Harry Clement Stubbs, that’s his real name, was born on May 30, 1922 in Somerville, Massachusetts. Hal Clement wrote stories in which the scientific element was important but at the same time full of sense of wonder, creating alien environments such as the one of the planet Mesklin, definitely exotic yet very plausible. He started writing fiction at a time when contacts between humans and aliens were generally belligerent but in his stories they were usually friendly. He wasn’t a prolific writer but these qualities of his stories made him important in the history of science fiction.