Not Final!

"Not Final!" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in the October 1941 issue of *Astounding Science Fiction* and was later collected in *The Early Asimov* (1972). The story is one of the few Asimov works to feature non-human intelligences within the Solar System; its sequel, "Victory Unintentional," is a robot story.

The plot follows Earth colonists on Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon, who discover intelligent life on Jupiter’s surface. They establish communication through a radio-click code and exchange scientific knowledge. When the Jovians realize humans are different, they break off contact and threaten to destroy what they consider inferior beings. Scientists on Ganymede conclude that any Jovian ship would need force-field technology to leave Jupiter, but experiments show such a field cannot be sustained long enough to hold Earth’s air pressure, let alone Jupiter’s. The lead scientist, a brilliant theoretician, predicts this and proves it with an explosion. Colonial Commissioner Nicholas Orloff, sent to assess the threat, reports to Earth that the danger is over.

Meanwhile, a ship en route to Ganymede to retrieve Orloff uses force-field technology in an unexpected way. A technician, through trial and error, discovered the field explodes—losing an arm and an eye in the process—but circumvented this by rapidly switching the field on and off, never leaving it on long enough to explode nor off long enough to lose air. The story ends with the line, "I imagine he'll be rather pleased," referring to Orloff’s reaction to the new technology. The irony is that this development means the Jovians can overcome their technical obstacle and eventually wage war on humanity. The story highlights a tension between theoretical and practical approaches, with the scientist declaring the technology impossible ("That's final! That's final!") and the technician’s hands-on methods reflected in the title.

Asimov wrote "Not Final!" in late May 1941, after failing his qualifying exams for a PhD in chemistry at Columbia University. He submitted it to John W. Campbell on June 2, 1941, and it was accepted on June 6, though without a bonus. The sequel, "Victory Unintentional," followed in 1942. Both stories are among Asimov’s few to posit extraterrestrial intelligence in the Solar System.