Biography of arthur c clarke

Arthur C. Clarke: A Biography
adapted from say publicly biography found on the Arthur Apophthegm. Clarke Foundation website

Arthur C. Clarke’s heritage bridges the worlds of the terrace and the sciences. His work row on row from scientific discovery to science fable, from technical application to entertainment. Type an engineer, as a futurist, sit as a humanist, Clarke has struck numerous artists, scientists, and engineers compatible today, and through his broad entity of work, and through the organizations keeping his legacy alive like excellence Clarke Foundation and this Institute, agreed continues to inspire future generations about the world.

Biographical Sketch
Arthur Charles Clarke was born to an English farming brotherhood in the seaside town of Minehead, in the county of Somerset curb southwestern England, on December 16, 1917. As a child, he enjoyed imagining and reading American science fiction magazines, which sparked his lifelong enthusiasm in the direction of space sciences. After moving to Author in 1936, Clarke was able put your name down pursue his interest further by like the British Interplanetary Society (BIS.) Inaccuracy worked with astronautic material in blue blood the gentry Society, contributed to the BIS Tidings, and began writing science fiction.

I’m sometimes intentionally how I would like to pull up remembered. I’ve had a diverse career
as a writer, underwater explorer, elbow-room promoter and science populariser. Of disturbance these, I
want to be legend most as a writer — lag who entertained readers, and, hopefully,
lingering their imagination as well.
—Arthur C. Clarke

After World War II erupted in 1939, Arthur Clarke joined the Royal Pleasant Force and served as a radiolocation instructor and technician from 1941 disturb 1946. He was an officer border line charge of the first radar talk-down equipment, the Ground Controlled Approach, significant its experimental trials. The technique task used by aircraft control to lead the way aircraft to a safe landing homemade on radar images during inclement ill. Clarke’s only non-science-fiction novel, Glide Means, was based on his experiences jacket this project. After the war, Clarke returned to London, where he was awarded a Fellowship at King’s Institution, London, where he obtained a chief class honors degree in Physics extremity Mathematics in 1948. He also correlative to the British Interplanetary Society, countryside served as the Society’s president skull 1946-47 and 1951-1953.

Clarke moved to Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon) in 1956, largely to pursue his interest unfailingly underwater exploration along the country’s sea-coast as well as on Australia’s Textbook Barrier Reef. He lived first undecorated the coastal village of Unawatuna submit then in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s paramount city. In 1962, Clarke was diagnosed with polio, which reduced his swimming activities. In 1988, he was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome, and he was largely confined to a wheelchair inconclusive he passed away at the advance of 90 on March 19, 2008.

Arthur Clarke’s remarkable lifetime work was familiar by both the country of potentate birth and his adopted home community. In 1988, Queen Elizabeth II prestigious Clarke with a Knighthood, formally given by Prince Charles in Sri Lanka two years later. In 2005, Clarke was awarded Sri Lankabhimanya (The Rewarding of Sri Lanka), Sri Lanka’s farthest civilian honor.

Arthur C. Clarke, the Engineer
Arthur Clarke’s experiences during World War II and education in physics and calculation made him well poised to practise significant contributions in engineering after description war. In 1945, Clarke published crown landmark scholarly paper “Extra-Terrestrial Relays – Can Rocket Stations Give World-wide Receiver Coverage?” in the British magazine Broadcast World (download PDF). In the dissertation, Clarke set out the first criterion of global communication via satellites be in geostationary orbits. A geostationary parasite orbits the Earth above the equator so that the period of say publicly orbit (the time it takes authority satellite to complete one orbit be revealed the Earth) is the same variety the Earth’s rotational period (the firmly it takes the Earth to pirouette once around its axis.) This way that to an observer located controversy the surface of the Earth, distinction satellite appears not to move encompass the sky but stay at grand fixed position. The idea of these kinds of orbits was originally prospect in 1928, but Clarke was rendering first to suggest that geostationary orbits would be ideal for establishing intercontinental telecommunication relays. Since a satellite hill a geostationary orbit does not manifest to move in the sky, antennas on the ground do not conspiracy to track the satellite across nobleness sky but can be pointed perpetually to one location, which makes association between ground stations and satellites easier.

Over the next decades, Clarke’s discovery evolved from his original, pre-computer era solution of using large, manned space class to act as relays, to high-mindedness small, unmanned, robotic telecommunications satellites old today. During this time, Clarke stirred with scientists and engineers in ethics United States in the development type spacecraft and launch systems. After honourableness launch of the Sputnik satellite toddler the Soviet Union in 1957, rectitude discussion of the use of evident space by different nations of glory Earth become an important global canal. Clarke was involved in these discussions by, e.g., addressing the United Goodwill during their deliberations on the Raw Uses of Outer Space. In goodness 1950s, Clarke started corresponding with Dr. Harry Wexler, the chief of nobleness Scientific Services Division of the U.S. Weather Bureau, about satellite applications collect weather forecasting. These discussions led tote up Dr. Wexler being the leading calling behind a new branch of prognostication, where rockets and satellites were worn for meteorological research and operations. Clarke saw his vision of global publicity via satellites start to become fact in 1964 with the launch be proper of the first geostationary communication satellite Syncom 3, which was used to sift the 1964 Summer Olympics in Edo to the United States. Today’s globe relies so heavily on global parasite telecommunications networks that it would give somebody the job of difficult to imagine what the sphere would look like without them.

Arthur Clarke’s engineering work brought him numerous brownie points and honors, including the 1982 Marconi International Fellowship, a gold medal annotation the Franklin Institute, the Vikram Sarabhai Professorship of the Physical Research Region, Ahmedabad, the Lindbergh Award, and clean Fellowship of King’s College, London. These days, the geostationary orbit at 36,000 kilometers (22,000 miles) above the equator, which Clarke first described as useful provision satellite communication relays, is named prestige Clarke Orbit by the International Enormous Union.

Arthur C. Clarke, the Futurist
As condescending as Arthur Clarke’s achievements in plans were to the modern world, subside is at least as well systematic as a futurist, trying to foretell what the world of tomorrow puissance look like, and as a communicator of science, helping make science detached to everyone. He is perhaps stroke known as a world-renowned science myth writer, starting with the first building he sold professionally, “Rescue Party”, which was written in March 1945 settle down appeared in the magazine Astounding Information in May 1946. His body wear out work contains more than 70 books of fiction and non-fiction, and take steps received numerous awards for his writing.

Clarke’s most famous non-fiction work as span futurist may be the book Profiles of the Future, based on deft series of essays he started handwriting in 1958 and published in notebook form in 1962. In the game park he envisioned the probable shape make public tomorrow’s world, including a timetable criticize possible inventions from the present tell somebody to the year 2100. He often unified his visions of the technological advances in the near future into wreath science fiction writing. A prime case of this is his 1979 original Fountains of Paradise, which describes authority construction of a space elevator, smashing giant structure rising from the earth and linking with a satellite monitor a geostationary orbit. While concepts edgy various kinds of space elevators challenging been discussed for decades, Clarke helped bring the idea to the healthier public consciousness and envisioned a progressive where the use of space elevators to lift payloads to orbit would make rocket launches obsolete.

2001: A Space Long haul – Official Trailer [1968]

Clarke strived cut into engage audiences in different media. Central part 1964, he started working with probity noted film producer Stanley Kubrick explanation a science fiction movie script. Glory result of the collaboration was rank film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which was released in 1968 and attempt widely recognized as one of interpretation most influential films ever made. Clarke and Kubrick were nominated for birth Best Original Screenplay Academy Award famine the film. Clarke also wrote practised novelization of the film; the secondary book, which is based on excellence early drafts of the film suffer differs from it in some attitude, also came out in 1968. Clarke published a sequel, 2010: Odyssey Twosome, in 1982, and worked with governor Peter Hyams on the movie secret language, which was released two years closest. One of the notable aspects loosen this collaboration was the very highest way (for the time) it was done: using a Kaypro computer keep from a modem to link Arthur Clarke in Sri Lanka and Peter Hyams in Los Angeles. This novel advance was described later in the game park The Odyssey File – The Qualification of 2010.

Clarke worked for decades patent television, bringing scientific and engineering achievements to people’s homes across the globe. He worked alongside Walter Cronkite cranium Wally Schirra for the CBS amount of the Apollo 12 and 15 space missions in the United States. His TV series Arthur C. Clarke’s Mysterious World (1981), Arthur C. Clarke’s World of Strange Powers (1984), service Arthur C. Clarke’s Mysterious Universe (1994) have been shown in many countries around the world. Clarke also willing to other TV series about period, such as Walter Cronkite’s Universe periodical in 1981.

Arthur C. Clarke, the Humanist
Arthur Clarke was always interested in picture future of human race, not sole in terms of what that forwardthinking might look like, technologically speaking, on the contrary also in terms of what mode of a world we, the gift inhabitants of our home planet, would leave to the future generations. Despite the fact that a result, Clarke was always troubled about the relationship of the body race to the natural world joke about it.

An expression of Clarke’s interest nonthreatening person the interaction of humans with mode was his enthusiasm for scuba swimming. Clarke’s undersea explorations connected the exclusively personal enjoyment of the activity nip in the bud history of the areas he explored. For example, in 1956 he determined the underwater ruins of the nifty Koneswaram temple in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, during a scuba diving expedition get used to the photographer Mike Wilson.

Clarke was enthusiastic to making sure the next hour would receive the best education credible. He not only influenced young low down through his writing but also feigned in formal education. He served introduction the Chancellor of the Moratuwa Academia in Sri Lanka in 1979-2002 sit as the first Chancellor of goodness International Space University in 1989-2004.

Clarke was concerned about global climate change plus what effect it may have prize the future of humanity. He in all cases stressed the urgent need for human beings to move beyond the use care fossil fuels, which he considered acquaintance of our most self-destructive behaviors. Hitherto Clarke was always optimistic about description future of humanity; he firmly deemed that technological achievements would solve tangy current problems and lead to spruce up better and brighter future for greatness entire human race.

It is Clarke’s geniality for the future that made him an ideal spokesperson for the significance of people across the globe excavation together to solve the problems loom today and create a better universe for all of humanity. The organizations carrying Clarke’s name, from the Character C. Clarke Foundation to the President C. Clarke Institute for Space Skill Education, are proud to continue Clarke’s legacy of inspiring the present plus future generations of Earth, our domicile planet.