Plot summary

Robert Carey, who is more commonly known by his middle name of Scott, notices that his clothes are fitting looser and looser despite his wife Louise Carey taking them in. He also notices that he is getting shorter, his physician, Dr. Arthur Bramson, confirming as much. It isn't until Dr. Bramson sends Scott to a research institute that they are able to discover that what is happening to him in continuing to shrink is caused by a combination of being exposed to chemical pesticides two months ago and being exposed to radiation six months ago which has altered his molecular make-up. As Dr. Thomas Silver and his team at the institute work toward finding an antidote not only to stop the shrinking but to reverse it, Scott and Lou, who is standing by her husband's side, have to find a way to live in relation to Scott's condition, which no longer allows him to be employed in traditional work, and as he becomes a public curiosity. As he gets smaller and smaller, Scott is faced with increasing threats to his life by the "normal" sized world. But the major question also becomes if there is an end to his shrinking if those at the institute are unable to help him.—Huggo