Arthur C. Clarke

Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008), British science-fiction writer, best known for writing the story on which the 1968 motion picture 2001: A Space Odyssey was based. Its theme was of a superior extraterrestrial intelligence that prepares humanity for absorption into the cosmic mind. This theme was introduced in his earlier novel Childhood’s End (1953) and remained a central preoccupation of Clarke’s. His novels and stories are notable for their careful attention to scientific detail and deep poetic feeling for space exploration and the further development of human civilization.

Arthur Charles Clarke was born in Minehead, Somerset, England. His interest in science emerged early in life; as a child he mapped the Moon using a homemade telescope. In 1936 Clarke moved to London, where he joined the British Interplanetary Society and worked as a civil servant. After serving as a radar instructor in the Royal Air Force from 1941 to 1946, he studied physics and mathematics at King’s College, London, and graduated with first-class honors in 1948. In a 1945 article, Clarke introduced the idea of satellite communication.

Clarke’s first science-fiction story, “Rescue Party,” appeared in 1946 in the periodical Astounding Science. Several novels followed, including Childhood’s End, The City and the Stars (1956), Rendezvous with Rama (1973), and The Fountains of Paradise (1979). These books typically take an optimistic view of technological progress. Clarke’s short-story collection Expedition to Earth (1953) contained “The Sentinel,” which Clarke later adapted for the motion picture 2001: A Space Odyssey in conjunction with film director Stanley Kubrick. The adaptation earned Clarke an Academy Award nomination for best screenplay. He wrote three sequels to the tale, the novels 2010: Odyssey Two (1982), 2061: Odyssey Three (1988), and 3001: The Final Odyssey (1997).

Clarke also wrote many nonfiction works that discuss space travel, undersea exploration, and the future. In Profiles of the Future (1962) he stated his “three laws,” which include the maxim, “When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.” His interest in scuba diving took Clarke to Sri Lanka, where he settled in the 1950s. He received a knighthood in 1989.