Hal wrote a bunch of stuff, all of it decent. His master piece was Mission of Gravity. The giant planet Mesklin has incredibly strong gravity at the poles. Mesklin rotates so fast that the planet is stretched out into the shape of the yolk of a fried egg. Rotation is so fast that centrifugal force reduces surface gravity at the equator to only 3 G.
The Terrans have landed an instrument probe on the North Pole to study the intense gravity field with an eye to developing anti gravity. Unfortunately something goes wrong and the probe fails to takeoff upon command. The Terrans land one brave man, Charles Lackland, on the equator, where the gravity is light enough to allow a successful blastoff to take a look around. Charles encounters the natïve skipper of a sea going freighter, Barlenan by name, and talks Barlenan into voyaging to the North Pole to attempt to salvage the probe. Equipped with Terran TV cameras and recorders to read the instruments on the probe, Barlenan and his crew set off. They encounter many adventures along the way.
It’s a good read; I read it to myself back in grade school.
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