The Nitrogen Fix by Hal Clement
"The Nitrogen Fix" is a science fiction novel set in a dystopian future where catastrophic environmental changes have resulted from centuries of genetic engineering aimed at enhancing nitrogen compounds. The story unfolds in the Blue Hill area, primarily focusing on a group of nomadic humans who are among the last remnants of life on Earth, living in a world where oxygen is scarce and the atmosphere is tainted with high concentrations of nitric acid. The narrative centers around a young boy named Fyn and his family, who must navigate a landscape devoid of trust in scientific advancements due to their devastating consequences.
As they struggle for survival, the family encounters a unique alien species known as the Observers, a hive-like group that lacks conventional social structures or communication methods. This peculiar species thrives on intellectual curiosity and collective knowledge sharing, forming a bond with Fyn and his family. Together, they embark on a journey to address the nitrogen crisis that has plagued Earth, exploring themes of communication, problem-solving, and the interplay between human and alien perspectives. The novel reflects on the consequences of scientific experimentation and the potential for redemption through cooperation and understanding in a transformed world.
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Subject Terms
The Nitrogen Fix
First published: 1980
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Science fiction—cautionary
Time of work: About c.e. 4000
Locale: Near Boston, Massachusetts
The Plot
Set in the Blue Hill area near Hal Clement’s home, this novel recounts the effects of catastrophic changes in the environment after two thousand years of scientific tinkering with genetic engineering in order to increase the number and quality of nitrogen compounds. The result is a major energy crisis. By the time of the novel, the process has produced large concentrations of nitric acid in the ocean and numerous new compounds that behave unpredictably and explosively. The only native life species that has survived on Earth is a remnant of nomadic humans who must wear breathing apparatus because only traces of oxygen remain in the atmosphere. These small human bands distrust science for obvious reasons, and all of society has reverted to a sort of Huck Finn adolescence. The most interesting member of the nomadic family whom Clement follows in the story is an eager boy named Fyn.
Alien on their own planet and in their worn-out society, the protagonist family begins to communicate and make friends with the strange, nitrogen-life aliens that appear on Earth. Unlike the fierce and angry humans, the Observers, as they are called, are a hive species with no need of or possibility for self-reliance. Each unit of the Observer species can share communication and memory with all other units following tactile contact. They have no language and no gender, and because their skeletons are very soft, the humans give the name Bones to the unit that becomes their large, floppy friend.
In a juvenile-oriented plot typical of Clement’s work, the nomadic family of humans teams with Bones to unravel and ultimately work for a reversal of the Earth’s nitrogen dilemma, after which the Observers will move on to other nitrogen environments. What seem to fascinate Clement most as the story unfolds are matters of knowing, communicating, and problem solving. It becomes clear that the prime motivation for the Observer species (apparently their only motivation, considering that they have no social structure and no gender) is intellectual curiosity leading to pooling of knowledge. On the future Earth, where science and experimentation have played a dirty trick on the environment, such pure intellectual motivation is particularly alien. Clement broadens the action of the novel by suggesting that the Observer species travels the galaxy watching this peculiar “fixing” of free oxygen into nitrogen compounds on one planet after another, acting as a sort of angel corps of chemistry monitors who help to solve scientific crises.