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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. Nicholas Orloff, the Colonial Commissioner (who had been on Ganymede to assess the threat) reports back to Earth that the danger that had been posed by the Jovians is ended.
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The ending line, "I imagine he'll be rather pleased" , is ironic since the reader knows that this is precisely the reverse of what we know Orloff's (and the rest of the human race's) reaction to the news will be, since this implies that the
Jovians will eventually be able to overcome the technical
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Scientists on
Ganymede realize that no possible Jovian ship could leave the surface without utilizing force-field technology, and experimentally determine that said technology cannot be made practical—therefore the Jovians will be unable to carry out their threat. Although the force field can be
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Meanwhile, a ship is headed for
Ganymede to pick up Orloff and return him to Earth. A conversation between the ship's Captain and a technician 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 the
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technician discovered that the field explodes, losing an arm and an eye in the process. However he has circumvented this by turning the field on and off at a high frequency, so it is never on long enough to explode, but is never off long enough to lose air.
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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 ("That's final!
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273:. He failed the exams, and, very disheartened by this, did not return to writing until 24 May, when he began to work on "Not Final!". Asimov submitted "Not Final!" to
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258:"Not Final!" is one of Asimov's early short stories, written at the end of his third year writing stories for science fiction magazines.
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on 2 June, and it was accepted on 6 June, but without a bonus. It was published in the
October 1941 issue of
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difficulties and emerge from their planet to wage war on humanity.
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Works originally published in Analog
Science Fiction and Fact
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The
Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline
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336:. Garden City NY: Doubleday. pp. 335–339.
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333:The early Asimov; or, Eleven years of trying
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269:to enter the PhD program in chemistry at
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355:Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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16:Short story by Isaac Asimov
632:Fiction set on Ganymede (moon)
446:The Weapon Too Dreadful to Use
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622:Short stories by Isaac Asimov
516:The Little Man on the Subway
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432:The Magnificent Possession
280:Astounding Science Fiction
197:Astounding Science Fiction
78:Astounding Science Fiction
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453:Black Friar of the Flame
292:Asimov wrote a sequel, "
267:qualifying examinations
330:Asimov, Isaac (1972).
313:Asimov, Isaac (1972).
509:Christmas on Ganymede
353:title listing at the
294:Victory Unintentional
208:Victory Unintentional
168:Victory Unintentional
593:The Red Queen's Race
481:Half-Breeds on Venus
418:The Callistan Menace
425:Ring Around the Sun
271:Columbia University
218:Earth colonists on
190:by American writer
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360:"Not Final!"
351:"Not Final!"
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128:October 1941
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73:Published in
32:Isaac Asimov
22:"Not Final!"
572:Blind Alley
544:Legal Rites
254:Development
188:short story
68:Publication
28:Short story
616:Categories
551:Time Pussy
537:Not Final!
523:The Hazing
460:Half-Breed
300:References
181:Not Final!
133:Chronology
105:Media type
89:Periodical
263:Nightfall
224:satellite
118:Paperback
95:Publisher
495:Heredity
474:Homo Sol
289:(1972).
220:Ganymede
157:—
114:Hardback
110:Magazine
58:Genre(s)
48:Language
502:History
362:on the
228:Jupiter
183:" is a
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108:Print (
52:English
38:Country
439:Trends
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138:Series
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