Arthur C. Clarke

Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (born 16 December 1917) is a British author and inventor, most famous for his science-fiction novel ', and for collaborating with director Stanley Kubrick on the film of the same name. Clarke is considered one of the Big Three of science fiction, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov.

Biography

Clarke was born in Minehead in Somerset, and as a boy enjoyed stargazing and enthusiastically read old American science-fiction magazines (many of which made their way to England as ballast in ships). After secondary school, and studying at Richard Huish College, Taunton he was unable to afford a university education and consequently acquired a job as an auditor in the pensions section of the Board of Education.

Related Topics:
Minehead - Somerset - Richard Huish College, Taunton

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During the Second World War, he served in the Royal Air Force as a radar specialist and was involved in the early warning radar defense system which contributed to the RAF's success during the Battle of Britain. After the war, he obtained a first class degree in mathematics and physics at King's College, London.

Related Topics:
Second World War - Royal Air Force - Radar - Battle of Britain - Degree - King's College, London

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His most important contribution may be the idea that geostationary satellites would be ideal telecommunications relays. He proposed this concept in a paper titled "Extra-Terrestrial Relays - Can Rocket Stations Give Worldwide Radio Coverage?", published in Wireless World in October 1945. The geostationary orbit is now sometimes known as the Clarke orbit in his honour. However, it is not clear that his article was actually the inspiration for modern telecommunications satellites. John R. Pierce, of Bell Labs, arrived at the idea independently in 1954, and he was actually involved in the Echo satellite and Telstar projects. Pierce felt that the idea was "in the air" at the time, so he may have picked it up indirectly from Clarke.

Related Topics:
Geostationary satellite - Telecommunication - Wireless World - 1945 - Geostationary orbit - John R. Pierce - Bell Labs - Echo satellite - Telstar

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Clarke's first professional sale was in 1946 to Astounding Science Fiction, the still memorable short story "Rescue Party". Along with his writing, Clarke worked briefly as Assistant Editor of Science Abstracts before devoting himself to writing full-time from 1951. Clarke also contributed to the Dan Dare series and his first three published novels were for a juvenile audience. He has been chairman of the British Interplanetary Society and a member of the Underwater Explorers Club. His work is marked by its optimistic view of science empowering mankind's exploration of the solar system and an obvious influence was the work of Olaf Stapledon.

Related Topics:
1946 - Astounding Science Fiction - Science Abstracts - Dan Dare - British Interplanetary Society - Underwater Explorers Club - Olaf Stapledon

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In 1951 he wrote The Sentinel for a BBC competition. Though the story was rejected, it changed the course of Clarke's career. Not only the basis for 2001, The Sentinel introduced a more mystical and cosmic element to Clarke's work. Many of Clarke's later works feature a technologically advanced but prejudiced mankind being confronted by a superior alien intelligence. In the cases of The City and the Stars, Childhood's End, and the 2001 series, this encounter produces a conceptual breakthrough that accelerates humanity into the next stage of its evolution.

Related Topics:
1951 - BBC - The City and the Stars - Childhood's End

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He has lived in Colombo in Sri Lanka since 1956, immigrating when it was still called Ceylon. This inspired the locale for his novel The Fountains of Paradise, in which he describes a space elevator. This, he figures, will ultimately be his legacy, more so than geostationary satellites, once space elevators make space shuttles obsolete.

Related Topics:
Colombo - Sri Lanka - Ceylon - The Fountains of Paradise - Space elevator - Geostationary satellite

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Early in his career, Clarke had a fascination with the paranormal, and has stated that it was part of the inspiration for his novel Childhood's End. He has also said that he was one of several who were fooled by a Uri Geller demonstration at Birkbeck College. Although he has long since dismissed and distanced himself from nearly all pseudoscience, he still advocates for research into purported instances of psychokinesis and other similar phenomena.

Related Topics:
Paranormal - Uri Geller - Birkbeck College - Pseudoscience - Psychokinesis

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Following the release of 2001, Clarke became much in demand as a commentator on science and technology, especially at the time of the Apollo space program. He also signed a record three-book publishing deal for a science fiction writer, the first of which Rendezvous with Rama in 1973 won him all the main genre awards and has spawned sequels that, along with the 2001 series, formed the backbone of Clarke's later career.

Related Topics:
Apollo space program - Rendezvous with Rama - 1973

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Clarke is also well known to many for his television programmes Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World (1981) and Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers (1984).

Related Topics:
Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World - 1981 - Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers - 1984

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In 1988, he was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome and has since needed to use a wheelchair.

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His knighthood was first announced in 1998, but then the British tabloid The Sunday Mirror published accusations of paedophilia against him (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/52598.stm). The award was delayed while the allegations were investigated, although by 2000 the BBC reported that he had been cleared (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/765385.stm). Clarke's health did not allow him to travel to London to receive the honour personally from the Queen, so the UK High Commissioner to Sri Lanka awarded him the title of Knight Bachelor at a ceremony in Colombo.

Related Topics:
Knighthood - 1998 - Tabloid - The Sunday Mirror - Paedophilia - 2000 - London - Queen - Knight Bachelor

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He is currently the Honorary Board Chair of the Institute for Cooperation in Space, founded by Carol Rosin and on the Board of Governors of the National Space Society, a space advocacy organization originally founded by Dr. Wernher von Braun.

Related Topics:
Institute for Cooperation in Space - Carol Rosin - Board of Governors - National Space Society - Space advocacy - Wernher von Braun

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He was the first Chancellor of the International Space University, serving from 1989 to 2004 and Chancellor of Moratuwa University, Sri Lanka, from 1979 to 2002.

Related Topics:
International Space University - 1989 - 2004 - Sri Lanka - 1979 - 2002

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In 1986 he lent his name to the first ever annual Arthur C. Clarke Award - dubbed "the Oscars for Space". His brother attended the awards ceremony, and presented an award specially chosen by Arthur (and not by the panel of judges who chose the other awards).

Related Topics:
1986 - Arthur C. Clarke Award

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