Arthur C Clarke

A science fiction writer and a futurist, Arthur C Clarke was ahead of our times. He said about himself, “I see myself as an extrapolator and I try to say what will happen in the future if the present trends continue. I do not predict that this will happen, I do say if this goes on it may happen. I try to map out possible
futures. It’s impossible to predict the future in detail.” His writings have inspired generations of people.

Born in Somerset, England on 16 December 1917, in 1936 he moved to London and joined the British Interplanetary Society. There he started to experiment with astronautic material. While working here, he wrote the BIS Bulletin and science fiction. During World War II, he was in charge of the first radar talk-down equipment, the Ground Controlled Approach, during its experimental trials. His only non-science fiction novel, Glide Path, is based on this work.

In 1945, he published the technical papers on extraterrestrial relays explaining the principles of satellite communication with satellites in geostationary orbits—a speculation realized 25 years later. His invention brought him numerous honours such as the 1982 Marconi International Fellowship; a gold medal from the Franklin Institute; the Vikram Sarabhai Professorship of the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad; the Lindbergh Award and a Fellowship of King’s College, London. Today, the geostationary orbit at 42,000 kilometres is called the Clarke Orbit.

Clarke wrote his first story “Rescue Party” in March 1945. He obtained first class honours in physics and mathematics at the King’s College in 1948. Clarke visited Sri Lanka and in association with Dr Harry Wexler, then chief of the Scientific Services Division, US Weather Bureau, developed satellite applications for weather forecasting. This led to the birth of a new branch of meteorology.

In 1954, Clarke developed an interest in sea, relegating space to the background. About the reasons, he said, “I now realize that it was my interest in astronautics that led me to the ocean. Both involve exploration, of course, but that’s not the only reason. When the first diving equipment started to appear in the late 1940s, I suddenly realized that here was a cheap and simple way of imitating one of the most magical aspects of space flight–weightlessness.”

In his book, “Profiles of the Future” he foresees the probable shape of tomorrow’s world. In it he states his three laws. In 1964, he started to work with Stanley Kubric in a science fiction movie script. After four years, he shared an Oscar Academy award nomination with him for the film version of “2001: A Space Odyssey”.

He co-broadcast the Apollo 11, 12, and 15 missions with Walter Cronkite and Wally Schirra for CBS.

In 1985, he published a sequel to 2001, “2010: Odyssey Two”. He worked with Peter Hyams in the movie version of 2010. The work was done using a Kaypro computer and a modem, for Clarke was in Sri Lanka and Hyams in Los Angeles. Their communications turned into the book, “The Odyssey File–The Making of 2010”.

His 13-part TV series, “Arthur C Clarke’s Mysterious World” in 1981 and “Arthur C Clarke’s World of Strange Powers” in 1984 has now been screened in many countries. He made part of other TV series about the space, as Walter Cronkite’s Universe series in 1981.

He has lived in Colombo, Sri Lanka since 1956 and has been doing underwater exploration along that coast and the Great Barrier Reef.