When Milly Morton, confidential secretary to industrialist Mortimer Bland, deliberately smashes several astronomical plates created by Anton Drew, she does more than express her pique against Bland's Chief Scientist. She also destroys irreplaceable data that might have enabled Drew to convince a skeptical world that it needs to prepare for the coming cosmic disaster. Without proof, no government official takes Drew's theories seriously. And so the world continues on its way, living in a Fool's Paradise. The signs of approaching doom soon become evident—with unprecedented thunderstorms, the huge growth of unbridled vegetation, and the appearance of giant insects. By the time Drew, aided by friends Ken and Thayleen West, is finally able to convince the Prime Minister of the danger, it looks as if it might be too late. Can ANYTHING save the Earth and its precious human cargo?