Clarke, Arthur C. (1917-)

Famous British science fiction author and technologist credited with originating the concept of communication satellites. Clarke has also presented two television series on paranormal phenomena. He was born December 16, 1917, in Minehead, Somersetshire, England, and was educated at King's College, University of London (B.Sc., 1948). He had previously been an auditor in the British Civil Service (1936-44) and a radar instructor in the Royal Air Force (1941-46), retiring as a flight lieutenant. After graduation he served as an assistant editor of Science Abstracts (1949-50). He began freelance writing in 1951 and has since turned out numerous nonfiction and science fiction books such as, Childhood's End, and Rendezvous with Rama. He was selected to chair the Second International Astronautics Congress in London, 1951.

Clarke has received many important awards for his science fiction writing and his scientific contributions, including the Stuart Ballantine Gold Medal from the Franklin Institute in 1963 for his concept of communications satellites, the Robert Ball Award from the Aviation-Space Writers Association in 1965 for best aerospace reporting of the year, and the Westinghouse Science Writing Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1969.

Clarke became internationally famous for his screenplay (with Stanley Kubrick) for the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which received the Second International Film Festival special award in 1969 and an Academy Award nomination from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (1969).

With such a background of scientific fact and fiction, Clarke's investigation of claimed paranormal phenomena was of special interest. He was coauthor with Simon Welfare and John Fairley of two important television series: Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World (1980) and Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers (1984), both presented on British television and later aired on programs in the United States and other countries. The series was supported by books containing additional material not in the television programs. In both books and television programs, Clarke and his collaborators express a considerable skepticism, although granting a limited probability to certain claimed paranormal phenomena such as apparitions, maledictions, poltergeists, telepathy, stigmata, and fire walking. However, the great value of books and programs lay in the scrutiny of recent phenomena instead of simply a rehash of old material, and in the television programs rare early movie records of phenomena were shown together with recently filmed events. Both books and television programs therefore constitute a useful record of research, and even their skepticism is a healthy corrective to overcredulous writing and filming on the paranormal.

Sources:

Clarke, Arthur C. Ascent to Orbit: A Scientific Autobiography. New York: John Wiley, 1984.

——. Childhood's End. New York: Ballantine, 1953.

——. The Ghost from the Grand Banks. London: V. Gollancz, 1990.

——. Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry Into the Limits of the Possible. New York: Holt Rinehart, and Winston, 1984.

——. Rama Revealed. London, Gollancz and New York: Bantam, 1993.

——. Rendezvous with Rama. London, Gollancz and New York: Harcourt Brace, 1973.

Fairley, John. Arthur Clarks' World of Strange Powers. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1984.