Not Final
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| "Not Final" | |
| Author | Isaac Asimov |
|---|---|
| Country |  USA |
| Language | English |
| Series | Jovian Menace |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction short story |
| Published in | Astounding Science Fiction |
| Publication type | Periodical |
| Publisher | Street & Smith |
| Media type | Print (Magazine, Hardback & Paperback) |
| Publication date | October 1941 |
| Followed by | Victory Unintentional |
"Not Final" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov, originally published in the October 1941 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, and included in the 1972 collection The Early Asimov. Although not a robot story, its sequel is "Victory Unintentional", which is; these are two of the few stories by Asimov to postulate non-human intelligences in the Solar system.
[edit] Plot summary
Earth colonists on Ganymede, the largest satellite of Jupiter, have discovered the existence of intelligent life on the planet's surface. They manage to establish communication with the Jovians by means of a "radio-click" code, and exchange scientific information. When the Jovians realise that the Humans are not like them, they break off communication with a threat to leave the surface and attack what they see as inferior beings.
Scientists on Ganymede discover that the Jovians can only leave the surface if they utilise force-field technology, and experimentally determine that said technology cannot be made practical - therefore the Jovians will be unable to threaten them. Although the force field can be created, it cannot exist for more than a fraction of a second at the strength needed to contain Earth's air pressure, let alone Jupiter's. The scientist in charge, a brilliant theoretician, predicts this and then proves it with an experiment that ends in an explosion.
Meanwhile a ship piloted by two technicians is headed for Ganymede. The conversation between the two reveals that this ship utilizes force-field technology in an ingenious way, which the scientists on Ganymede have not thought of. By trial and error these men discovered that the field explodes, one of them losing an arm and an eye in the process. However they have circumvented this by turning the field on and off at a high frequency, so it can still contain air.
The ending line, "I imagine they'll be rather pleased [with the applicability of the new technology]" is ironic since the reader knows that this is precisely the reverse of what we know the scientists' (and the rest of the human race) reaction to the news will be, since this implies that the Jovians will eventually be able to overcome the technical difficulties and emerge from their home planet to wage war on humanity.
The story illustrates a tension between the theoretical ("Scientific") attitude and the practical ("Technical") one, exemplified by the prominent scientist claiming that his theory shows the force-field technology to be impossible "and that's final! Final!", and mirrored by the technician's account of his methods, and by the story's title.
