Jump to content

Arthur C. Clarke

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Sir Arthur C. Clarke)


Arthur C. Clarke

In 1965, on one of the sets of 2001: A Space Odyssey
In 1965, on one of the sets of 2001: A Space Odyssey
BornArthur Charles Clarke
(1917-12-16)16 December 1917
Minehead, Somerset, England
Died19 March 2008(2008-03-19) (aged 90)
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Pen nameCharles Willis
E. G. O'Brien[1][2]
Occupation
  • Writer
  • inventor
  • futurist
Alma materKing's College London
Period1946–2008
GenreHard science fiction
Popular science
SubjectScience
Notable works
Spouse
Marilyn Mayfield
(m. 1953; div. 1964)
Website
clarkefoundation.org

Sir Arthur Charles Clarke CBE FRAS (16 December 1917 – 19 March 2008) was a British science fiction writer, science writer, futurist,[3] inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host.

He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, widely regarded as one of the most influential films of all time.[4][5] Clarke was a science fiction writer, an avid populariser of space travel, and a futurist of a distinguished ability. He wrote many books and many essays for popular magazines. In 1961, he received the Kalinga Prize, a UNESCO award for popularising science. Clarke's science and science fiction writings earned him the moniker "Prophet of the Space Age".[6] His science fiction writings in particular earned him a number of Hugo and Nebula awards, which along with a large readership, made him one of the towering figures of the genre. For many years Clarke, Robert Heinlein, and Isaac Asimov were known as the "Big Three" of science fiction.[7]

Clarke was a lifelong proponent of space travel. In 1934, while still a teenager, he joined the BIS, British Interplanetary Society. In 1945, he proposed a satellite communication system using geostationary orbits.[8] He was the chairman of the British Interplanetary Society from 1946 to 1947 and again in 1951–1953.[9]

Clarke emigrated to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1956, to pursue his interest in scuba diving.[10] That year, he discovered the underwater ruins of the ancient original Koneswaram Temple in Trincomalee. Clarke augmented his popularity in the 1980s, as the host of television shows such as Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World. He lived in Sri Lanka until his death.[11]

Clarke was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1989 "for services to British cultural interests in Sri Lanka".[12] He was knighted in 1998[13][14] and was awarded Sri Lanka's highest civil honour, Sri Lankabhimanya, in 2005.[15]

Biography

[edit]

Early years

[edit]

Clarke was born in Minehead, Somerset, England,[16] and grew up in nearby Bishops Lydeard. As a boy, he lived on a farm, where he enjoyed stargazing, fossil collecting, and reading American science fiction pulp magazines. He received his secondary education at Huish's Grammar School in Taunton. Some of his early influences included dinosaur cigarette cards, which led to an enthusiasm for fossils starting about 1925. Clarke attributed his interest in science fiction to reading three items: the November 1928 issue of Amazing Stories in 1929; Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon in 1930; and The Conquest of Space by David Lasser in 1931.[17]

In his teens, he joined the Junior Astronomical Association and contributed to Urania, the society's journal, which was edited in Glasgow by Marion Eadie. At Clarke's request, she added an "Astronautics" section, which featured a series of articles written by him on spacecraft and space travel. Clarke also contributed pieces to the "Debates and Discussions Corner", a counterpoint to a Urania article offering the case against space travel, and also his recollections of the Walt Disney film Fantasia. He moved to London in 1936 and joined the Board of Education as a pensions auditor.[18] He and some fellow science fiction writers shared a flat in Gray's Inn Road, where he got the nickname "Ego" because of his absorption in subjects that interested him,[19] and later named his office filled with memorabilia as his "ego chamber".[20]

World War II

[edit]

During the Second World War from 1941 to 1946, he served in the Royal Air Force as a radar specialist and was involved in the early-warning radar defence system, which contributed to the RAF's success during the Battle of Britain. Clarke spent most of his wartime service working on ground-controlled approach (GCA) radar, as documented in the semiautobiographical Glide Path, his only non-science fiction novel. Although GCA did not see much practical use during the war, after several years of development it proved vital to the Berlin Airlift of 1948–1949. Clarke initially served in the ranks and was a corporal instructor on radar at No. 2 Radio School, RAF Yatesbury in Wiltshire. He was commissioned as a pilot officer (technical branch) on 27 May 1943.[21] He was promoted to flying officer on 27 November 1943.[22] He was appointed chief training instructor at RAF Honiley in Warwickshire and was demobilised with the rank of flight lieutenant.

Post-war

[edit]

After the war, he attained a first-class degree in mathematics and physics from King's College London.[23][24][25] After this, he worked as assistant editor at Physics Abstracts.[26] Clarke served as president of the British Interplanetary Society from 1946 to 1947 and again from 1951 to 1953.[27]

Although he was not the originator of the concept of geostationary satellites, one of his most important contributions in this field was his idea that they would be ideal telecommunications relays. He advanced this idea in a paper privately circulated among the core technical members of the British Interplanetary Society in 1945. The concept was published in Wireless World in October of that year.[8] Clarke also wrote a number of nonfiction books describing the technical details and societal implications of rocketry and space flight. The most notable of these may be Interplanetary Flight: An Introduction to Astronautics (1950), The Exploration of Space (1951), and The Promise of Space (1968). In recognition of these contributions, the geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometres (22,000 mi) above the equator is officially recognised by the International Astronomical Union as the Clarke Orbit.[28]

His 1951 book, The Exploration of Space, was used by the rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun to convince President John F. Kennedy that it was possible to go to the Moon.[29]

Following the 1968 release of 2001, Clarke became much in demand as a commentator on science and technology, especially at the time of the Apollo space program. On 20 July 1969, Clarke appeared as a commentator for the CBS News broadcast of the Apollo 11 Moon landing.[30][31]

Sri Lanka and diving

[edit]

Clarke lived in Sri Lanka from 1956 until his death in 2008, first in Unawatuna on the south coast, and then in Colombo.[32] Initially, he and his friend Mike Wilson travelled around Sri Lanka, diving in the coral waters around the coast with the Beachcombers Club. In 1957, during a dive trip off Trincomalee, Clarke discovered the underwater ruins of a temple, which subsequently made the region popular with divers.[33] He described it in his 1957 book The Reefs of Taprobane. This was his second diving book after the 1956 The Coast of Coral.[34] Though Clarke lived mostly in Colombo, he set up a small dive school and a simple dive shop near Trincomalee. He dived often at Hikkaduwa, Trincomalee, and Nilaveli.[35]

The Sri Lankan government offered Clarke resident guest status in 1975.[36] He was held in such high esteem that when fellow science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein came to visit, the Sri Lanka Air Force provided a helicopter to take them around the country.[37] In the early 1970s, Clarke signed a three-book publishing deal, a record for a science fiction writer at the time. The first of the three was Rendezvous with Rama in 1973, which won all the main genre awards[38] and spawned sequels that along with the 2001 series formed the backbone of his later career.

Clarke receives the Marconi International Fellowship Award from Prince Claus of the Netherlands in 1982

In 1986, Clarke was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America.[39]

In 1988, he was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome, having originally contracted polio in 1962, and needed to use a wheelchair most of the time thereafter.[32] Clarke was for many years a vice-patron of the British Polio Fellowship.[40]

In the 1989 Queen's Birthday Honours, Clarke was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) "for services to British cultural interests in Sri Lanka".[12] The same year, he became the first chancellor of the International Space University, serving from 1989 to 2004. He also served as chancellor of Moratuwa University in Sri Lanka from 1979 to 2002.

In 1994, Clarke appeared in a science fiction film; he portrayed himself in the film Without Warning, an American production about an apocalyptic alien first-contact scenario presented in the form of a faux newscast.

Clarke also became active in promoting the protection of gorillas and became a patron of the Gorilla Organization, which fights for the preservation of gorillas.[41] When tantalum mining for mobile phone manufacture threatened the gorillas in 2001, he lent his voice to their cause.[42] The dive shop that he set up continues to operate from Trincomalee through the Arthur C Clarke Foundation.[43]

Television series host

[edit]

In the 1980s and early 1990s, Clarke presented his television programmes Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World, Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers, and Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious Universe.

Personal life

[edit]

On a trip to Florida in 1953,[1] Clarke met and quickly married Marilyn Mayfield, a 22-year-old American divorcee with a young son. They separated permanently after six months, although the divorce was not finalised until 1964.[44] "The marriage was incompatible from the beginning", said Clarke.[44] Marilyn never remarried and died in 1991. Clarke also never remarried, but was close to a Sri Lankan man, Leslie Ekanayake (13 July 1947 – 4 July 1977), whom Clarke called his "only perfect friend of a lifetime" in the dedication to his novel The Fountains of Paradise.[a] Clarke is buried with Ekanayake, who predeceased him by three decades, in Colombo's central cemetery.[45] In his biography of Stanley Kubrick, John Baxter cites Clarke's homosexuality as a reason why he relocated, due to more tolerant laws with regard to homosexuality in Sri Lanka.[46] Journalists who enquired of Clarke whether he was gay were told, "No, merely mildly cheerful."[32] However, Michael Moorcock wrote:

Everyone knew he was gay. In the 1950s, I'd go out drinking with his boyfriend. We met his protégés, western and eastern, and their families, people who had only the most generous praise for his kindness. Self-absorbed he might be and a teetotaller, but an impeccable gent through and through.[47]

In an interview in the July 1986 issue of Playboy magazine, when asked if he had had a bisexual experience, Clarke stated, "Of course. Who hasn't?"[48] In his obituary, Clarke's friend Kerry O'Quinn wrote: "Yes, Arthur was gay ... As Isaac Asimov once told me, 'I think he simply found he preferred men.' Arthur didn't publicise his sexuality – that wasn't the focus of his life – but if asked, he was open and honest."[49]

Clarke accumulated a vast collection of manuscripts and personal memoirs, maintained by his brother Fred Clarke in Taunton, Somerset, England, and referred to as the "Clarkives". Clarke said some of his private diaries will not be published until 30 years after his death. When asked why they were sealed, he answered, "Well, there might be all sorts of embarrassing things in them."[3]

Knighthood

[edit]

On 26 May 2000, he was made a Knight Bachelor "for services to literature" at a ceremony in Colombo.[14][b][50] The award of a knighthood had been announced in the 1998 New Year Honours list,[13][51] but investiture with the award had been delayed, at Clarke's request, because of an accusation by the tabloid the Sunday Mirror of paying boys for sex.[52][53] The charge was subsequently found to be baseless by the Sri Lankan police.[54][55] According to The Daily Telegraph, the Mirror subsequently published an apology, and Clarke chose not to sue for defamation.[56] The Independent reported that a similar story was not published, allegedly because Clarke was a friend of newspaper tycoon Rupert Murdoch.[57] Clarke himself said, "I take an extremely dim view of people mucking about with boys", and Rupert Murdoch promised him the reporters responsible would never work in Fleet Street again.[58] Clarke was then duly knighted.

Later years

[edit]
Clarke at his home in Sri Lanka, 2005

Although he and his home were unharmed by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake tsunami, his "Arthur C. Clarke Diving School" (now called "Underwater Safaris")[59] at Hikkaduwa near Galle was destroyed.[60] He made humanitarian appeals, and the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation worked towards better disaster notification systems.[61]

Because of his post-polio deficits, which limited his ability to travel and gave him halting speech, most of Clarke's communications in his last years were in the form of recorded addresses. In July 2007, he provided a video address for the Robert A. Heinlein Centennial in which he closed his comments with a goodbye to his fans. In September 2007, he provided a video greeting for NASA's Cassini probe's flyby of Iapetus (which plays an important role in the book of 2001: A Space Odyssey).[62] In December 2007 on his 90th birthday, Clarke recorded a video message to his friends and fans bidding them good-bye.[63]

Clarke died in Colombo on 19 March 2008, at the age of 90.[32][64][65][66] His aide described the cause as respiratory complications and heart failure stemming from post-polio syndrome.[67]

Just hours before Clarke's death, a major gamma-ray burst (GRB) reached Earth. Known as GRB 080319B, the burst set a new record as the farthest object that can be seen from Earth with the naked eye.[68] It occurred about 7.5 billion years ago, the light taking that long to reach Earth.[68] Larry Sessions, a science writer for Sky and Telescope magazine blogging on earthsky.org, suggested that the burst be named the "Clarke Event".[69][70] American Atheist Magazine wrote of the idea: "It would be a fitting tribute to a man who contributed so much, and helped lift our eyes and our minds to a cosmos once thought to be province only of gods."[71]

A few days before he died, he had reviewed the manuscript of his final work, The Last Theorem, on which he had collaborated by e-mail with contemporary Frederik Pohl.[72] The book was published after Clarke's death.[73] Clarke was buried in Colombo in traditional Sri Lankan fashion on 22 March. His younger brother, Fred Clarke, and his Sri Lankan adoptive family were among the thousands in attendance.[74]

Clarke's papers were donated to the National Air and Space Museum in 2014.[75][76]

On 8 January 2024, a portion of Clarke's ashes were launched on the Peregrine Mission One to the Moon.[77] The Peregrine spacecraft failed to land on the moon, and the spacecraft disintegrated in the Earth's atmosphere on 19 January 2024.[78][79]

Science fiction writer

[edit]
Clarke's novella "The Road to the Sea" was originally published in Two Complete Science-Adventure Books in 1951 as "Seeker of the Sphinx".

Beginnings

[edit]

While Clarke had a few stories published in fanzines, between 1937 and 1945, his first professional sale appeared in Astounding Science Fiction in 1946: "Loophole" was published in April, while "Rescue Party", his first sale, was published in May.[c] Along with his writing, Clarke briefly worked as assistant editor of Science Abstracts (1949) before devoting himself in 1951 to full-time writing.

Clarke began carving out his reputation as a "scientific" science fiction writer with his first science fiction novel, Against the Fall of Night, published as a novella in 1948. It was very popular and considered ground-breaking work for some of the concepts it contained. Clarke revised and expanded the novella into a full novel, which was published in 1953. Clarke later rewrote and expanded this work a third time to become The City and the Stars in 1956, which rapidly became a definitive must-read in the field. His third science fiction novel, Childhood's End, was also published in 1953, cementing his popularity. Clarke capped the first phase of his writing career with his sixth novel, A Fall of Moondust, in 1961, which is also an acknowledged classic of the period.

During this time, Clarke corresponded with C. S. Lewis in the 1940s and 1950s and they once met in an Oxford pub, the Eastgate, to discuss science fiction and space travel. Clarke voiced great praise for Lewis upon his death, saying The Ransom Trilogy was one of the few works of science fiction that should be considered literature.[80]

"The Sentinel"

[edit]
Clarke's novelette "Jupiter Five" was cover-featured on the May 1953 issue of If.

In 1948, he wrote "The Sentinel" for a BBC competition. Though the story was rejected, it changed the course of Clarke's career. Not only was it the basis for 2001: A Space Odyssey, but "The Sentinel" also introduced a more cosmic element to Clarke's work. Many of Clarke's later works feature a technologically advanced but still-prejudiced mankind being confronted by a superior alien intelligence. In the cases of Childhood's End, and the 2001 series, this encounter produces a conceptual breakthrough that accelerates humanity into the next stage of its evolution. This also applies in the far-distant past (but our future) in The City and the Stars (and its original version, Against the Fall of Night).

In Clarke's authorised biography, Neil McAleer writes: "many readers and critics still consider Childhood's End Arthur C. Clarke's best novel."[44] But Clarke did not use ESP in any of his later stories, saying, "I've always been interested in ESP, and of course, Childhood's End was about that. But I've grown disillusioned, partly because after all this time, they're still arguing about whether these things happen. I suspect that telepathy does happen."[81]

A collection of early essays was published in The View from Serendip (1977), which also included one short piece of fiction, "When the Twerms Came". Clarke also wrote short stories under the pseudonyms of E. G. O'Brien and Charles Willis.[82] Almost all of his short stories can be found in the book The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke (2001).

"Big Three"

[edit]
Clarke as depicted in Amazing Stories in 1953
Clarke's novelette "The Songs of Distant Earth", the cover story for the June 1958 issue of If, was expanded to novel length almost three decades later.

For much of the later 20th century, Clarke, Isaac Asimov, and Robert A. Heinlein were informally known as the "Big Three" of science fiction writers.[7] Clarke and Heinlein began writing to each other after The Exploration of Space was published in 1951, and first met in person the following year. They remained on cordial terms for many years, including during visits to the United States and Sri Lanka.

Clarke and Asimov first met in New York City in 1953, and they traded friendly insults and gibes for decades. They established an oral agreement, the "Clarke–Asimov Treaty", that when asked who was better, the two would say Clarke was the better science fiction writer and Asimov was the better science writer. In 1972, Clarke put the "treaty" on paper in his dedication to Report on Planet Three and Other Speculations.[44][83]

In 1984, Clarke testified before Congress against the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI).[84] Later, at the home of Larry Niven in California, a concerned Heinlein attacked Clarke's views on United States foreign and space policy (especially the SDI), vigorously advocating a strong defence posture. Although the two later reconciled formally, they remained distant until Heinlein's death in 1988.[44]

2001 series of novels

[edit]

2001: A Space Odyssey, Clarke's most famous work, was extended well beyond the 1968 movie as the Space Odyssey series. In 1982, Clarke wrote a sequel to 2001 titled 2010: Odyssey Two, which was made into a film in 1984. Clarke wrote two further sequels which have not been adapted into motion pictures: 2061: Odyssey Three (published in 1987) and 3001: The Final Odyssey (published in 1997).

2061: Odyssey Three involves a visit to Halley's Comet on its next plunge through the Inner Solar System and a spaceship crash on the Jovian moon Europa. The whereabouts of astronaut Dave Bowman (the "Star Child"), the artificial intelligence HAL 9000, and the development of native life on Europa, protected by the alien Monolith, are revealed.

Finally, in 3001: The Final Odyssey, astronaut Frank Poole's freeze-dried body, found by a spaceship beyond the orbit of Neptune, is revived by advanced medical science. The novel details the threat posed to humanity by the alien monoliths, whose actions are not always as their builders had intended.

2001: A Space Odyssey

[edit]

Clarke's first venture into film was 2001: A Space Odyssey, directed by Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick and Clarke had met in New York City in 1964 to discuss the possibility of a collaborative film project. As the idea developed, they decided to loosely base the story on Clarke's short story, "The Sentinel", written in 1948 as an entry in a BBC short-story competition. Originally, Clarke was going to write the screenplay for the film, but Kubrick suggested during one of their brainstorming meetings that before beginning on the actual script, they should let their imaginations soar free by writing a novel first, on which they would base the film. "This is more or less the way it worked out, though toward the end, novel and screenplay were being written simultaneously, with feedback in both directions. Thus, I rewrote some sections after seeing the movie rushes – a rather expensive method of literary creation, which few other authors can have enjoyed."[85] The novel ended up being published a few months after the release of the movie.

Due to the hectic schedule of the film's production, Kubrick and Clarke had difficulty collaborating on the book. Clarke completed a draft of the novel at the end of 1964 with the plan to publish in 1965 in advance of the film's release in 1966. After many delays, the film was released in the spring of 1968, before the book was completed. The book was credited to Clarke alone. Clarke later complained that this had the effect of making the book into a novelisation, and that Kubrick had manipulated circumstances to play down Clarke's authorship. For these and other reasons, the details of the story differ slightly from the book to the movie. The film contains little explanation for the events taking place. Clarke, though, wrote thorough explanations of "cause and effect" for the events in the novel. James Randi later recounted that upon seeing the premiere of 2001, Clarke left the theatre at the intermission in tears, after having watched an eleven-minute scene (which did not make it into general release) where an astronaut is doing nothing more than jogging inside the spaceship, which was Kubrick's idea of showing the audience how boring space travels could be.[86]

In 1972, Clarke published The Lost Worlds of 2001, which included his accounts of the production, and alternative versions of key scenes. The "special edition" of the novel A Space Odyssey (released in 1999) contains an introduction by Clarke in which he documents the events leading to the release of the novel and film.

2010: Odyssey Two

[edit]

In 1982, Clarke continued the 2001 epic with a sequel, 2010: Odyssey Two. This novel was also made into a film, 2010, directed by Peter Hyams for release in 1984. Because of the political environment in America in the 1980s, the film presents a Cold War theme, with the looming tensions of nuclear warfare not featured in the novel. The film was not considered to be as revolutionary or artistic as 2001, but the reviews were still positive.

Clarke's email correspondence with Hyams was published in 1984.[87] Titled The Odyssey File: The Making of 2010, and co-authored with Hyams, it illustrates his fascination with the then-pioneering medium of email and its use for them to communicate on an almost daily basis at the time of planning and production of the film while living on opposite sides of the world. The book also included Clarke's personal list of the best science fiction films ever made.

Clarke appeared in the film, first as the man feeding the pigeons while Dr. Heywood Floyd is engaged in a conversation in front of the White House. Later, in the hospital scene with David Bowman's mother, an image of the cover of Time portrays Clarke as the American President and Kubrick as the Soviet Premier.

Rendezvous with Rama

[edit]

In 1996, Sierra Entertainment created Rama as a point and click adventure game in the style of Myst. Along with highly detailed graphics, Arthur C. Clarke also appeared in the game as the guide for the player. This game featured details from Rendezvous with Rama and characters from the Rama II novel.[88]

Rendezvous with Rama was optioned for filmmaking in the early 21st century[89][90] but this motion picture has remained in "development hell". In the early 2000s, actor Morgan Freeman expressed his desire to produce a movie based on Rendezvous with Rama. After a drawn-out development process, which Freeman attributed to difficulties in getting financing, it appeared in 2003 that this project might be proceeding, but this was very dubious.[89] The film was to be produced by Freeman's production company, Revelations Entertainment, and David Fincher has been touted on Revelations' Rama web page as far back as 2001 as the film's director.[90] After years of no progress, Fincher stated in an interview in late 2007 (in which he also opined the novel as being influential on the films Alien and Star Trek: The Motion Picture) that he is still attached to the project.[91] Revelations indicated that Stel Pavlou had written the adaptation.

In late 2008, Fincher stated the movie is unlikely to be made. "It looks like it's not going to happen. There's no script and as you know, Morgan Freeman's not in the best of health right now. We've been trying to do it but it's probably not going to happen."[92] In 2010, though, the film was announced as still planned for future production and both Freeman and Fincher mentioned it as still needing a worthy script.[93]

In late 2021, it was announced that Denis Villeneuve would direct the adaptation of Rendezvous with Rama, following the successful and critically praised release of Villeneuve's adaption of Frank Herbert's Dune. Freeman is listed as a producer.[94]

Science writer

[edit]

Clarke published a number of nonfiction books with essays, speeches, addresses, etc. Several of his nonfiction books are composed of chapters that can stand on their own as separate essays.

Space travel

[edit]

In particular, Clarke was a populariser of the concept of space travel. In 1950, he wrote Interplanetary Flight, a book outlining the basics of space flight for laymen. Later books about space travel included The Exploration of Space (1951), The Challenge of the Spaceship (1959), Voices from the Sky (1965), The Promise of Space (1968, rev. ed. 1970), and Report on Planet Three (1972) along with many others.

Futurism

[edit]

His books on space travel usually included chapters about other aspects of science and technology, such as computers and bioengineering. He predicted telecommunication satellites (albeit serviced by astronauts in space suits, who would replace the satellite's vacuum tubes as they burned out).[95]

His many predictions culminated in 1958 when he began a series of magazine essays which eventually became Profiles of the Future, published in book form in 1962.[96] A timetable[97] up to the year 2100 describes inventions and ideas including such things as a "global library" for 2005. The same work also contained "Clarke's First Law" and text that became Clarke's three laws in later editions.[44]

In a 1959 essay, Clarke predicted global satellite TV broadcasts that would cross national boundaries indiscriminately and would bring hundreds of channels available anywhere in the world. He also envisioned a "personal transceiver, so small and compact that every man carries one". He wrote: "the time will come when we will be able to call a person anywhere on Earth merely by dialing a number." Such a device would also, in Clarke's vision, include means for global positioning so "no one need ever again be lost". Later, in Profiles of the Future, he predicted the advent of such a device taking place in the mid-1980s.[96]

1974 ABC interview with Clarke in which he describes a future of ubiquitous computing reminiscent of the modern Internet

Clarke described a global computer network similar to the modern World Wide Web in a 1964 presentation for the BBC's Horizon programme, predicting that, by the 21st century, access to information and even physical tasks such as surgery could be accomplished remotely and instantaneously from anywhere in the world using internet and satellite communication.[98]

In a 1974 interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the interviewer asked Clarke how he believed the computer would change the future for the everyday person, and what life would be like in the year 2001. Clarke accurately predicted many things that became reality, including online banking, online shopping, and other now commonplace things. Responding to a question about how the interviewer's son's life would be different, Clarke responded: "He will have, in his own house, not a computer as big as this, [points to nearby computer], but at least, a console through which he can talk, through his friendly local computer and get all the information he needs, for his everyday life, like his bank statements, his theatre reservations, all the information you need in the course of living in our complex modern society, this will be in a compact form in his own house ... and he will take it as much for granted as we take the telephone."[99]

An extensive selection of Clarke's essays and book chapters (from 1934 to 1998; 110 pieces, 63 of them previously uncollected in his books) can be found in the book Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds! (2000), together with a new introduction and many prefatory notes. Another collection of essays, all previously collected, is By Space Possessed (1993). Clarke's technical papers, together with several essays and extensive autobiographical material, are collected in Ascent to Orbit: A Scientific Autobiography (1984).

Geostationary communications satellite

[edit]
Geostationary or Clarke orbit

Clarke contributed to the popularity of the idea that geostationary satellites would be ideal telecommunications relays. He first described this in a letter to the editor of Wireless World in February 1945[100] and elaborated on the concept in a paper titled Extra-Terrestrial Relays – Can Rocket Stations Give Worldwide Radio Coverage?, published in Wireless World in October 1945.[8] The geostationary orbit is sometimes known as the Clarke orbit or the Clarke belt in his honour.[101][102][103]

It is not clear that this article was actually the inspiration for the modern telecommunications satellite. According to John R. Pierce, of Bell Labs, who was involved in the Echo satellite and Telstar projects, he gave a talk upon the subject in 1954 (published in 1955), using ideas that were "in the air", but was not aware of Clarke's article at the time.[104] In an interview given shortly before his death, Clarke was asked whether he had ever suspected that one day communications satellites would become so important; he replied: "I'm often asked why I didn't try to patent the idea of a communications satellite. My answer is always, 'A patent is really a licence to be sued.'"[105]

Though different from Clarke's idea of telecom relay, the idea of communicating via satellites in geostationary orbit itself had been described earlier. For example, the concept of geostationary satellites was described in Hermann Oberth's 1923 book Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen (The Rocket into Interplanetary Space), and then the idea of radio communication by means of those satellites in Herman Potočnik's (written under the pseudonym Hermann Noordung) 1928 book Das Problem der Befahrung des Weltraums – [106]), sections: Providing for Long Distance Communications and Safety,[d] and (possibly referring to the idea of relaying messages via satellite, but not that three would be optimal) Observing and Researching the Earth's Surface, published in Berlin.[107][e] Clarke acknowledged the earlier concept in his book Profiles of the Future.[f]

Undersea explorer

[edit]

Clarke was an avid scuba diver and a member of the Underwater Explorers Club. In addition to writing, Clarke set up several diving-related ventures with his business partner Mike Wilson. In 1956, while scuba diving, Wilson and Clarke uncovered ruined masonry, architecture, and idol images of the sunken original Koneswaram temple – including carved columns with flower insignia, and stones in the form of elephant heads – spread on the shallow surrounding seabed.[108][109] Other discoveries included Chola bronzes from the original shrine, and these discoveries were described in Clarke's 1957 book The Reefs of Taprobane.[110]

In 1961, while filming off Great Basses Reef, Wilson found a wreck and retrieved silver coins. Plans to dive on the wreck the following year were stopped when Clarke developed paralysis, ultimately diagnosed as polio. A year later, Clarke observed the salvage from the shore and the surface. The ship, ultimately identified as belonging to the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb, yielded fused bags of silver rupees, cannon, and other artefacts, carefully documented, became the basis for The Treasure of the Great Reef.[44][111] Living in Sri Lanka and learning its history also inspired the backdrop for his novel The Fountains of Paradise in which he described a space elevator. This, he believed, would make rocket-based access to space obsolete, and more than geostationary satellites, would ultimately be his scientific legacy.[112] In 2008, he said in an interview with IEEE Spectrum, "maybe in a generation or so the space elevator will be considered equally important" as the geostationary satellite, which was his most important technological contribution.[113]

Views

[edit]

Religion

[edit]

Themes of religion and spirituality appear in much of Clarke's writing. He said: "Any path to knowledge is a path to God – or Reality, whichever word one prefers to use."[114] He described himself as "fascinated by the concept of God". J. B. S. Haldane, near the end of his life, suggested in a personal letter to Clarke that Clarke should receive a prize in theology for being one of the few people to write anything new on the subject, and went on to say that if Clarke's writings had not contained multiple contradictory theological views, he might have been a menace.[115] When he entered the Royal Air Force, Clarke insisted that his dog tags be marked "pantheist" rather than the default, Church of England,[44] and in a 1991 essay entitled "Credo", described himself as a logical positivist from the age of 10.[115] In 2000, Clarke told the Sri Lankan newspaper, The Island, "I don't believe in God or an afterlife",[116] and he identified himself as an atheist.[117] He was honoured as a Humanist Laureate in the International Academy of Humanism.[118] He has also described himself as a "crypto-Buddhist", insisting Buddhism is not a religion.[119] He displayed little interest about religion early in his life, for example, only discovering a few months after marrying that his wife had strong Presbyterian beliefs.[citation needed]

Later in his life, Clarke began to hold a more hostile view of religion. A famous quotation of Clarke's is often cited: "One of the great tragedies of mankind is that morality has been hijacked by religion."[119] He was quoted in Popular Science in 2004 as saying of religion: "Most malevolent and persistent of all mind viruses. We should get rid of it as quick as we can."[120] In a three-day "dialogue on man and his world" with Alan Watts, Clarke said he was biased against religion and could not forgive religions for what he perceived as their inability to prevent atrocities and wars over time.[121] In his introduction to the penultimate episode of Mysterious World, entitled "Strange Skies", Clarke said, "I sometimes think that the universe is a machine designed for the perpetual astonishment of astronomers", reflecting the dialogue of the episode, in which he stated this concept more broadly, referring to "mankind". Near the very end of that same episode, the last segment of which covered the Star of Bethlehem, he said his favourite theory[122] was that it might be a pulsar. Given that pulsars were discovered in the interval between his writing the short story, "The Star" (1955), and making Mysterious World (1980), and given the more recent discovery of pulsar PSR B1913+16, he said: "How romantic, if even now, we can hear the dying voice of a star, which heralded the Christian era."[122]

Despite his atheism, themes of deism are a common feature within Clarke's work.[123][124] Clarke left written instructions for a funeral: "Absolutely no religious rites of any kind, relating to any religious faith, should be associated with my funeral."[125]

Politics

[edit]

Regarding freedom of information Clarke believed, "In the struggle for freedom of information, technology, not politics, will be the ultimate decider."[126] Clarke also wrote, "It is not easy to see how the more extreme forms of nationalism can long survive when men have seen the Earth in its true perspective as a single small globe against the stars."[126] Clarke opposed claims of sovereignty over space stating "There is hopeful symbolism in the fact that flags do not wave in a vacuum."[126] Clarke was an anti-capitalist, stating that he did not fear automation because, "the goal of the future is full unemployment, so we can play. That's why we have to destroy the present politico-economic system."[127]

Technology

[edit]

Regarding human jobs being replaced by robots, Clarke said: "Any teacher that can be replaced by a machine should be!"[126] Clarke supported the use of renewable energy, saying: "I would like to see us kick our current addiction to oil, and adopt clean energy sources ... Climate change has now added a new sense of urgency. Our civilisation depends on energy, but we can't allow oil and coal to slowly bake our planet."[126]

Intelligent life

[edit]

About intelligent life and the Fermi paradox, Clarke stated:

The best proof that there's intelligent life in outer space is the fact that it hasn't come here ... the fact that we have not yet found the slightest evidence for life—much less intelligence—beyond this Earth does not surprise or disappoint me in the least. Our technology must still be laughably primitive; we may well be like jungle savages listening for the throbbing of tom-toms, while the ether around them carries more words per second than they could utter in a lifetime.[126] Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not... Both are equally terrifying.[126]

Paranormal phenomena

[edit]

Early in his career, Clarke had a fascination with the paranormal and said it was part of the inspiration for his novel Childhood's End. Citing the numerous promising paranormal claims that were later shown to be fraudulent, Clarke described his earlier openness to the paranormal having turned to being "an almost total sceptic" by the time of his 1992 biography.[44] Similarly, in the prologue to the 1990 Del Rey edition of Childhood's End, he writes "...after ... researching my Mysterious World and Strange Powers programmes, I am an almost total skeptic. I have seen far too many claims dissolve into thin air, far too many demonstrations exposed as fakes. It has been a long, and sometimes embarrassing, learning process."[128] During interviews, both in 1993 and 2004–2005, he stated that he did not believe in reincarnation, saying there was no mechanism to make it possible, though "I'm always paraphrasing J. B. S. Haldane: 'The universe is not only stranger than we imagine, it's stranger than we can imagine.'"[129][130] He described the idea of reincarnation as fascinating, but favoured a finite existence.[131]

Clarke was known for hosting several television series investigating the unusual: Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World (1980), Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Power (1985), and Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious Universe (1994). Topics examined ranged from ancient, man-made artifacts with obscure origins (e.g., the Nazca lines or Stonehenge), to cryptids (purported animals unknown to science), or obsolete scientific theories that came to have alternate explanations (e.g., Martian canals).

In Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World, he describes three kinds of "mysteries":

  • Mysteries of the First Kind: Something that was once utterly baffling but is now completely understood, e.g. a rainbow.
  • Mysteries of the Second Kind: Something that is currently not fully understood and can be in the future.
  • Mysteries of the Third Kind: Something of which we have no understanding.[132]

Clarke's programmes on unusual phenomena were parodied in a 1982 episode of the comedy series The Goodies, in which his show is cancelled after it is claimed that he does not exist.

Themes, style, and influences

[edit]

Clarke's work is marked by an optimistic view of science empowering mankind's exploration of the Solar System and the world's oceans. His images of the future often feature a Utopian setting with highly developed technology, ecology, and society, based on the author's ideals.[133] His early published stories usually featured the extrapolation of a technological innovation or scientific breakthrough into the underlying decadence of his own society.

A recurring theme in Clarke's works is the notion that the evolution of an intelligent species would eventually make them something close to gods. This was explored in his 1953 novel Childhood's End and briefly touched upon in his novel Imperial Earth. This idea of transcendence through evolution seems to have been influenced by Olaf Stapledon, who wrote a number of books dealing with this theme. Clarke has said of Stapledon's 1930 book Last and First Men that "No other book had a greater influence on my life ... [It] and its successor Star Maker (1937) are the twin summits of [Stapledon's] literary career."[134]

Clarke was well known as an admirer of Irish fantasy writer Lord Dunsany, also having corresponded with him until Dunsany's death in 1957. He described Dunsany as "one of the greatest writers of the century".[135] He also listed H. G. Wells, Jules Verne, and Edgar Rice Burroughs as influences.[32]

Awards, honours, and other recognition

[edit]

Clarke won the 1963 Stuart Ballantine Medal from the Franklin Institute for the concept of satellite communications,[136][137] and other honours.[138] He won more than a dozen annual literary awards for particular works of science fiction.[38]

Named after Clarke

[edit]

Awards

[edit]

In 1986, Clarke provided a grant to fund the prize money (initially £1,000) for the Arthur C. Clarke Award for the best science fiction novel published in the United Kingdom in the previous year. In 2001 the prize was increased to £2001, and its value now matches the year (e.g., £2005 in 2005).

In 2005 he lent his name to the inaugural Sir Arthur Clarke Awards – dubbed the "Space Oscars". 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) to the British Interplanetary Society.

  • Arthur C. Clarke Foundation awards: "Arthur C. Clarke Innovator's Award" and "Arthur C. Clarke Lifetime Achievement Award"[155]
  • The Sir Arthur C. Clarke Memorial Trophy Inter School Astronomy Quiz Competition, held in Sri Lanka every year and organised by the Astronomical Association of Ananda College, Colombo. The competition started in 2001 as "The Sir Arthur C. Clarke Trophy Inter School Astronomy Quiz Competition" and was renamed after his death.[156][157]
  • Arthur C. Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society

Other

[edit]

Selected bibliography

[edit]

Novels

[edit]

Short stories and short story collections

[edit]

Non-fiction

[edit]
  • Interplanetary Flight: an introduction to astronautics (1950), London: Temple Press, ISBN 0-425-06448-4
  • The Exploration of Space (1951), New York: Harper & Brothers
  • The Exploration of the Moon (1954), with R. A. Smith, New York: Harper Brothers
  • The Coast of Coral (1955), London: Frederick Muller
  • Boy Beneath the Sea (1958), New York: Harper, ISBN 0060212667
  • Voice Across the Sea (1958), New York: Harper
  • Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry into the Limits of the Possible (1962), New York: Harper & Row
  • The Treasure of the Great Reef (1964), with Mike Wilson, New York: Harper & Row
  • Man and Space (1964), Life Science Library, New York: Time Life
  • Voices from the Sky: Previews of the Coming Space Age (1965), New York: Harper & Row
  • The Promise of Space (1968), New York: Harper & Row
  • Mars and the Mind of Man (1971), New York: Harper & Row ISBN 978-0-06-010443-6
  • Report on Planet Three And Other Speculations (1972), New York: Berkley, ISBN 0-425-07592-3
  • The View from Serendip (1977), New York: Random House, ISBN 0-394-41796-8
  • 1984: Spring / A Choice of Futures (1984), collected non-fiction writings, New York: Del Rey / Ballantine, ISBN 0-345-31357-7
  • Astounding Days: A Science Fictional Autobiography (1989), London: Gollancz, ISBN 0-575-04446-2
  • How the World Was One: Beyond the Global Village (1992), London: Gollancz, ISBN 0-575-05226-0
  • Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds! : Collected Essays, 1934–1998 (1999), New York: St. Martin's Press, and London: Voyager

Media appearances

[edit]
  • The City in the Image of Man: Ideas and Work of Paolo Soleri (1972)
  • 2010: The Odyssey Continues (1984)
  • The Day of Five Billion (1987)
  • Fractals: The colors of infinity (1995), narrated documentary
  • Future Fantastic (BBC, 1996)[163]
  • Arthur C. Clarke: The Man Who Saw the Future (1997)
  • Odyssey of Survival (1999)
  • 2001: HAL's Legacy (2001)
  • Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (2001)
  • To Mars by A-Bomb: The Secret History of Project Orion (BBC, 2003)[164]
  • The Martians and Us (2006)
  • Planetary Defense (2007)
  • Vision of a Future Passed: The Prophecy of 2001 (2007)

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Full dedication reads: "To the still unfading memory of LESLIE EKANAYAKE (13 JuIy 1947 – 4 July 1977) only perfect friend of a lifetime, in whom were uniquely combined Loyalty, Intelligence and Compassion. When your radiant and loving spirit vanished from this world, the light went out of many lives."
  2. ^ Letters Patent were issued by Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom on 16 March 2000 to authorise this.
  3. ^ ISFDB catalogues one "Letter" to Amazing Stories published in 1935, 10 more nonfiction items ("Essays") published 1938 to 1945, and five "Shortfiction" published 1937 to 1942.[2]
  4. ^ Full text: "Providing for Long Distance Communications and Safety". Archived from the original on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
  5. ^ Full text: "Observing and Researching the Earth's Surface". Archived from the original on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
  6. ^ "Intelsat, the International Telecommunications Satellite Organisation which operates the global system, has started calling it the Clarke orbit. Flattered though I am, honesty compels me to point out that the concept of such an orbit predates my 1945 paper 'Extra Terrestrial Relays' by at least twenty years. I didn't invent it, but only annexed it."[96]: 205 

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Liukkonen, Petri. "Arthur C. Clarke". Books and Writers (kirjasto.sci.fi). Finland: Kuusankoski Public Library. Archived from the original on 6 March 2008.
  2. ^ a b "Summary Bibliography: Arthur C. Clarke". Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB). Archived from the original on 29 December 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  3. ^ a b Adams, Tim (12 September 1999). "Man on the moon". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 13 January 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  4. ^ Ranked number 15 by the American Film Institute in 2007. "AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition". American Film Institute. 2007. Archived from the original on 7 June 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  5. ^ Ranked number 6 in the British Film Institute/Sight and Sound critics' poll in 2012. Christie, Ian (September 2012). "The Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time". Sight & Sound. 22 (9). Archived from the original on 1 March 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  6. ^ Reddy, John (April 1969). "Arthur Clarke: Prophet of the Space Age". Reader's Digest. 9 (564).
  7. ^ a b Toiati, L. (2023). The History of Science Fiction and Its Toy Figurines. Pen and Sword. p. 97. ISBN 978-1399005579.
  8. ^ a b c Clarke, Arthur C. (October 1945). "Extra-Terrestrial Relays – Can Rocket Stations Give World-wide Radio Coverage?". Wireless World. Vol. 51, no. 10. pp. 305–308.
    "– via lsi.usp.br.org". Archived from the original on 5 February 2007. Retrieved 8 February 2007.
    "– via sciencemuseum.org". Archived from the original on 7 November 2006. Retrieved 8 February 2007.
    "– via clarkeinstitute.org" (PDF). Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education. October 1945. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 March 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  9. ^ Benford, G. (2008). "Obituary: Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008)". Nature. 452 (7187): 546. Bibcode:2008Natur.452..546B. doi:10.1038/452546a. PMID 18385726.
  10. ^ Caiman, Roche (20 March 2008). "Remembering Arthur C. Clarke". Nature Seychelles. Archived from the original on 20 June 2008. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
  11. ^ Mintowt-Czyz, Lech & Bird, Steve (18 March 2008). "Science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke dies aged 90". The Times Online. Archived from the original on 14 May 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2008.
  12. ^ a b c "No. 51772". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 June 1989. p. 16.
  13. ^ a b c "The new knight of science fiction". BBC News. BBC. 1 January 1998. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2009.
  14. ^ a b c "Arthur C Clarke knighted". BBC News. BBC. 26 May 2000. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2009.
  15. ^ a b "Government Notification – National Honours" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2008., November 2005. Retrieved 20 October 2008
  16. ^ "Campaign for Sir Arthur C Clarke memorial in Minehead". BBC News. 25 July 2012. Archived from the original on 22 November 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  17. ^ Clarke, Arthur C., 1983, Of Sand and Stars: New York Times Book Review, 6 March 1983, reprinted in Clarke, Arthur C., 1984, 1984: Spring / A Choice of Futures: New York, Ballantine Books, p. 151–157.
  18. ^ "No. 34321". The London Gazette. 8 September 1936. p. 5798.
  19. ^ ""Close to tears, he left at the intermission": how Stanley Kubrick upset Arthur C Clarke". www.newstatesman.com. 8 January 2017. Archived from the original on 21 January 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  20. ^ Bernstein, Jeremy (9 August 1969). "Arthur C. Clarke: Out of the Ego Chamber". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 17 February 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  21. ^ "No. 36089". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 July 1943. pp. 3162–3163.
  22. ^ "No. 36271". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 November 1943. p. 5289.
  23. ^ "Arthur C. Clarke". Harper Collins. Archived from the original on 13 February 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  24. ^ Lee, John A. N., ed. (1995). International Biographical Dictionary of Computer Pioneers. Taylor & Francis. p. 166. ISBN 9781884964473. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  25. ^ "King's College London – Notable figures from NMS". www.kcl.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 26 January 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  26. ^ "Arthur C Clarke dies at 90". Physics World. 19 March 2008. Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  27. ^ "History". The British Interplanetary Society. Archived from the original on 2 December 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  28. ^ "Clarke Foundation Biography". Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2008.
  29. ^ Das, Saswato R. (20 March 2008). "Final thoughts from Arthur C. Clarke". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  30. ^ Mondo Cult Presents Walter Cronkite Apollo 11 Interview with Robert A. Heinlein & Arthur C. Clarke on YouTube
  31. ^ McAleer, Neil (2010). "20". Sir Arthur C. Clarke: Odyssey of a Visionary: A Biography. Clarke Project. ISBN 978-0615-553-22-1. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  32. ^ a b c d e Jonas, Gerald (18 March 2008). "Arthur C. Clarke, Premier Science Fiction Writer, Dies at 90". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 November 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2008.
  33. ^ "Sri lanka's underwater ruins". Ceylon digest. Archived from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  34. ^ "Book review – Reefs of Taprobane". www.kirkusreviews.com/. Kirkus Book Reviews. Archived from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  35. ^ "Underwater safaris – company details". Archived from the original on 12 June 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  36. ^ "Sir Arthur Clarke dies at age 90". The Arthur C. Clarke Foundation. 19 March 2008. Archived from the original on 10 July 2010. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
  37. ^ Pournelle, Jerry (April 1982). "The Osborne 1, Zeke's New Friends, and Spelling Revisited". BYTE. p. 212. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  38. ^ a b c "Clarke, Arthur C." The Locus Index to SF Awards: Index of Literary Nominees. Locus Publications. Archived from the original on 20 September 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  39. ^ "SFWA Grand Masters". Archived from the original on 21 June 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  40. ^ "British Polio Fellowship". www.britishpolio.org.uk. Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  41. ^ "Gorilla Organization mourns loss of patron Sir Arthur C Clarke – a true champion for gorillas". London: Gorilla Organization. 27 March 2008. Archived from the original on 13 April 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  42. ^ "Campaign for gorilla-friendly mobiles – News – This is London". Archived from the original on 26 June 2009. Retrieved 20 March 2008.
  43. ^ "Diving at Trncomalee". www.underwatersafari.org. Underwaer safaris. Retrieved 21 September 2018.[permanent dead link]
  44. ^ a b c d e f g h i McAleer, Neil. "Arthur C. Clarke: The Authorized Biography", Contemporary Books, Chicago, 1992. ISBN 0-8092-3720-2
  45. ^ Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: two (Kindle Locations 8622–8623). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
  46. ^ Baxter, John (1997). Stanley Kubrick: A Biography. New York: Carroll & Graff. p. 203. ISBN 0-7867-0485-3. But Clarke and Kubrick made a match. ... Both had a streak of homoeroticism ...
  47. ^ Moorcock, Michael (22 March 2008). "Brave New Worlds". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  48. ^ "Arthur C. Clarke: Playboy Interview". Playboy.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
  49. ^ "In honor of Sir Arthur C. Clarke". Toby Johnson. Archived from the original on 22 February 2008. Retrieved 18 March 2008.
  50. ^ a b "No. 55796". The London Gazette. 21 March 2000. p. 3167.
  51. ^ a b "No. 54993". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1997. p. 2.
  52. ^ "It Doesn't Do Any Harm ... Most of the Damage Comes from Fuss Made by Hysterical Parents". Sunday Mirror. 1 February 1998.
  53. ^ Schaverien, Tracy; Insall, Roger (8 February 1998). "SMIRK OF A PERVERT AND A LIAR; Police probe links Clarke to international child sex ring". Sunday Mirror.
  54. ^ "Sci-fi novelist cleared of sex charges". BBC News. 6 April 1998. Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2008.
  55. ^ "Child sex file could close on sci-fi writer". Irish Examiner. 13 August 1998. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2007.
  56. ^ "Sir Arthur C Clarke". The Telegraph. 19 March 2008. Archived from the original on 23 June 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  57. ^ "NOTW editor 'spiked paedophilia scoop on Arthur C Clarke for fear of Murdoch'". The Independent. 7 July 2012. Archived from the original on 11 November 2019. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  58. ^ Harding, Luke (27 September 2000). "The space Odysseus". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 11 February 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  59. ^ "About us". Underwater safaris. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  60. ^ "Arthur C Clarke loses diving school". www.writerswrite.com. Writers write. Archived from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  61. ^ Clarke, Arthur C. (February 2005). "Letter from Sri Lanka". Wired. Vol. 13, no. 2. San Francisco: Condé Nast. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on 28 October 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
  62. ^ "Video greeting to NASA JPL by Arthur C. Clarke". Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 24 September 2007.
  63. ^ "Sir Arthur C Clarke 90th Birthday reflections". YouTube. 10 December 2007. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2008.
  64. ^ "Writer Arthur C Clarke dies at 90". BBC News. 19 March 2008. Archived from the original on 12 December 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  65. ^ "Sci-fi guru Arthur C. Clarke dies at 90". NBC News. Associated Press. 18 March 2008. Archived from the original on 29 December 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  66. ^ "Arthur C. Clarke: The Wired Words". Wired Blog Network. 18 March 2008. Archived from the original on 20 March 2008. Retrieved 22 March 2008.
  67. ^ Gardner, Simon (19 March 2008). "Sci-fi guru Arthur C. Clarke dies at 90". Reuters India. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  68. ^ a b "NASA Satellite Detects Naked-Eye Explosion Halfway Across Universe". NASA. 21 March 2008. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
  69. ^ "Why not the Clarke Event?". EarthSky Blogs. 21 March 2008. Archived from the original on 28 March 2008. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  70. ^ kdawson (25 March 2008). "The Arthur C. Clarke Gamma Ray Burst". Slashdot. Archived from the original on 10 December 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  71. ^ Goeringer, Conrad F. (2008). "Writer, Visionary, Futurist & Atheist Arthur C. Clarke Died on March 18, 2008 at Age 90 – An Appreciation". American Atheist Magazine. p. 21. Archived from the original on 10 April 2015.
  72. ^ Pohl, Frederik (5 January 2009). "Sir Arthur and I". The Way the Future Blogs. Archived from the original on 23 January 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
  73. ^ "Last odyssey for sci-fi guru Arthur C. Clarke". Agence France-Presse. 18 March 2008. Archived from the original on 24 March 2008. Retrieved 6 February 2010. Just a few days before he died, Clarke reviewed the final manuscript of his latest novel, "The Last Theorem" co-written with American author Frederik Pohl, which is to be published later this year.
  74. ^ "Sci-fi writer Clarke laid to rest". BBC. 22 March 2008. Archived from the original on 25 March 2008. Retrieved 22 March 2008.
  75. ^ "Sir Arthur C. Clarke Collection Arrives at National Air and Space Museum". National Air and Space Museum. Smithsonian Institution. 20 April 2015. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  76. ^ Love, Tyler. "Arthur C. Clarke Collection of Sri Lanka". Smithsonian Institution Virtual Archives. Archived from the original on 5 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  77. ^ "The first US moon lander in more than 50 years launched with human remains on board, paving the way for space burials". Business Insider. 8 January 2024.
  78. ^ Wattles, Jackie (15 January 2024). "The first US lunar lander to launch in over 50 years is headed for a fiery end. Here's what it got done in space". CNN. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  79. ^ Rich Stanton (19 January 2024). "The ashes of Arthur C. Clarke and Star Trek creator Gene Rodenberry just burned up on re-entry to Earth's atmosphere after a failed moonshot". PC Gamer. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  80. ^ "C.S. Lewis and Arthur C. Clarke". Shawn Small Stories. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  81. ^ "Arthur C. Clarke Interview". Futurism. Archived from the original on 28 September 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  82. ^ "Clarke, Arthur C". SFE: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. 26 March 2018. Archived from the original on 17 March 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  83. ^ Seiler, Edward & Jenkins, John H. (1994–2009). "Isaac Asimov FAQ". Isaac Asimov Home Page. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  84. ^ Hartwell, David G.; Cramer, Kathryn (2002). The Hard SF Renaissance. ISBN 0-312-71129-8.
  85. ^ McLellan, Dennis (19 March 2008). "Arthur C. Clarke, 90; scientific visionary, acclaimed writer of '2001: A Space Odyssey'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011.
  86. ^ "Randi shares some stories regarding his friend Arthur C. Clarke and compares Stanley Kubrick to Steve Jobs". Archived from the original on 30 April 2008. Retrieved 24 April 2008.
  87. ^ Clarke, Arthur C.; Hyams, Peter (1984). The Odyssey File. Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-32108-4. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  88. ^ Sierra On-Line (17 November 1996). "Sierra WebNews, November 17, 1996". Newsgroupalt.anonymous.messages. Archived from the original on 31 December 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  89. ^ a b "Freeman Still Pushes Rama". Sci Fi Wire. The Sci Fi Channel. 14 March 2003. Archived from the original on 17 January 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  90. ^ a b "Rendezvous with Rama". Revelations Entertainment. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011.
  91. ^ quint (1 January 2008). "David Fincher and Quint talk about everything from A(lien3) to Z(odiac)!!!". Ain't It Cool News. Archived from the original on 19 March 2009. Retrieved 7 March 2009.
  92. ^ Billington, Alex (13 October 2008). "David Fincher's Rendezvous with Rama Officially Dead". First Showing. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 7 March 2009.
  93. ^ Steve "Frosty" Weintraub (30 December 2010). "Exclusive: David Fincher Talks 'Social Network', 'Zodiac', His Filmmaking Process, and More". Collider. Archived from the original on 6 January 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  94. ^ Galuppo, Mia (15 December 2021). "Denis Villeneuve Tackling Adaptation of Sci-Fi Classic 'Rendezvous With Rama' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 1 March 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  95. ^ Darrin, Ann; O'Leary, Beth L., eds. (26 June 2009). Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology, and Heritage. CRC Press. p. 604. ISBN 9781420084320. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  96. ^ a b c Clarke, Arthur C. (1984) [1st pub. 1962, rev. 1973, 1984, 1999]. Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry Into the Limits of the Possible. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Wilson. ISBN 0-03-069783-2.
  97. ^ "Chart of the Future". Archived from the original on 24 February 2007. Retrieved 8 February 2007.
  98. ^ "Arthur C Clarke predicts the internet in 1964". 22 December 2013. Archived from the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
  99. ^ Arthur C. Clarke Predicts the Internet & PC on YouTube
  100. ^ Clarke, Arthur C. (February 1945). "Peacetime Uses for V2" (JPG). Wireless World. p. 58. Archived from the original on 15 March 2007. Retrieved 8 February 2007.
  101. ^ "Basics of Space Flight Section 1 Part 5, Geostationary Orbits". NASA. Archived from the original on 11 June 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
  102. ^ Earl, Michael A. (9 January 2006). "A sea of satellite dishes". The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
  103. ^ "The 1945 Proposal by Arthur C. Clarke for Geostationary Satellite Communications". lakdiva.org. Archived from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  104. ^ Pierce, John R. (December 1990). "ECHO – America's First Communications Satellite". Reprinted from SMEC Vintage Electrics Volume 2 No. 1. Southwest Museum of Engineering, Communications and Computation. Archived from the original on 28 April 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
  105. ^ "Final Thoughts from Sir Arthur C. Clarke". March 2008. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  106. ^ der Raketen-Motor (The Problem of Space Travel – The Rocket Motor Archived 29 December 2021 at the Wayback Machine
  107. ^ Kelso, T. S. (1 May 1998). "Basics of the Geostationary Orbit". Satellite Times. Archived from the original on 3 February 2007. Retrieved 8 February 2007.
  108. ^ Greig, Doreen E. (1987). The Reluctant Colonists: Netherlanders Abroad in the 17th and 18th Centuries. Assen, The Netherlands; Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, United States. p. 227. ISBN 978-9-02322-227-9. OCLC 14069213.
  109. ^ "Expedition in the waters of Ceylon". Science Digest. 57. Chicago: 142. 1965. ISSN 0036-8296. OCLC 1624458. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2020. One of the major achievements in Ceylon was the discovery of the ruins of the sunken Konesar Temple, which as located with the wrecked treasure ship ...
  110. ^ Clarke, Arthur C. (1957). The Reefs of Taprobane; Underwater Adventures around Ceylon. New York: Harper. ISBN 0-7434-4502-3.
  111. ^ Throckmorton, Peter. "The Great Basses Wreck" (PDF). Expedition. 6 (3, Spring): 21–31. ISSN 0014-4738. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 February 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  112. ^ Personal e-mail from Sir Arthur Clarke to Jerry Stone, Director of the Sir Arthur Clarke Awards, 1 November 2006
  113. ^ "Full Page Reload". IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  114. ^ Mintowt-Czyz, Lech (19 March 2008). "Sir Arthur C. Clarke: The Times obituary". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  115. ^ a b Clarke, Arthur C. (1999) [1991]. "Credo". Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds!. First appearing in Living Philosophies, Clifton Fadiman, ed. (Doubleday). New York: St. Martin's Griffin. pp. 358–363. ISBN 978-0-312-26745-2. Archived from the original on 21 June 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  116. ^ "Life beyond 2001". Midweek Review. Archived from the original on 5 February 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2008.
  117. ^ Agel, Jeromy, ed. (1970). The Making of Kubrick's 2001. p. 306. ... Stanley [Kubrick] is a Jew and I'm an atheist
  118. ^ "The International Academy Of Humanism". Council for Secular Humanism. Archived from the original on 14 March 2007. Retrieved 18 October 2007.
  119. ^ a b Cherry, Matt (1999). "God, Science, and Delusion: A Chat With Arthur C. Clarke". Free Inquiry. Vol. 19, no. 2. Amherst, New York: Council for Secular Humanism. ISSN 0272-0701. Archived from the original on 3 April 2008. Retrieved 16 April 2008.
  120. ^ Matthew, Teague (1 August 2004). "Childhood's End: A too-brief encounter with Arthur C. Clarke, the grand old man of science fiction visionaries". Popular Science. ISSN 0161-7370. Archived from the original on 16 May 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  121. ^ Clarke, Arthur C.; Watts, Alan (January 1972). "At the Interface: Technology and Mysticism". Playboy. Vol. 19, no. 1. Chicago, Ill.: HMH Publishing. p. 94. ISSN 0032-1478. OCLC 3534353.
  122. ^ a b "Mysterious world strange skies 3 of 3". YouTube. 24 November 2007. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  123. ^ "A Mind For the Future: Arthur C. Clarke and the Search for Alien Life | Mysterious Universe". mysteriousuniverse.org. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  124. ^ Rothstein, Edward (20 March 2008). "For Clarke, Issues of Faith, but Tackled Scientifically". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 12 December 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  125. ^ "Quotes of the Day". Time. 19 March 2008. Archived from the original on 24 March 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2008.
  126. ^ a b c d e f g "Arthur C. Clarke's Philosophy for the 21st Century" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  127. ^ "Los Angeles Free Press4/25/1969 — Independent Voices". Los Angeles Free Press. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021 – via revealdigital.org.
  128. ^ Childhood's End, Del Rey, New York, 1990, pp. v
  129. ^ Greenwald, Jeff (July–August 1993). "Arthur C. Clarke on Life". Wired. Vol. 1, no. 3. San Francisco: Condé Nast. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on 28 October 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
  130. ^ José Luis Cordeiro (July–August 2008). "Tribute to Sir Arthur C. Clarke". The Futurist. Vol. 42, no. 4. Bethesda, Maryland: World Future Society. ISSN 0016-3317. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  131. ^ Robinson, Andrew (10 October 1997). "The cosmic godfather". Times Higher Education. London: TSL Education Ltd. ISSN 0049-3929. Archived from the original on 8 January 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
  132. ^ Arthur C Clarke's Mysterious Universe
  133. ^ Riddihough, Guy (4 July 2008). "Cities Not Built to Last". Science. 321 (5885): 42–43. doi:10.1126/science.1161705. S2CID 161480315. What marks the book out are Clarke's sweeping vistas, grand ideas, and ultimately optimistic view of humankind's future in the cosmos.
  134. ^ "Arthur C. Clarke Quotes". Archived from the original on 23 January 2007. Retrieved 8 February 2007.
  135. ^ "The SF Site Featured Review: Arthur C. Clarke & Lord Dunsany: A Correspondence". www.sfsite.com. Archived from the original on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  136. ^ Ley, Willy (October 1965). "Fifteen Years of Galaxy – Thirteen Years of F.Y.I." For Your Information. Galaxy Science Fiction. pp. 84–94.
  137. ^ "Arthur C. Clarke". The Franklin Institute. 10 January 2014. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  138. ^ "Arthur C Clarke nominated for Nobel". Moon Miners' Manifesto (#92). Artemis Society International. February 1996. Archived from the original on 10 October 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2008.
  139. ^ "1956 Hugo Awards". 26 July 2007. Archived from the original on 7 May 2011.
  140. ^ "Summary List of UNESCO Prizes: List of Prizewinners, p. 12" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 May 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2008.
  141. ^ "Franklin Laureate Database". Archived from the original on 29 May 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  142. ^ Peebles, Curtis. "Names of US manned spacecraft". Spaceflight, Vol. 20, 2, Fev. 1978. Spaceflight. Archived from the original on 25 December 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  143. ^ "1972 Nebula Awards". The Nebula Awards®. Archived from the original on 21 July 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  144. ^ "1973 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  145. ^ "1974 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Archived from the original on 12 March 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  146. ^ "1979 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  147. ^ "1980 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  148. ^ "Arthur C. Clarke". The Marconi Society. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  149. ^ "Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master". Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). Archived from the original on 1 July 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  150. ^ "Corporate Information". www.bath.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 25 May 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
  151. ^ Burns, John F. (28 November 1994). "Colombo Journal; A Nonfiction Journey to a More Peaceful World". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 April 2008. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  152. ^ "1997 Inductees". Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. Mid American Science Fiction and Fantasy Conventions. Archived from the original on 21 May 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  153. ^ "BHA Expresses Sadness at Death of Arthur C Clarke". Humanists UK. 18 March 2008. Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  154. ^ "Sir Arthur Clarke Named Recipient of 2004 Heinlein Award" (Press release). 22 May 2004. Archived from the original on 22 June 2009. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
  155. ^ "Awards". The Arthur C. Clarke Foundation. 12 August 2014. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  156. ^ "Arthur C. Clarke Memorial Trophy Interschool Astronomy Quiz Competition". SKYLk. Archived from the original on 10 December 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  157. ^ "Sir Arthur C Clarke Challenge Trophy 2011". Astro ananda. 14 June 2011. Archived from the original on 29 December 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  158. ^ "Arthur C Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies".
  159. ^ Guruge, Hemanthi (16 August 2011). "A Speedy and safe journey to Galle". Daily News. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012.
  160. ^ Sirimane, Shirajiv (31 July 2011). "First phase opens in August". Sunday Observer. Archived from the original on 1 August 2011.
  161. ^ "Pluto's Largest Moon, Charon, Gets Its First Official Names". International Astronomical Union (Press release). 11 April 2018. Archived from the original on 12 April 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  162. ^ Clarke, Arthur C. (1985). The Sentinel (2nd ed.). Voyager: Panther Books. p. 2000. ISBN 978-0-586-21204-2.
  163. ^ "Future Fantastic", IMDb (Documentary), 1996, archived from the original on 24 February 2020, retrieved 11 January 2024
  164. ^ Sykes, Christopher (26 March 2003), "To Mars by A-Bomb: The Secret History of Project Orion", IMDb (Documentary), archived from the original on 5 November 2018, retrieved 11 January 2024
[edit]