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SIR ARTHUR CHARLES CLARKE
1917–2008
Elected in 1986
“For conception of geosynchronous communications satellites,
and for other contributions to the use and understanding of space.”
BY HANS MARK
SIR ARTHUR CHARLES CLARKE died on March 19, 2008,
at this home near Colombo, Sri Lanka, at the age of 90. He was
elected a foreign associate of NAE in 1986.
Sir Arthur, the first of four children, was born in Minehead
in southern England on December 16, 1917. His father was a
farmer and his mother a post office telegrapher. Early on, he
developed an interest in science and technology, especially
astronomy, and while still in grammar school, he built a
telescope to “map the Moon.” At age 13, young Arthur
discovered science fiction and became a voracious reader of
stories of space exploration and life on other planets in the very
popular “pulp” magazines. Thus the interests that would shape
his life took hold in his mind when he was still very young.
Arthur attended a private school in Taunton on a scholarship
from 1927 to 1936. Upon graduation, he secured a position as
an auditor in the Department of the Exchequer. In 1941, he
joined the Royal Air Force. As a technical officer, he was a
member of the very successful British-American team working
on the early ground-controlled approach (GCA) radar system
being developed by people at MIT. Arthur was demobilized
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36 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
with the rank of flight lieutenant in 1945. He then enrolled at
King’s College of the University of London, and in 1948, he
received a Bachelor of Science degree with first-class honors in
physics and mathematics.
I first ran across the name of Arthur Clarke in 1947 when I
was a senior at Stuyvesant High School in New York City. My
early interests were also oriented toward space exploration,
and I had acquired a book by the German author Willy Ley
entitled Rockets and Space Travel: The Future of Flight Beyond the
Stratosphere (Viking Press, 1947). A passage on page 296 cites a
“recent and most interesting suggestion advanced by Arthur
C. Clarke of the British Interplanetary Society.” More than 60
years ago, I underlined this passage and the sentence that
followed: “In an article published in “Wireless World” in the
October 1945 issue he advocated a system of three space stations
revolving in the same orbit (and forming a triangle with the
Earth at its center) for worldwide radio and television coverage.”
This was an audacious idea, and I remember wondering if I
would be alive when Clarke’s proposal was implemented. But
it happened long before I expected.
In another article published in 1947, Clarke predicted that
nuclear-powered rockets would be developed “within 20
years.” (Unfortunately, I cannot find the reference, but later,
when I met him, he confirmed that he had said this.) So Arthur
was not infallible as a technological prophet.
In 1948, Arthur Clarke made the decision to become a
professional writer, and he published his first science fiction
novel, Against the Fall of Night, in 1953. In 1956, he moved to Sri
Lanka (Ceylon at the time), where he resided, near Colombo,
for the remainder of his life, although he continued to travel
widely and spent extended periods of time abroad. In 1963, he
published his only non-science fiction novel, Glide Path, which
is based on his work on radar during World War II. This was
the beginning of his great productive period.
Arthur’s collaboration with Stanley Kubrick began in 1964
and led to the memorable film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, released
in 1968. The movie was an example of Arthur’s unique talent.
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SIR ARTHUR CHARLES CLARKE
He had a first-class technical intelligence, and all of his books
were somehow plausible; he also had a superb imagination.
The high quality and popularity of his books were based on a
combination of these elements. In 2001: A Space Odyssey, the
imaginative idea was that a computer, HAL, would try to take
over the spaceship. The story was a cliffhanger until HAL was
finally bested.
My personal favorite among Arthur’s writings is Rendezvous
with Rama (Harcourt Brace Jovanocvich, 1973). In this book,
Arthur’s imagination takes the lead. After an asteroid collides
with the Earth causing catastrophic damage, a group of people
decide to leave. They build a huge spaceship to accomplish
their objective. The gripping story also involves imagining
something completely new at the time—a group of humans
leaving the Earth forever. Arthur’s book describes the
consequences.
During the years I spent in Washington (1977–1984), I met
Arthur Clarke several times. He would visit NASA Headquarters,
and we would arrange discussion sessions, which were always
unique experiences for those of us who attended. Following
those sessions, we would take Arthur out to dinner. During one
such party, I remember discussing Clarke’s law: “Any
sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from
magic.” Someone added that it must also violate the “principle
of least astonishment,” which we decided was a good general
principle related to magic! We also added some other laws,
which were adopted by consensus. My favorite was: “If an old,
distinguished scientist or engineer tells you something cannot
be done, he is probably wrong.” Arthur had a good sense of
humor, and he always enjoyed these visits.
Arthur Clarke’s achievements were widely recognized, and
he received many honors. The most important was nomination
for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, probably based on his long-
standing advocacy of international collaboration in space
exploration as “an alternative to armed conflict.” In 1998, he
was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to
literature. Arthur’s achievements were also honored in the
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38 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
United States, where he was elected a foreign associate of the
National Academy of Engineering in 1986 and awarded NASA’s
Distinguished Public Service Medal in 1995.
For all of his fame and notoriety, Arthur Clarke was a private
person who loved his life in Sri Lanka. He was an expert ping-
pong player, and he loved scuba diving. He married Marilyn
Mayfield in 1953, but the marriage was dissolved in 1964. Arthur
never had any children.
Arthur Clarke was one of the most influential people in the
last half of the twentieth century. His legacy is the books he
wrote and the ideas they contain. I consider it a great privilege
to have known him. I miss him and mourn his passing.
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