live far from the equator - chose the wrong one for their maps and never noticed. The result is perfectly accurate and usable maps based on a fundamentally flawed premise.

* WorldShapes: Due to the planet's intense gravity, the density of Mesklin's atmosphere varies so strongly with altitude that refraction makes it look bowl-shaped. The Mesklinites can ''see'' that the world curves up around them, so they believe that they live in a giant bowl. They are skilled sailors and map-makers and should know better, however when you are measuring distances on a curved surface, there are two different shapes that will make all the math work out (convex and concave). The Mesklinites chose the wrong one for their maps and never noticed. The result is perfectly accurate and usable maps based on a fundamentally flawed premise.

* AllThereInTheManual: Clement published an essay titled ''Whirligig World'' along with the novel when it was serialized in Analog, detailing the planet Mesklin and his process for designing it - including a couple of points where he admitted to not following physics for the sake of the story.

* AllPlanetsAreEarthlike: Subverted. Mesklin is not only extremely cold, but its day is less than 20 minutes, so it's lens-shaped rather than spherical. The equator is only barely reasonable for humans to visit with assistance.

* WeatherReportNarration: The book opens with the description of a storm hitting the ''Bree''.

!Tropes in ''Mission of Gravity'':

''Mission of Gravity'' (1954), by Creator/HalClement, is considered to be a classic of science fiction WorldBuilding, and a great adventure.

* BoldExplorer: Barlennan and his crew travel into the unknown, for their planet.

* ProudMerchantRace: The Mesklinites we meet in the book are primarily traders.

[[TheFederation The scientific expedition]] has a problem. Their experiment, which is supposed to help them better understand gravitational effects is stuck on the surface of the strange planet Mesklin, where the surface gravity is so powerful humans cannot go down and fix the craft. On the bright side, there is an intelligent race of centipede-like inhabiting creatures inhabiting the world, and the captain of a seagoing vessel has agreed to embark on a journey to locate the device.

[[TheFederation The scientific expedition]] has a problem. Their experiment, which is supposed to help them better understand gravitational effects is stuck on the surface of the strange planet Meskelin, where the gravity is so powerful humans cannot go down and fix the craft. On the bright side, there is an intelligent race of centipede-like inhabiting creatures inhabiting the worl , and the captain of a seagoing vessel has agreed to embark on a journey to locate the device.

Barlennan, Captain of ''The Bree'', and his crew embark on an adventure from the equator of their plate-shaped planet, where the gravity is only three times Earth's to the pole, where gravity is several hundred times Earth's. On the way they will encounter storms, strange creatures, unexpected geography, strange countries and barbarians.

* AllPlanetsAreEarthlike: Subverted. Meskelin is not only extremely cold, but it is shaped like a disc. The equator is only barely reasonable for humans to visit with assistance.
* BlackBox: The probe to the Meskelinites. They hope to use it as a bargaining chip.

* HeavyWorlder: The inhabitants of planet Mesklin (which not only has high gravity, but a rather odd rotation) are adjusted to this by looking somewhat like flat centipedes. The Mesklinites are the main characters of the story.

* InflationNegation: A great deal is made about how the probe at the pole cost TWO BILLION dollars, and indeed in 1954, 2 billion was a lot of money. Factoring inflation, 2 billion in 2015 dollars is about $230 million in 1954 dollars. And of course, and having actually ''seen'' space projects that have cost far more than that (The International Space Station alone has cost 150 billion so far), how much could those humans be costing their superiors to spend their time hanging around Mesklin waiting for Barlennan?
* InMediasRes: When we first meet Barlennan, he's already met the humans with and agreed to take the journey.

* WeatherReportNarration: The book opens with the description of the storm hitting ''The Bree''.
* WorldShapes: Mesklin spins so rapidly that it's lens-shaped rather than spherical. At the equator, however, the atmosphere is so dense due to the planet's intense gravity that refraction makes it look bowl-shaped. The Mesklinites can "see" that the world curves up around them, so they believe that they live in a giant bowl. They are skilled sailors and map-makers and should know better, however when you are measuring distances on a curved surface, there are two different shapes that will make all the math work out (convex and concave). The Mesklinites choose the wrong one for their maps and never notice. The result is perfectly accurate and usable maps based on a fundamentally flawed premise.

* InflationNegation: A great deal is made about how the probe at the pole cost TWO BILLION dollars, and indeed in 1954, 2 billion was a lot of money. Factoring inflation, 2 billion in 1954 dollars is about $230 million in 2015. And of course, and having actually ''seen'' space projects that have cost far more than that (The International Space Station alone has cost 150 billion so far), how much could those humans be costing their superiors to spend their time hanging around Mesklin waiting for Barlennan?)

[[TheFederation The humans and associated races]] have a problem. Their experiment, which is supposed to help them better understand gravitational effects is stuck on the surface of a strange planet perfectly suited to carry out their experiment on. On the bright side, there is an intelligent race of centipede-like inhabiting the world of Meskelin, and the captain of a seagoing vessel has agreed to embark on a journey to locate the device.

Barlennan, Captain of ''The Bree'', and his crew embark on an adventure from the equator of their plate-shaped planet, where the gravity is only three times Earth's to the pole, where gravity is several hundred times Earth's. On the way they will encounter storms, unexpected geography, strange countries and barbarians.

''Mission of Gravity'' (1954), by Hal Clement, is considered to be a classic of science fiction WorldBuilding, and a great adventure.

Mission of Gravity, by Hal Clement, is considered one a science fiction classic of WorldBuilding.

[[TheFederation The humans and associated races]] have a problem. Their experiment, which is supposed to help them better understand gravitational effects is stuck on the surface of a strange planet perfectly suited to carry out their experiment on. On the bright side, there is an intelligent race of centipede-like inhabiting the world of Meskelin, and the captain of a seagoing vessel called ''The Bree'' has agreed to embark on a journey to locate the device.

Barlennan, Captain of ''the Bree'', and his crew embark on an adventure from the equator of their plate-shaped planet, where the gravity is only three times Earth's to the pole, where gravity is several hundred times Earth's. On the way they will encounter storms, unexpected geography, strange countries and barbarians.

The humans and associated races have a problem. Their experiment, which is supposed to help them better understand gravitational effects is stuck on the surface of a strange planet perfectly suited to carry out their experiment on. On the bright side, there is an intelligent race of centipede-like inhabiting the world of Meskelin, and the captain of a seagoing vessel called ''The Bree'' has agreed to embark on a journey to locate the device.

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