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 based on Clarke's short story "The Sentinel", which he later expanded to novel length at the same time as a movie version was made by Stanley Kubrick. All three versions differ somewhat.
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.
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Arthur Charles Clarke was born in Minehead, Somerset, Great Britain. 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 Sri Lanka for many years.
A partial list of his (some co-authored) fiction books in chronological order:
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.Biography
Bibliography
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.
