Arthur C. Clarke was perhaps the most important and best-known “hard” science fiction writer of the 20th Century. His work has received a vast number of awards, both literary and scientific, as well as a British Knighthood. He has been called the science fiction writer for the “Space Age.” He wrote over one hundred books.
He is probably best known among general readers for his 2001: A Space Odyssey, (1968) which was written collaboratively with Stanley Kubrick as a novelization of the movie screenplay for the movie by the same name which Kubrick was directing. The novel was based on his earlier short story The Sentinel (1951).
In addition to his science fiction writings, Clarke wrote scientific and technical material which is still considered highly accurate and professional by the scientific community on various scientific subjects, including underwater diving, space exploration, and scientific extrapolation. Many of his ideas can be seen in critical new space technologies today.
Arthur C. Clarke was born on December 16, 1917 in Minehead, Somerset, England in a farming community. His father was a farmer and post office engineer. He developed an early love for astronomy and of science fiction, particularly the works of H.G. Wells and Lord Dunsany and the novelist Olaf Stapledon. He also loved the pulp magazines of Hugo Gernback. He began writing science fiction in high school before moving to London to become a government auditor in 1936.
Disliking his job, he joined the British Interplanetary Society (BIS), which was then in its early days. He contributed reviews, articles, and stories to fanzines and BIS publications.
During World War II, Clarke was a Royal Air Force radar instructor, and suggested the idea of communications satellites in stationary orbits in 1945, writing a scientific treatise on the subject. After the war, Clarke earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and mathematics at Kings College in London, receiving his degree in 1948. He continued writing for the BIS after the war.
Perhaps the book which first expressed his philosophy is Childhood’s End, (1953) which concerns man’s continued spiritual development as it relates to scientific technical progress, particularly space exploration. He also had a sense of fun, generally found in his shorter stories.
Clarke died Wednesday, March 19, 2008, at the age of ninety years old.
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