Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur C. Clarke (born December 16, 1917) is an author and inventor, probably most famous for his science fiction novel 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is loosely inspired by Clarke's short story "The Sentinel", but it became it's own novel while he was collaborating on a screen play with Stanley Kubrick. Stanley approached Mr. Clarke about writing a novel for the express purpose of making a film, and the novel was still being written while the film was being made. This resulted in one of the truly unique collaborations in media history.
Arthur C. Clarke
He has written numerous other books, including the Rama novels and several sequels to 2001, and many, many short stories.
There is an asteroid named in his honor, called (4923) Clarke.
Biography
Arthur Charles Clarke was born in Minehead, Somerset, England. He served in the Royal Air Force as a radar specialist before obtaining a degree at London University.
During World War II, he was involved in the early warning radar defense system which contributed to the Royal Air Force's success during the Battle of Britain.
His most important contribution may be the conception of geostationary satellites, that allows satellite telecommunications. He proposed this concept in a scientific paper titled "Can Rocket Stations Give Worldwide Radio Coverage?", published in Wireless World in October 1945.
Clarke had been selling his science fiction stories since his time in the RAF, but he worked briefly as Assistant Editor of Science Abstracts before devoting himself to writing full-time from 1951. He has been chairman of the British Interplanetary Society and a member of the Underwater Explorers Club.
He has lived in Colombo, Sri Lanka since 1956. This prompted the local for his novel, The Fountains of Paradise, in which he describes a space elevator. This, he figures, will ultimately be his legacy, moreso than geostationary satellites, once space elevators make space shuttles obsolete.
Bibliography
A partial list of his (some co-authored) fiction books in chronological order:
- Prelude to Space (1951)
- The Sands of Mars (1951)
- Islands in the Sky (1952)
- Against the Fall of Night (1953)
- Childhood's End (1953)
- Expedition to Earth (1953)
- Earthlight (1955)
- Reach for Tomorrow (1956) [short story collection]
- The City and the Stars (1956)
- Tales from the White Hart (1957) [short story collection]
- The Deep Range (1957)
- The Other Side of the Sky (1958)
- Across the Sea of Stars (1959) [short story collection]
- A Fall of Moondust (1961)
- From the Ocean, From the Stars (1962)
- Tales of Ten Worlds (1962)
- Dolphin Island (1963)
- Glide Path (1963)
- An Arthur C. Clarke Omnibus (1965)
- Prelude to Mars (1965) [short story collection]
- The Nine Billion Names of God (1967) [short story collection]
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
- An Arthur C. Clarke Second Omnibus (1968) [short story collection]
- The Lion of Commare & Against the Fall of Night (1968) [short story collection]
- Of Time and Stars (1972)
- The Wind from the Sun (1972)
- Rendezvous with Rama (1973)
- Imperial Earth (1975)
- Four Great SF Novels (1978)
- The Fountains of Paradise (1979)
- 2010: Odyssey Two (1982)
- The Sentinel (1983) [short story collection]
- The Songs of Distant Earth (1986)
- 2061: Odyssey Three (1988)
- A Meeting With Medusa (1988)
- Cradle (1988) (co-authored with Gentry Lee)
- Rama II (1989) (co-authored with Gentry Lee)
- Beyond the Fall of Night (1990) (co-authored with Gregory Benford)
- Tales From Planet Earth (1990)
- The Ghost from the Grand Banks (1990)
- More Than One Universe (1991)
- The Garden of Rama (1991) (co-authored with Gentry Lee)
- Rama Revealed (1993) (co-authored with Gentry Lee)
- The Hammer of God (1993)
- Richter 10 (1996) (co-authored with Mike McQuay)
- 3001: The Final Odyssey (1997)
- The Trigger (1999) (co-authored with Michael P. Kube-McDowell)
- The Light of Other Days (2000) (co-authored with Stephen Baxter)
- The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke (2000) [short story collection]
Apart from the fiction, Clarke has written two autobiographies. Ascent to Orbit is what he calls his scientific autobiography and Astounding Days his science fictional autobiography. Since Clarke has led a very full and interesting life, both books contain much of interest.
Most of his essays (between 1934 to 1998) can be found in the book Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds! (2000). Most of his short stories can be found in the book The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke (2001). They make a good collection of Clarke's non-fiction and fiction works, even for those who already have most of his books.