Arthur C Clarke Biography

Arthur C Clarke was one of the world's greatest science fiction pioneers. He was a writer, a futurist, and an innovative globe explorer. Clarke's career resulted in multiple notable works of science fiction and futurist writing, including the iconic 2001: A Space Odyssey novel, which was made into a feature film. Here, we will learn who was Arthur C Clarke, Arthur C Clarke works and complete Arthur C Clarke Biography.

Clarke was born on the 16th of December, 1917, in the Somerset region of the United Kingdom. Clarke spent his childhood reading science fiction and pulp fiction, the vast majority of which was written in the United States. He spent most of his early years on a small farm in the English countryside, immersed in books, displaying great interest in all things related to technology and world exploration. He was a radar operator during World War II, and he used his love for technology to serve his country once more. Clarke's coworkers remember him as a nice, quiet person who lived outside of everyday reality - this detached personality probably influenced his writing style and career as an author.

Arthur C. Clarke's legacy connects the worlds of science and art. From scientific discovery to science fiction, from technical application to entertainment, his work covered a wide range of topics. Clarke has inspired many artists, scientists, and engineers working today, both through his extensive body of work and through organizations, as an engineer, a futurist, and a humanist.

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Arthur C Clarke Early Life

Arthur Charles Clarke was born on December 16, 1917, in the southwestern English coastal town of Minehead. Clarke, the eldest of four children born into a farmer’s family, developed an early interest in science and astronomy, studying the stars with a homemade telescope and filling his brain with science fiction stories from periodicals such as Astounding Stories. Despite his bright, curious mind, Clarke was unable to attend university due to his family's financial troubles following his father's tragic death. Clarke left home in 1936 after graduating from middle school in nearby Taunton and looking for work. 

Clarke accepted a job as a government bureaucrat when he arrived in London. He hadn't lost his interest in the stars, though, and he soon joined the British Interplanetary Society, which promoted the idea of space travel long before it was believed possible. Clarke made his initial explorations into science fiction while submitting articles to the group's newsletter.

Service During World War II

Despite the fact that these early activities were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II, Clarke's involvement in the war would provide him with the opportunity to further develop his technological abilities. He served in the Royal Air Force as a technician from 1941 to the end of the war and was one of the first to use radar data to direct aircraft landings in bad weather.

Clarke's wartime experiences would play a key role in two of his early works as a writer. Clarke published his article "Extra-Terrestrial Relays" in Wireless Planet magazine in 1945, in which he hypothesized how a geostationary satellite system could be utilized to send radio and television signals around the world. This was only the first of many technological realities predicted by Clarke throughout the course of his long career. His science-fiction work was first published the following year when his short story "Rescue Party" appeared in Astounding Science Fiction.

Arthur Clarke joined the Royal Air Force when World War II broke out in 1939, serving as a radar teacher and technician from 1941 till 1946. During the experimental trials of the Ground Controlled Approach, he was an officer in charge of the initial radar talk-down equipment. During adverse weather, the technique is utilized by aviation control to assist planes to a safe landing using radar images. Glide Path, Clarke's only non-science fiction novel, was inspired by his experiences on this project. Clarke returned to London after the war and was offered a Fellowship at King's College, where he earned a first-class honours degree in Physics and Mathematics in 1948. In 1946-47 and 1951-1953, he returned to the British Interplanetary Society and served as its President.

Personal Life 

Arthur Clarke married in 1953 but divorced in 1964 after only a few years of marriage. The couple did not have any children. Clarke moved to Sri Lanka in 1956 because he was interested in the country's marine diving. Marine diving, he believed, was the closest he could get to the sensation of being weightless in space. Clarke was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in the year 2000. However, due to his ill health, Clarke was unable to go to London to accept the award in person.

The Pride of Sri Lanka

Clarke relocated to Sri Lanka in 1956, primarily to pursue his interest in underwater exploration along the country's coast and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. He first lived in Unawatuna, a beach village, and subsequently in Colombo, Sri Lanka's main city. Clarke was diagnosed with polio in 1962, which limited his diving opportunities. He was diagnosed with the post-polio syndrome in 1988, and he was mainly confined to a wheelchair until his death on March 19, 2008, at the age of 90.

Both his origin country and his adopted home country honoured Arthur Clarke's amazing lifetime work. Clarke was hailed by Queen Elizabeth II in 1988, and Prince Charles bestowed it on him two years later in Sri Lanka. Clarke received Sri Lankabhimanya in 2005, the country's highest civilian award.

Arthur C Clarke Works

Post the war, Clarke was finally able to continue his education after being awarded a fellowship to study at King's College in London. He also resumed his literary pursuits and reconnected with the British Interplanetary Society. He received honours in math and physics in 1948 and immediately established himself as a scientist and author, straddling the border between the two.

Clarke's themes, which he explored in more than 100 works, mostly revolved around explorations in the near and distant future. Prelude to Space (1951), which was also his debut, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Rendezvous with Rama (1973), and The Fountains of Paradise (1973) are among his most well-known works (1979). By far his most famous work is 2001: A Space Odyssey. Stanley Kubrick directed a film based on books, which was a huge hit. A Space Odyssey sequel was also produced by Clarke. The sequels are 2010: Space Odyssey II, which was published in 1982 and adapted into a film in 1984, 2062: Odyssey III, which was published in 1988, and 3001: The Final Odyssey, which was published in 1997. The Garden of Rama (1991) and The Snows of Olympus (1993) are two of his later works (1994). Clarke also published a number of non-fiction works. Arthur C Clarke's Mysterious World, published in 1980 and was adapted into a television series, and Arthur C Clarke's Chronicles of the Strange and Mysterious, released in 1987, are two of his notable non-fiction works.

Clarke spent decades working in television, bringing scientific and engineering discoveries to people's homes all around the world. For the CBS coverage of the Apollo 12 and 15 space missions in the United States, he collaborated with Walter Cronkite and Wally Schirra. Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World (1981), Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers (1984), and Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious Universe (1994) were all successful television shows that aired in a variety of countries. He also contributed to other space-themed television shows, including Walter Cronkite's Universe series in 1981.

Impact Humanity

Arthur Clarke was always fascinated by the human race's future, not only in terms of what that future may look like technologically but also in terms of the world we, the current occupants of our home planet, would leave to future generations. As a result, Clarke was constantly worried about the human race's interaction with the natural environment. Clarke was also concerned about global climate change and its potential impact on humanity's future. He was often stressing the urgent need for mankind to shift beyond its dependence on fossil fuels, which he saw as one of our most destructive habits. Despite this, Clarke was always hopeful about humanity's future; he was convinced that technological advances would address our current issues and lead to a better and brighter future for all humans.

Death

Arthur C. Clarke died in Sri Lanka on March 19, 2008, at the age of 90, after severe breathing issues. He had also suffered from post-polio syndrome for decades and was confined to a wheelchair. Mahinda Rajapakse, the President of Sri Lanka, paid tribute to Clarke by describing him as a brilliant visionary. Clarke had specified that he wanted a secular private funeral, and he had provided detailed instructions for it. Clarke was also buried at the family plot of Hector Ekanayake, his business partner in Sri Lanka, according to his will.

Arthur Clarke was a science fiction writer, inventor, and futurist from the United Kingdom. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, and Isaac Asimov were called the "Big Three" of science fiction for a long time. He was a multi-faceted individual who served in the Royal Air Force in World War II and was the chairman of the British Interplanetary Society. He was a bold person who moved to Sri Lanka to pursue his passion for scuba diving and happened upon the ruins of an ancient temple by chance. He was a prolific writer who wrote over 100 novels as a result of his excellent observation, creativity, and scientific approach. He possessed an extraordinary capacity to predict futuristic technology long before they were realized. He predicted satellite communication, space shuttles, super-fast computers, and many other breakthroughs in his writings, all of which became a reality. His writings mainly centered around space travel, explorations, and futuristic technology, as he had worked in scientific research. His first novel, "The Sands of Mars", is a science fiction novel about the exploration of Mars' surface, while his second novel, "Prelude to Space" is a science fiction novel about humans traveling to the moon.