Arthur C. Clarke biography | birthday, trivia | British Writer | Who2 Arthur C. Clarke Biography Writer Sci-fi superstar Arthur C. Clarke wrote the 1953 novel Childhood’s End, which went on to become one of most popular and acclaimed science fiction novels of all time. Yet he is still better known for his 1968 novel 2001: A Space Odyssey (based on his own 1951 short story The Sentinel). Clarke worked with director Stanley Kubrick on the screenplay for the 1968 film, which is now regarded as a classic. Clarke has published hundreds of essays and short stories and over 75 novels, including the sequels 2010: Odyssey Two (1982), 2061: Odyssey Three (1988), 3001: The Final Odyssey (1997). Along with his literary work, he is credited with coming up with the idea for a real-life space success: geostationary communications satellites. Since 1956 he has lived in Sri Lanka. Clarke was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1998. Arthur C.

Clarke – The Authorized Biography was published by Neil McAleer in 1992. He died in the Indian Ocean country of Sri Lanka, his home since 1956. Extra credit Clarke’s middle name is Charles… He was nominated for a screenwriting Oscar in 1969 for 2001: A Space Odyssey, but did not win; the winner that year was Mel Brooks for the comedy The Producers… Among Clarke’s literary creations is the fictional supercomputer Hal 9000 . 2001: A Space Odyssey | Folio Illustrated Book 2001: A Space Odyssey Introduced by Michael Moorcock Illustrated by Joe Wilson Every bit as ambitious and prophetic as the film that shared its inception, Arthur C. Clarke’s novel remains a towering science-fiction classic. This is the first illustrated edition. Published price: US$ 49.95 Based on 3 reviews 2001: A Space Odyssey Developed from Arthur C.

Clarke’s short story ‘The Sentinel’ and brainstormed together with legendary film director Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey(1968) has had an indelible impact on both cinema and genre literature. Written alongside the screenplay, the book stands on its own merits as a visionary work: a powerful exploration of space, artificial intelligence and the destiny of humanity. ‘Arthur C. Clarke is one of the truly prophetic figures of the space age … the colossus of science fiction’ The New Yorker This edition includes the foreword written jointly by Clarke and Kubrick, as well as Clarke’s ‘Back to 2001’ preface written in 1989. Michael Moorcock, a long-standing colleague of Clarke’s and an award-winning author, has provided a new introduction revealing much of his friend’s personality, as well as casting a new light on the fractious relationship between Clarke and Kubrick. For this first illustrated edition, Joe Wilson has contributed seven colour illustrations that capture the book’s vision of 2001’s remarkable future, while the binding shimmers with holographic foil.

Production Details Frontispiece and 6 colour plates 9½“ x 6¼“ A landmark work of speculative fiction For all its scientific realism, 2001: A Space Odyssey is also an exciting and entertaining read. Particularly in comparison to the film, it rattles along at a thrilling pace; Clarke moves us swiftly from the appearance of the first monolith on prehistoric earth – which so startles and unnerves the man-apes who are the ancestors of the human race – to a chilling episode on board the Discovery, when a mission to Saturn is jeopardised by the increasing mental instability of the ship’s computer, HAL 9000. The final section of the book, in which the isolated David Bowman explores a ‘Grand Central Station of the Galaxy’, is a frightening, extraordinary and undoubtedly joyful trip to the very limits of human experience. 'And twice there passed slowly across the sky, rising up the zenith and descending into the east, a dazzling point of light more brilliant than any star' Clarke was a dedicated proponent of space exploration and the chairman of the British Interplanetary Society.

His enthusiasm for the subject is evident in his detailed descriptions of space travel – even at the time of writing, such feats would have seemed quite extraordinary, yet Clarke writes with an optimism that makes that future feel inevitable. Indeed, 2001 is full of prescient details: in 1979 the Voyager mission used Jupiter’s gravitational field to ‘boost’ its journey to the outer solar system, in much the same way the fictional Discovery uses gravitational assist to reach the distant moons of Saturn; and the ‘Newspads’ in use by Clarke’s moon colonists will seem very familiar to 21st-century readers. An extract from Michael Moorcock’s introduction There are several published accounts of how 2001 came into being. I understood from Arthur that he was somewhat frustrated by Kubrick’s erratic schedule. This meant that the novel, which they were supposed to write before the film’s appearance, would come out after the initial release date. But in the main he seemed generally happy with the collaboration, even up to the time that rough cuts were being shown.

He was, I know, afraid that Kubrick’s inability to settle down and collaborate on the novel might mean that the book, coming out after 2001’s release, would look like a novelisation of the film rather than an original work. Based primarily on his short story ‘The Sentinel’, together with other published fact and fiction, the film was very much a joint effort, although Arthur was overly modest about his contribution. For his part, Kubrick seemed unable to come up with an ending that suited him. When I visited the set, the film was already about two years behind schedule and well over budget. I saw several alternative finale scenes constructed, which were later abandoned. In one version the monolith turned out to be some kind of alien spaceship. I also knew something that I don’t think Arthur ever did. Kubrick was at some point dissatisfied with the collaboration, approaching other writers (including J. G. Ballard and myself) to work on the movie. He knew neither Ballard nor me personally. We refused for several reasons. I felt it would be disloyal to accept. I guessed the problem was a difference in personality.

Arthur was a scientific educator and belonged to a school of SF writers that needed to cross every t and dot every i. Explanations were his forte. He was uncomfortable with most forms of ambiguity. Kubrick was an intuitive director inclined to leave the interpretations to the audience. These differences were barely acknowledged. Neither did Kubrick tell Arthur of his concerns regarding the final version. Where, thanks to Arthur, the film was heavy with voice-over explication and clarifications of scenes, Kubrick wanted the story to be told almost entirely in visual terms. Without consulting or confronting his co-creator, during the final edit he cut a huge amount of Arthur’s voice-over explanation. This decision probably contributed significantly to the film’s success but Arthur was unprepared for it. When he addressed MGM executives at a dinner given in his honour before the premiere, Arthur spoke warmly of Kubrick, telling his audience that there had been no serious disagreements between them in all the years they had worked together, though declaring he had yet to see the final cut. My own guess at the time was that Kubrick wasn’t at ease with any proposed resolution but had nothing better to offer in place of his co-writer’s ‘Star Child’ ending.

We know now that the long final sequence, offered without explanation, was probably what helped turn the film into the success it became, but the rather unresponsive expressions on the faces of the MGM executives whom Arthur had addressed in his speech showed that they were by no means convinced they had a winner. About the author Arthur C. Clarke was born in 1917 in Minehead, Somerset. Volunteering for RAF service in 1941, Clarke worked on radar systems during the Second World War, and published an influential paper in 1945 which sketched the potential for orbital communication satellites. His passionate interest in science was allied with an early facility for fiction writing, and he went on to write more than seventy books, including Childhood’s End (1967), Rama II (1989), The Ghost from the Grand Banks (1991) and The Garden of Rama (1991). He became the world’s foremost science-fiction writer and won numerous international awards including the Hugo and Nebula. In 1968 he shared an Academy Award nomination for his collaboration with Stanley Kubrick on the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

He was awarded a knighthood in 1998 and died in 2008 in his adopted home of Sri Lanka. About the introducer Michael Moorcock is one of the most important figures in British SF and Fantasy literature. His novels have won, and been shortlisted for, numerous awards including the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Whitbread and Guardian Fiction Prize. In 1999, he was given the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award; in 2001, he was inducted into the SF Hall of Fame; and in 2007, he was named a SFWA Grandmaster. His tenure as editor of New Worlds magazine in the sixties and seventies is seen as the high watermark of SF editorship in the UK, and was crucial in the development of the SF New Wave. Although born in London, he now splits his time between homes in Texas and Paris. About the illustrator Joe Wilson is an illustrator based in the UK and trained at Leeds Metropolitan University. Known for his focus on detail and drawing, alongside a preference for muted colour palettes, he specialises in hand-drawn illustrations and print.

Working with a combination of pencil, ink and digital colour, he has developed a style reminiscent of woodcut printing, etching and screen printing. Reviews Rating: 5/5 "I suggested Folio publish 2001 a number of years ago and I was excited to see it in the March 2016 Collection. I never considered how hard it would be to illustrate the book since the film has imprint..." [read more] "I suggested Folio publish 2001 a number of years ago and I was excited to see it in the March 2016 Collection. I never considered how hard it would be to illustrate the book since the film has imprinted many iconic images from the story in the minds of everyone who has seen it. However, when I opened it I was amazed by how Joe Wilson was able to create his his own iconic illustrations that are stunning in their own right. I also found the production details of the book to be stunning, from the metallic slipcase, to the cover design blocked in holographic foil, to the typeset, to the choice of a flat spine, which makes it stand out among all my other Folio editions.

This is the edition of 2001 that I have always wanted." [hide full review] People who viewed this book also viewed: Arthur C. Clarke Biography (Writer) Birthplace: Minehead, Somerset, England Best known as: The author of 2001: A Space Odyssey Sci-fi superstar Arthur C. Clarke wrote the 1953 novel Childhood's End, which went on to become one of most popular and acclaimed science fiction novels of all time. Yet he is still better known for his 1968 novel 2001: A Space Odyssey (based on his own 1951 short story The Sentinel). Clarke worked with director Stanley Kubrick on the screenplay for the 1968 film, which is now regarded as a classic. Clarke has published hundreds of essays and short stories and over 75 novels, including the sequels 2010: Odyssey Two (1982), 2061: Odyssey Three (1988), 3001: The Final Odyssey (1997).

Along with his literary work, he is credited with coming up with the idea for a real-life space success: geostationary communications satellites. Since 1956 he has lived in Sri Lanka. Clarke was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1998. Arthur C. Clarke - The Authorized Biography was published by Neil McAleer in 1992. He died in the Indian Ocean country of Sri Lanka, his home since 1956. Extra credit: Clarke’s middle name is Charles… He was nominated for a screenwriting Oscar in 1969 for 2001: A Space Odyssey, but did not win; the winner that year was Mel Brooks for the comedy The Producers… Among Clarke’s literary creations is the fictional supercomputer Hal 9000 . Copyright © 1998-2017 by Who2?, LLC. All rights reserved. Advertisement Advertisement Arthur C Clarke facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Arthur C Clarke COPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. Arthur C. Clarke Known as one of the modern masters of science fiction, English novelist Arthur C.

Clarke (born 1917) created the immensely popular 2001 series, which became the basis for a classic film in 1968. Arthur C. Clarke is the architect of some of the 20th Century's most enduring mythology. A futurist and science fiction writer, Clarke has penned over 600 articles and short stories, as well as dozens of novels and collections. His work has been translated into over 30 languages and adapted on television and in Hollywood movies, most notably in the classic 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. That Stanley Kubrick movie helped make Arthur C. Clarke an international celebrity. It won a whole new audience for his visionary tales about the possibilities of science and the wonders of space exploration, and solidified his reputation as one of the modern masters of science fiction. Discovers Science Fiction Early Arthur Charles Clarke was born on December 16, 1917 in the seaside town of Minehead, Somerset, England. His parents, Charles Wright and Nora (Willis) Clarke, were farmers. Clarke was educated at Huish's Grammar School in Taunton, Somerset.

He first began reading science fiction at the age of 12, when he first discovered the pulp magazine Amazing Stories. It soon became his principal passion. "During my lunch hour away from school I used to haunt the local Woolworth's in search of my fix," he told The New York Times Book Review, "which cost three pence a shot, roughly a quarter today." As a teenager, Clarke began writing his own stories for a school magazine. When poverty forced him to drop out of school in 1936, he moved to London to work as a civil servant auditor for the British government. He kept up his interest in outer space by joining the British Interplanetary Society, an association of sci-fi hobbyists. He wrote articles on space exploration for the Society journal and got to know other science fiction writers and editors. He would later use these contacts to secure the publication of his first stories. When World War II broke out, Clarke joined the Royal Air Force (RAF), where he worked as a radar instructor and earned the rank of flight-lieutenant. During this time, Clarke served as a technical officer on the first Ground Control Approach radar.

In 1945, he wrote an article, "Extraterrestrial Relays," which proposed using satellites for communications, something which would become quite common in later years. After the war ended he returned to London and enrolled at King's College. He graduated in 1948 with a bachelor of science degree. His honor subjects were mathematics and physics. Becomes Prominent Futurist In 1946, Clarke became the chairman of the British Interplanetary Society. That spring saw the publication of his first two science fiction stories, "Loophole" and "Rescue Party" (both published in Amazing Science Fiction magazine). During this period, he often wrote under pen names, which included Charles Willis and E.G. O'Brien. His early stories were known for their tidy construction and sound scientific basis. In 1949, Clarke returned to hard science, joining the staff of Physics Abstracts as its assistant editor. But he continued writing about outer space as well. His first novel, Prelude to Space was published in 1951. Another book, The Sands of Mars followed later that year.

While many reviewers found the prose in these novels a bit stiff, they did offer an optimistic view of the potentials of science in the space age. Islands in the Sky (1952), about a boy in an orbiting space station, was another representative early book. Sentinel of Things To Come In 1952, Clarke received the International Fantasy Award for his early work. The next year, he published Expedition to Earth, a collection of short stories which included "The Sentinel." This tale, which involves the discovery by humans of a mysterious alien monolith, was to form the basis of the 1968 film and novelization 2001: A Space Odyssey. It also marked the introduction of metaphysical and religious themes into Clarke's work. Many readers saw "The Sentinel" as an allegory about man's search for God. Certainly it expressed Clarke's belief in the power of science in helping mankind understand the universe. Clarke continued to explore these themes in his next two books. Against the Fall of Night (1953) follows a young protagonist in his attempts to escape from the controlled environment of a utopian city of the future.

Childhood's End involves an attempt by aliens to tutor mankind in the ways of cosmic transcendence. Both stories so gripped Clarke's imagination that he spent many years revising and rewriting them under various titles. Both novels are highly conceptual and contain many mystical, visionary passages. They are considered two of his finest achievements and helped break new ground in the science fiction genre. Man of Many Interests Clarke maintained other interests during this fertile period as well. On June 15, 1953, he married Marilyn Mayfield. In 1954, he took the first the first step in what would become a lifelong effort to explore and photograph the Great Barrier Reef of Australia and the coast of Sri Lanka. He took up residence in Sri Lanka (known at the time as Ceylon) in 1956. An avid skin diver, Clarke wrote many non-fiction books and articles about his experiences. Clarke continued to write prolifically throughout the 1950s. His work came to embrace many topics that went beyond the conventions of genre science fiction. The Deep Range (1954) concerned the possibility of farming under the sea in the future, managing to combine Clarke's interests in science and underwater exploration.

The Star (1955) was another powerful allegorical story about a star put in the sky by God to herald the birth of Jesus. It won a Hugo award, the science fiction community's highest honor. In the 1960s, Clarke began to concentrate on non-fiction. His writings on the nature of science won him the UNESCO Kalinga Prize in 1962. In 1963, he published his first non-science fiction novel, Glide Path, about the origins of radar. As space travel became more reality than fiction, Clarke began to write and speak extensively on the subject. He became well-known around the world as a television commentator for CBS covering the Apollo 11, 12, and 15 missions. Becomes an International Figure Clarke's fame took a quantum leap with the release of Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). This adaptation of Clarke's short story "The Sentinel" redefined science fiction filmmaking. It eschewed the cowboy conventions of earlier, Western-influenced movies about space exploration.

Instead, 2001 followed Clarke's lead in using science fiction as a bridge to the consideration of mystical and religious themes. The limits of technology were also explored, in a scene where a space station's super computer, known as HAL 9000, goes berserk and attempts to kill its human users. The picture was a hit with moviegoers and made Clarke the most recognizable science fiction writer on the planet. He penned a novelization of the film which expanded upon the characters and themes contained in "The Sentinel." Clarke used his newfound international celebrity to secure a lucrative new book contract. A collection of his non-fiction science writing, The Exploration of Space received the International Fantasy Award in 1972, A new novel, Rendezvous with Rama appeared in 1973. It explored many of the same themes as 2001 and was awarded all the major science fiction prizes. Imperial Earth: A Fantasy of Love and Discord (1975) got a decidedly mixed reception from critics. But Clarke bounced back with Fountains of Paradise (1979), which won the Hugo Award for Best Novel.

Clarke disappointed many of his fans, however, when he announced it would be his last book of fiction. Reneges on Promise By 1982, despite his previous statements, Clarke was ready to write another novel. He produced a sequel, 2010: Odyssey Two, which was made into a popular film two years later. It was followed in 1986 by 2061: Odyssey Three, solidifying the "Sentinel" mythos into a full-blown series. Also in 1986, Clarke was the recipient of a Nebula Grand Master Award for his contributions to science fiction. Now in his seventies and a certified living legend, Clarke showed no signs of slowing down. With help from co-author Gentry Lee, he produced sequels to Rendezvous with Rama in 1989, 1991, and 1994. In 1989, his memoir, Astounding Days: A Science Fictional Autobiography appeared. The entertaining account of his life contains many fascinating anecdotes about other writers Clarke had known.

The solo novel The Ghost from the Grand Banks (1990), about attempts to raise the Titanic in the near future, was dismissed by reviewers as too spare. But 3001: The Final Odyssey (1997) returned Clarke to familiar and beloved territory. The sprawling conclusion to the saga begun in "The Sentinel" some 45 years earlier read like a summation of the visionary writer's life and philosophy. Clarke's critics have said his work lacks warmth, that he concentrated on science to the detriment of the "human element" that is so necessary to good fiction. But critics sympathetic to Clarke's viewpoint see in his work a vision that transcends the limitations of "nuts and bolts" sci-fi. That vision, wrote Eric S. Rabkin in his study Arthur C. Clarke, is "a humane and open and fundamentally optimistic view of humankind and its potential in a universe which dwarfs us in physical size but which we may hope some day to match in spirit." Further Reading Contemporary Authors, New Revisions, Volume 55, Gale, 1997. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, edited by John Clute and Peter Nichols, St. Martin's Press, 1993.

Hollow, John, Against the Night, The Stars: The Science Fiction of Arthur C. Clarke, Harcourt Brace, 1983. Rabkin, Eric S., Arthur C. Clarke, Starmont House, 1979. Cite this article COPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. Clarke, Arthur C. British Science Fiction Writer 1917- Born at Minehead, Somerset, United Kingdom , on December 17, 1917, Arthur C. Clarke was fascinated by science fiction and astronomy at an early age. In the 1930s he joined the British Interplanetary Society. After enlisting in the Royal Air Force in 1941, he became a radar instructor and participated in the development of ground-controlled landings of aircraft under zero-visibility conditions. In 1945 the technical journal Wireless World published Clarke's article "Extra-Terrestrial Relays," which proposed the use of three broadcast satellites in equatorial orbit to provide worldwide communication.

Clarke chose an orbital altitude of 35,786 kilometers (22,300 miles) because at that distance the angular velocity of Earth 's rotation would match that of the satellite. As a result, the satellite would remained fixed in the sky. Twenty years later, Early Bird was launched, the first of the commercial satellites that provide global communications networks for telephone, television, and high-speed digital communication, including the Internet . After World War II , Clarke obtained a bachelor of science degree in physics and mathematics at King's College, London. In 1954 he became enchanted by underwater scuba diving, which simulated weightlessness in spaceflight. In 1969 Clarke moved to Sri Lanka .

Clarke has written eighty books on science and technology, along with their sociological consequences.* He collaborated with the director Stanley Kubrick on the film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), which was based on his short story "The Sentinel." Clarke has received many honors and awards, including knighthood, the Franklin Institute Gold Medal, the UNESCO-Kalinga Prize, honorary fellow memberships and awards from major scientific and astronautical organizations, and a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994. Among Clarke's works are the following books: Nonfiction Ascent to Orbit, a Scientific Autobiography: The Technical Writings of Arthur C. Clarke. New York : John Wiley & Sons, 1984. Astounding Days: A Science Fictional Autobiography. New York: Bantam, 1989. The Exploration of Space. New York: Harper, 1951. Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds!: Collected Essays, 1934-1998. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999. How the World Was One: Beyond the Global Village.

New York: Bantam, 1992. The Making of a Moon: The Story of the Earth Satellite Program. New York: Harper, 1957. Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry into the Limits of the Possible. New York: Harper, 1962. The Promise of Space. New York: Harper, 1968. Voices from the Sky: Previews of the Coming Space Age. New York:Harper, 1965. Fiction Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology COPYRIGHT 2001 The Gale Group Inc. Clarke, Arthur C. (1917-) Famous British science fiction author and technologist credited with originating the concept of communication satellites. Clarke has also presented two television series on paranormal phenomena. He was born December 16, 1917, in Minehead, Somersetshire, England , and was educated at King's College, University of London (B.Sc., 1948).

He had previously been an auditor in the British Civil Service (1936-44) and a radar instructor in the Royal Air Force (1941-46), retiring as a flight lieutenant. After graduation he served as an assistant editor of Science Abstracts (1949-50). He began freelance writing in 1951 and has since turned out numerous nonfiction and science fiction books such as, Childhood's End, and Rendezvous with Rama. He was selected to chair the Second International Astronautics Congress in London, 1951. Clarke has received many important awards for his science fiction writing and his scientific contributions, including the Stuart Ballantine Gold Medal from the Franklin Institute in 1963 for his concept of communications satellites, the Robert Ball Award from the Aviation-Space Writers Association in 1965 for best aerospace reporting of the year, and the Westinghouse Science Writing Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1969.

Clarke became internationally famous for his screenplay (with Stanley Kubrick) for the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which received the Second International Film Festival special award in 1969 and an Academy Award nomination from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1969). With such a background of scientific fact and fiction, Clarke's investigation of claimed paranormal phenomena was of special interest. He was coauthor with Simon Welfare and John Fairley of two important television series: Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World (1980) and Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers (1984), both presented on British television and later aired on programs in the United States and other countries. The series was supported by books containing additional material not in the television programs. In both books and television programs, Clarke and his collaborators express a considerable skepticism, although granting a limited probability to certain claimed paranormal phenomena such as apparitions, maledictions, poltergeists, telepathy, stigmata, and fire walking.

However, the great value of books and programs lay in the scrutiny of recent phenomena instead of simply a rehash of old material, and in the television programs rare early movie records of phenomena were shown together with recently filmed events. Both books and television programs therefore constitute a useful record of research, and even their skepticism is a healthy corrective to overcredulous writing and filming on the paranormal. Sources: The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright The Columbia University Press Arthur C. Clarke: (Sir Arthur Charles Clarke), 1917–2008, British science fiction writer. During World War II he served as a radar instructor and aviator in the Royal Air Force. After the war he obtained a degree in physics and mathematics from King's College, London (1948) and in 1956 he settled permanently in Sri Lanka. His popular, technologically realistic books and stories are based not solely on imagination but also on scientific fact and theory. His works blend dread and wonder as they examine the search for meaning in the universe and as they champion the idea that humanity's future lies far beyond Earth.

Among his nearly 100 books are Childhood's End (1953), The Nine Billion Names of God (1967), Rendezvous with Rama (1973), and The Songs of Distant Earth (1983); he alwo wrote more than 1,000 short stories and essays. In 1968 he collaborated with filmmaker Stanley Kubrick on 2001: A Space Odyssey, a novel that became an extremely successful motion picture with a screenplay also co-written by Kubrick and Clarke. Three novelistic sequels by Clarke followed, the last in 1997. Clarke's Collected Stories were published in 2001. Many of his ideas proved to be prophetic. In 1945, for instance, Clarke proposed the concept of positioning an artificial satellite in an orbit in which it circles the earth every 24 hours, thus appearing stationary to the locale below. Today, dozens of such communications satellites orbit the earth in a geosynchronous circuit known as the Clarke orbit. He was knighted in 1998.

See his Astounding Days: A Science Fictional Autobiography (1990); biography by N. McAleer (1992); study by J. D. Olander and M. H. Greenberg, ed. (1977), G. E. Slusser (1977), E. S. Rabkin (1979), and J. Hollow (1983). Cite this article COPYRIGHT 2001 The Gale Group Inc. CLARKE, Arthur C(harles) Nationality: British. Born: Minehead, Somerset, 16 December 1917. Education: Huish's Grammar School, Taunton, Somerset, 1927-36; King's College, London, 1946-48, B.Sc. (honours) in physics and mathematics 1948. Military Service: Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force, 1941-46; served as Radar Instructor, and Technical Officer on the first Ground Controlled Approach radar; originated proposal for use of satellites for communications, 1945.

Family: Married Marilyn Mayfield in 1954 (divorced 1964). Career: Assistant auditor, Exchequer and Audit Department, London, 1936-41; assistant editor, Physics Abstracts, London, 1949-50; since 1954, engaged in underwater exploration and photography of the Great Barrier Reef of Australia and the coast of Sri Lanka. Director, Rocket Publishing, London, Underwater Safaris, Colombo, and the Spaceward Corporation, New York. Has made numerous radio and television appearances (most recently as presenter of the television series Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World, 1980, and World of Strange Powers, 1985), and has lectured widely in Britain and the United States; commentator, for CBS-TV, on lunar flights of Apollo 11, 12 and 15; Vikram Sarabhai Professor, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India, 1980.

Awards: International Fantasy award, 1952; Hugo award, 1956, 1969 (for screenplay), 1974, 1980; Unesco Kalinga prize, 1961; Boys' Clubs of America award, 1961; Franklin Institute Ballantine medal, 1963; Aviation-Space Writers Association Ball award, 1965; American Association for the Advancement of Science-Westinghouse Science Writing award, 1969; Playboy award, 1971; Nebula award, 1972, 1973, 1979; Jupiter award, 1973; John W.

Campbell Memorial award, 1974; American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics award, 1974; Boston Museum of Science Washburn award, 1977; Marconi fellowship, 1982; Science Fiction Writers of America Grand Master award, 1986; Vidya Jyothi medal, 1986; International Science Policy Foundation medal, 1992; Lord Perry award, 1992; Presidential Award, University of Illinois, 1997. D.Sc.: Beaver College, Glenside, Pennsylvania, 1971. D. Litt.: University of Liverpool, 1995; University of Hong Kong, 1996. Chair, British Interplanetary Society, 1946-47, 1950-53. Guest of Honor, World Science Fiction Convention, 1956. Fellow, Royal Astronomical Society; Fellow, King's College, London, 1977; Chancellor, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, since 1979. C.B.E.

(Commander, Order of the British Empire), 1989; knighted, 1998. European satellite, launched in April 2000, named after Clarke in recognition of his contribution to the development of global communication networks. Agent: David Higham Associates Ltd., 5-8 Lower John Street, London W1R 4HA, England; or, Scouil, Chichak, Galen Literary Agency, 381 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10016, U.S.A. Address: 25 Barnes Place, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka; or, Dene Court, Bishop's Lydeard, Taunton, Somerset TA4 3LT, England. Publications Novels Prelude to Space. New York, Galaxy, 1951; London, Sidgwick andJackson, 1953; as Master of Space, New York, Lancer 1961; as The Space Dreamers, Lancer, 1969. The Sands of Mars. London, Sidgwick and Jackson, 1951; New York, Gnome Press, 1952.

Against the Fall of Night. New York, Gnome Press, 1953; revised edition, as The City and the Stars, London, Muller, and New York, Harcourt Brace, 1956. Childhood's End. New York, Ballantine, 1953; London, Sidgwick and Jackson, 1954. Earthlight. London, Muller, and New York, Ballantine, 1955, 1998. The Deep Range. New York, Harcourt Brace, and London, Muller, 1957. Across the Sea of Stars (omnibus). New York, Harcourt Brace, 1959. A Fall of Moondust. London, Gollancz, and New York, HarcourtBrace, 1961. From the Oceans, From the Stars (omnibus). New York, HarcourtBrace, 1962. Glide Path. New York, Harcourt Brace, 1963; London, Sidgwick andJackson, 1969. An Arthur C. Clarke Omnibus [and Second Omnibus ].

London, Sidgwick and Jackson, 2 vols., 1965-68. Prelude to Mars (omnibus). New York, Harcourt Brace, 1965. 2001: A Space Odyssey (novelization of screenplay), with StanleyKubrick. New York, New American Library, and London, Hutchinson, 1968; with a new introduction, Thorndike, Maine, G. K. Hall, 1994. The Lion of Comarre, and Against the Fall of Night. New York, Harcourt Brace, 1968; London, Gollancz, 1970. Rendezvous with Rama. London, Gollancz, and New York, HarcourtBrace, 1973. Imperial Earth. London, Gollancz, 1975; revised edition, New York, Harcourt Brace, 1976. The Fountains of Paradise. London, Gollancz, and New York, Harcourt Brace, 1979. 2010: Odyssey Two.

New York, Ballantine, and London, Granada, 1982. The Songs of Distant Earth. London, Grafton, and New York, Ballantine, 1986. 2061: Odyssey Three. New York, Ballantine, and London, Grafton, 1988. Cradle, with Gentry Lee. London, Gollancz, and New York, Warner, 1988. Rama II, with Gentry Lee. London, Gollancz, and New York, Bantam, 1989. Beyond the Fall of Night, with Gregory Benford. New York, Putnam, 1990; with Against the Fall of Night, London, Gollancz, 1991. The Ghost from the Grand Banks. New York, Bantam, and London, Gollancz, 1990. The Garden of Rama, with Gentry Lee. London, Gollancz, and NewYork, Bantam, 1991. Rama Revealed, with Gentry Lee .

London, Gollancz, and New York, Bantam, 1993. The Hammer of God. London, Gollancz, and New York, Bantam, 1993. Richter 10, with Mike McQuay. New York, Bantam Books, 1996. 3001: The Final Odyssey. New York, Ballantine Books, 1997. The Trigger, with Michael Kube-McDowell. New York, BantamBooks, 1999. The Light of Other Days, with Stephen Baxter. New York, Tor, 2000. Short Stories 2001: A Space Odyssey, with Stanley Kubrick, 1968. Other Interplanetary Flight: An Introduction to Astronautics. London, Temple Press, 1950; New York, Harper, 1951; revised edition, 1960. The Exploration of Space. London, Temple Press, and New York, Harper, 1951; revised edition, 1959. Islands in the Sky (for children).

London, Sidgwick and Jackson, andPhiladelphia, Winston, 1952. The Young Traveller in Space (for children). London, Phoenix House, 1954; as Going into Space, New York, Harper, 1954; as The Scottie Book of Space Travel, London, Transworld, 1957; revised edition, with Robert Silverberg, as Into Space, New York, Harper, 1971. The Exploration of the Moon. London, Muller, 1954; New York, Harper, 1955. The Coast of Coral. London, Muller, and New York, Harper, 1956. The Making of a Moon: The Story of the Earth Satellite Program. London, Muller, and New York, Harper, 1957; revised edition, Harper, 1958. The Reefs of Taprobane: Underwater Adventures Around Ceylon. London, Muller, and New York, Harper, 1957. Voice Across the Sea.

London, Muller, 1958; New York, Harper, 1959; revised edition, London, Mitchell Beazley, and Harper, 1974. Boy Beneath the Sea (for children). New York, Harper, 1958. The Challenge of the Spaceship: Previews of Tomorrow's World. New York, Harper, 1959; London, Muller, 1960. The First Five Fathoms: A Guide to Underwater Adventure. NewYork, Harper, 1960. The Challenge of the Sea. New York, Holt Rinehart, 1960; London, Muller, 1961. Indian Ocean Adventure. New York, Harper, 1961; London, Barker, 1962. Profiles of the Future: An Enquiry into the Limits of the Possible.

London, Gollancz, 1962; New York, Harper, 1963; revised edition, Harper, 1973; Gollancz, 1974, 1982; New York, Holt Rinehart, 1984. Dolphin Island (for children). New York, Holt Rinehart, and London, Gollancz, 1963. The Treasure of the Great Reef. London, Barker, and New York, Harper, 1964; revised edition, New York, Ballantine, 1974. Indian Ocean Treasure, with Mike Wilson. New York, Harper, 1964;London, Sidgwick and Jackson, 1972. Man and Space, with the editors of Life. New York, Time, 1964. Voices from the Sky: Previews of the Coming Space Age. New York, Harper, 1965; London, Gollancz, 1966. The Promise of Space. New York, Harper, and London, Hodder andStoughton, 1968.

First on the Moon, with the astronauts. London, Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1970. Report on the Planet Three and Other Speculations. London, Gollancz, and New York, Harper, 1972. The Lost Worlds of 2001. New York, New American Library, andLondon, Sidgwick and Jackson, 1972. Beyond Jupiter: The Worlds of Tomorrow, with Chesley Bonestell. Boston, Little Brown, 1972. Technology and the Frontiers of Knowledge (lectures), with others. New York, Doubleday, 1973. The View from Serendip (on Sri Lanka). New York, Random House, 1977; London, Gollancz, 1978. 1984: Spring: A Choice of Futures. New York, Ballantine, andLondon, Granada, 1984. Ascent to Orbit: A Scientific Autobiography: The Technical Writings of Arthur C. Clarke. New York and Chichester, Sussex, Wiley, 1984. The Odyssey File, with Peter Hyams.

New York, Ballantine, andLondon, Granada, 1985. Astounding Days: A Science-Fictional Autobiography. London, Gollancz, 1989; New York, Bantam, 1990. How the World Was One: Beyond the Global Village. London, Gollancz, and New York, Bantam, 1992. By Space Possessed: Essays on the Exploration of Space. London, Gollancz, 1993. The Snows of Olympus: A Garden on Mars. London, Gollancz, 1994. Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds!: Collected Essays, 1934-1998, edited by Ian T. Macauley. New York, St. Martin's Press, 1999. Editor, Time Probe: Sciences in Science Fiction. New York, DelacortePress, 1966; London, Gollancz, 1967. Editor, The Coming of the Space Age: Famous Accounts of Man's Probing of the Universe.

London, Gollancz, and New York, Meredith, 1967. Editor, with George Proctor, The Science Fiction Hall of Fame 3: The Nebula Winners 1965-1969. New York, Avon, 1982. Editor, July 20, 2019: A Day in the Life of the 21st Century. NewYork, Macmillan, 1986; London, Grafton, 1987. * Mugar Memorial Library, Boston University. Critical Studies: "Out of the Ego Chamber" by Jeremy Bernstein, in New Yorker, 9 August 1969; Arthur C. Clarke edited by Joseph D. Olander and Martin H. Greenberg, New York, Taplinger, and Edinburgh, Harris, 1977; The Space Odysseys of Arthur C. Clarke by George Edgar Slusser, San Bernardino, California, Borgo Press, 1978; Arthur C. Clarke (includes bibliography) by Eric S.

Rabkin, West Linn, Oregon, Starmont House, 1979, revised edition, 1980; Against the Night, The Stars: The Science Fiction of Arthur C. Clarke by John Hollow, New York, Harcourt Brace, 1983, revised edition, Athens, Ohio University Press-Swallow Press, 1987; Odyssey: The Authorized Biography of Arthur C. Clarke by Neil McAleer, Chicago, Contemporary Books, and London, Gollancz, 1992; Arthur C. Clarke: A Critical Companion by Robin Anne Reid. Westport, Connecticut, Greenwood Press, 1997; Arthur C. Clarke and Lord Dunsany, a Correspondence, edited by Keith Allen Daniels. San Francisco, Anamnesis Press, 1998. Arthur C. Clarke comments: I regard myself primarily as an entertainer and my ideals are Maugham, Kipling, Wells.

My chief aim is the old SF cliché, "The search for wonder." However, I am almost equally interested in style and rhythm, having been much influenced by Tennyson, Swinburne, Housman, and the Georgian poets. My main themes are exploration (space, sea, time), the position of Man in the hierarchy of the universe, and the effect of contact with other intelligences. The writer who probably had most influence on me was W. Olaf Stapledon (Last and First Men ). * * * Although Arthur C. Clarke's success in the literary field began in the 1950s, his early involvement in the 1930s with the British Interplanetary Society (BIS) heralded his intellectual devotion to outer space. Later, as an enlisted officer in the Royal Air Force, Clarke wrote "Extra Terrestrial Relays" (1945), a prescient article detailing a communications satellite system that predated by two decades the eventual launching of the Early Bird synchronous satellites. Finally, Clarke's first books, the nonfiction Interplanetary Flight and its successor, The Exploration of Space, promoted space travel.

The ease with which he rendered complex scientific principles catapulted The Exploration of Space into a Book-of-the-Month selection. Capitalizing on the relationships he fostered through his affiliation with BIS, Clarke wrote nineteen science fiction (sf) stories—some published under the pseudonyms Charles Willis and E.G. O'Brien—before his first two novels, Prelude to Space and The Sands of Mars, were published in 1951. While Peter Nicholls remarks in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction that these early works are marred by wooden prose and a somewhat mechanical structure, the novels do prefigure the scientific optimism, technological sense of wonder, and sheer entertainment value that dominate Clarke's philosophy and define his sf writing. A jewel in the wealth of Clarke's short stories, "Sentinel of Eternity," reprinted in Expedition to Earth as "The Sentinel," shines forth, as it is the inspiration for Stanley Kubrick's landmark movie 2001: A Space Odyssey and Clarke's 2001 novel adaptation. 2001 tells the story of the Discovery, a spaceship operated by an intelligent computer, HAL 9000.

The ship is sent into outer space to track a mysterious signal emanating from a black monolith on Earth's moon. HAL's secret agenda slowly eliminates Discovery 's human crew save Dave Bowman who, encountering a mirror monolith on a Saturn moon, evolves into the Star Child. This narrative of an enigmatic alien artifact, also shown four million years in the past helping encourage the dawn of Man, embodies the scientific and metaphysical qualities of Clarke's writings. Nicholls considers these qualities as Clarke's central paradox; namely, that a writer exploring scientific theories and detailing technological advances should be drawn to the metaphysical, mystical, even quasi-religious essence of space and the universe at large. Never one to avoid the tensions between science and religion, Clarke's darkly comic "The Nine Billion Names of God" depicts Tibetan monks who, with the aid of Western computer salesmen and technicians, count all the names of God and, fulfilling the purpose of Man, trigger the end of the universe. In the Hugo-winning "The Star," Clarke offers the reader a Jesuit astrophysicist questioning his faith after discovering evidence that the star of Bethlehem, which had announced the birth of Christ to the Three Wise Men, was a supernova that destroyed an entire alien race.

"Although the narrator's faith is troubled," writes David N. Samuelson in Science Fiction Writers, "his trust in science—like Clarke's—is not." Childhood's End, Clarke's first successful sf novel, is replete with his thematic interests in its offering of humanity's transcendent evolution under the guidance and tutelage of the Overlords, a devilshaped alien species steering Earth towards an admittedly ambiguous utopia. The true mission of the Overlords is revealed when Jeff Greggson—son of George and Jean Greggson, who, with others, have rejected the Overlords and established an independent New Athens—begins displaying extrasensory powers. Humanity's maturation, it seems, is available only to Earth's children whose mental evolution draws them into the Overmind, a galactic entity transcending physical form. Barred from achieving their own transcendence, the Overlords watch humanity's evolutionary leap while Jan Rodericks, returning from the Overlords' home planet, remains as the last human to record Earth's final destruction. The novel is bittersweet as it announces humanity's next step up the evolutionary ladder while, in the same breath, condemning a humanity left behind.

City and the Stars —an updated and expanded version of Clarke's earlier Against the Fall of Night —depicts the far-future city of Diaspar as an enclosed urban utopia mediated by a complex computerized system. The protagonist Alvin is a "pure pattern" born out of the Memory Banks matrix, the first human born on Earth in ten million years. With the help of Khedron, a jester designed to introduce randomness into the highly regulated cityscape, Alvin escapes Diaspar only to find a parallel race of mentally evolved agrarian humans living in the town of Lys. Joined by the Lys-born Hilvar, Alvin uncovers a long-buried spaceship and proceeds into outer space to encounter the Vanamonde, a body-less consciousness created to defend Earth from the destructive powers of the equally bodiless Shalmirance. City and the Stars narrates humanity's divergent evolution along mental and technical paths, its subsequent consequences and resultant retreat from outer space, and a resurgent humanity once again reaching out to the stars.

With the closing sunset/sunrise imagery symbolizing the eclipse of one epoch and the dawn of another, the "final passages blend a sense of loss and of transcendence with an almost mystical intensity," notes Nicholls. While non-fiction books and articles—many of them dealing with undersea exploration—dominated Clarke's output in the 1960s, Rendezvous with Rama was the first of an unprecedented three-book deal Clarke signed following the immense success of 2001. Rama follows a group of humans, led by Captain Bill Norton, who explore a derelict artifact (dubbed "Rama") hurtling through space towards the inner solar system. While exploration and adventure dominate a story full of surprises and technological wonders, transcendence and closure are denied in Rama as the ship's intentions are withheld, only to be explored further in a series of sequels—Rama II, Garden of Rama, and Rama Revealed —written in collaboration with Gentry Lee. Although Clarke's original Rama swept the awards circuit (winning the Hugo, Nebula, John W.

Campbell Memorial Award and British Science Fiction Award), controversy swirled as to whether the book, due to its stylistic flaws and narrative structure, actually deserved the awards or whether the accolade stemmed from the return to fiction of a much beloved sf author. Clarke's next two novels, Imperial Earth: A Fantasy of Love and Discord and The Fountains of Paradise, offer a treasure trove of technological wonders and scientific imagery. Imperial Earth, notable for descriptions of outer-planet mining, spaceship propulsion, and cloning, tells the story of Titan native Duncan Mackenzie's investigation of political and scientific intrigues on Earth and his bid, through cloning, to procure an heir to his empire. The Fountains of Paradise narrates Vannevar Morgan's attempts to construct a space elevator designed to escape Earth's gravity. Fleshing out the story are two revelations: first, a highly advanced galactic civilization has communicated with the human race through a robot probe; and, second, Prince Kalidasa had challenged the gods 2, 000 years earlier by attempting to build a tower into heaven on Taprobane, the same island-site for Morgan's space elevator.

While The Fountains of Paradise won the Hugo, some critics fault the novel for abruptly dropping the Kalidasa storyline and centering the action on a somewhat stereotyped Morgan. Nevertheless, both novels broach the topics of science, technological marvels, and the bid for a taste of immortality, if not godhood. The 1980s saw Clarke attempt the impossible; namely, to catch lightning in a bottle and write two sequels to 2001. 2010: Odyssey Two and 2061: Odyssey Three attempt to continue the magical weave of science, transcendence, and mystery embodied in the black monolith; unfortunately, the books fail to evoke the same narrative momentum as 2001. 2010 is a proficient book offering a distinctly human story as American/Russian tensions threaten a joint rescue mission of Dave Bowman's Discovery and the reactivation of HAL 9000. 2061 follows Heywood Floyd's exploration of Halley's comet and his subsequent redirection to the Jovian moon of Europa—the one place the monoliths had expressively forbidden humans to visit.

While Clarke attempts to sustain the mystery of the monolith through the course of these books, critics feel the monolith was adequately explained in 2001 or, on the other hand, disappointingly depicted in the subsequent sequels. Although the 2001 sequels offer high-caliber scientific ideas and wondrous descriptions of the universe, Clarke's success at plot advancement and narrative vision is questionable. The lukewarm critical reception of the 2001 sequels is symptomatic of the response to Clarke's contemporary work; in fact, divergent opinions on Clarke's narrative execution has increasingly dogged the latter phase of his career. For example, popular and critical responses to The Songs of Distant Earth —an expansion of a 1958 short story about human survivors introducing conflict to the inhabited utopia of Thallassa—and Richter 10 (with Mike McQuay)—a futuristic disaster novel—question the plausibility of Clarke's science, the privileging of scientific principles over plot development, and a pacing that is described alternately as taut and long-winded.

Quite possibly the most surprising novel of the 1990s was 3001: The Final Odyssey, supposedly the last of the Odyssey series. In this story, Frank Poole, long believed dead, is revived from a frozen state and is surprised to find the Europa monolith has absorbed Dave Bowman and HAL. Once again, critical opinion varies, as some view the narrative as reasonably written with thoughtful explorations of technology and Freudian theory, while others consider the novel's contemporary rendition of the once-transcendent monolith as an alien threat to be a disappointing treatment with few surprises. Despite increasingly ill health, Clarke has continued to produce a voluminous literary output, often writing in collaboration with contemporary sf authors who grew up reading his early work. Indeed, after more than 50 novels, 35 non-fiction texts, 600 articles and short stories, numerous television scripts, and stints as a commentator during the Apollo moon landings, the Science Fiction Writers of America acknowledged Clarke's extensive contributions and continuing output and bestowed upon him Grand Master status in 1986. Armed with a scientific optimism and a cosmic, even transcendent, perception of humanity's role in an infinitely larger universe, Arthur C.

Clarke is credited with helping revolutionize the sf genre from the Golden Age of the 1940s and 1950s through six decades of sf writing and into a new millennium that begins, as Clarke impatiently reiterates, in 2001. —Graham J. Murphy Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. MLA

Question: The 1968 film '2001: A space Odyssey' was based on which story by Arthur C Clarke?
Answer: The Sentinel