Today in the history of astronomy, a pioneer of science fiction is born. | Published: May 30, 2026 Harry Clement Stubbs (far right) sits with John W. Campbell (left) and Willy Ley (center) at the 14th World Science Fiction Convention, in 1956. Credit: slomuse, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Harry Clement Stubbs – perhaps better known by his penname, Hal Clement – was born near Boston on May 30, 1922. Stubbs earned a B.S. in astronomy from Harvard University in 1943, followed by master’s degrees in chemistry and education. After military service in the Army Air Corps in World War II, he began work as a high school science teacher in Massachusetts; it was a career that would last 40 years. But it was only one of his careers. Stubbs sold his first story, “Proof,” to Astounding Science Fiction in 1941, adopting his Hal Clement pseudonym out of fear of censure from his Harvard professors.…