English writer
In Memoriam
We mourn the passing of Sir Arthur C. Clarke, whose novels and stories inspired countless writers, artists, scientists and engineers to reach for the stars. While Clarke was most famous in popular culture for collaborating with Stanley Kubrick to make the film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), science fiction fans remember him for his astonishing literary contributions, including The Sands of Mars (1951), Childhood’s End (1953), Rendezvous with Rama (1972) and The Promise of Space (1968), as well as hundreds of short stories, articles and essays.
Clarke was highly decorated: he was knighted by the Queen of England, won the highest honors in the science fiction field, had an asteroid (4923 Clarke) and a dinosaur (Serendipaceratops arthurcclarkei), named for him and in 2005 he was awarded the Sri Lankabhimanya (Pride of Sri Lanka) by the government of his adopted home country. As an enthusiastic proponent of space exploration and colonization, Clarke supported scientific and technological advances, using his celebrity to bring much-needed attention to neglected research. We wish today to remember this great innovator and author by reminding ourselves of one of Clarke’s Laws: “The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.”
For many readers Arthur C. Clarke is the very personification of science fiction. He is deservedly seen as a central figure in the post-World War II development of the genre, especially in his liberal, optimistic view of the possible benefits of technology (though one that is by no means unaware of its dangers), and his exploration of mankind reaching out like a child to an alien universe.
Born in England, Clarke was active in fan circles before World War II. His early works were neatly constructed, usually turning on a single scientific point and often ending with an unexpected sting. They were, in effect, works of optimistic propaganda for science, with human problems rather mechanically worked out against a background of scientific discovery.
A new note appeared in his 1953 short story "The Sentinel," a simple but haunting short story of the discovery of an alien artifact on the Moon. In a compelling paradox that would continue to surface in Clarke's future work, the story was technological "hard" science fiction, yet contained strong metaphysical overtones examining religion and the longing for God. Moreover, though Clarke stood strongly for the idea that there is nothing humanity cannot accomplish, he portrayed mankind as children when compared to the ancient, inscrutable wisdom of alien races.
In 1968 "The Sentinel" became the basis of the film 2001: A Space Odyssey; Clark co-wrote the script with director Stanley Kubrick. The film and accompanying novelization were remarkably successful, and made Clarke arguably the best-known science fiction writer in the world. Interestingly, by that time most of Clarke's creative energies had gone into writing nonfiction books and articles.
In the early 1970s, Clarke returned to fiction, writing at an astonishing rate into the early 1990s. Due to struggles with long-term health issues, much of his work during this time was collaborative, yet continued to feature Clarke's compelling meditations on technology and humanity. Never a "literary" author, he nonetheless has always written with lucidity, candor, and grace, coupled with a cold, sharp evocativeness that has produced some of the most memorable images in science fiction.
Selected Bibliography:
The City and the Stars (1953)
Childhood's End (1953)
2001: A Space Odyssey (Book, 1968; Film Script, with Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
Rendezvous with Rama (1973)
The Fountains of Paradise (1979)
Film/TV Adaptations:
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
2010: Odyssey Two (1984)
Courtesy of the
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Copyright © John Clute and Peter Nicholls 1993, 1999, published by Orbit, an imprint of the Time Warner Book Group UK.
Sir Arthur C. Clarke
