Arthur C. Clarke Biography

Arthur C. Clarke Biography

Arthur C. Clarke was born in the seaside town of Minehead, Somerset,
England in December 16, 1917.  In 1936 he moved to London, where
he joined the British Interplanetary Society. There he started to
experiment with astronautic material in the BIS, write the BIS Bulletin
and science fiction.
During World War II, as a RAF officer, he was in charge of the first
radar talk-down equipment, the Ground Controlled Approach, during
its experimental trials. His only non-science-fiction novel, Glide
Path, is based on this work. 
After the war, he returned to London and to the BIS, which he presided
in 46-47 and 50-53.
In 1945 he published the tecnical paper  "Extra-terrestrial Relays"
laying down the principles of the satellite communication with satellites
in geostationary orbits - a speculation r ealized 25 years later.
His invention has brought him numerous honors, such as the 1982 Marconi
International Fellowship, a gold medal of the Franklin Institute,
the Vikram Sarabhai Professorship of the Physical Research L aboratory,
Ahmedabad, the Lindbergh Award and a Fellowship of King's College,
London. Today, the geostationary orbit at 42,000 kilometers is named
The Clarke Orbit by the  International Astronomical Union.
The first story Clarke sold professionally was "Rescue Party", written
  
in March 1945 and appearing in Astounding  Science in May 1946. 
  
He obtained first class honors in Physics and Mathematics at the
King's College, London, in 1948.
  
He married Marilyn Mayfield, an american, in June 15, 1953. They
split in December 1953. As Clarke says, "The marriage was incompatibe
from the beginning. It was sufficient proof that I wasn't the marrying
type, although I think everybody should marry onc e". 
  
Clarke first visited Colombo, Sri Lanka (at the time called Ceylon)
in December 1954.
  
In 1954 Clarke wrote to Dr Harry Wexler, then chief of the Scientific
Services Division, U.S. Weather Bureau,  about satellite applications
for weather forecasting. Of these communications, a new branch of
meteorology was born, and Dr. Wexler became the d riving force in
using rockets and satellites for meteorological research and operations.
  
In 1954 Clarke started to give up space for the sea. About the reasons,
he said: "I now realise that it was my interest in astronautics that
led me to the ocean. Both involve exploration, of course - but that's
not the only reason. When the first skin-div ing equipment started
to appear in the late 1940s, I suddenly realized that here was a
cheap and simple way of imitating one of the most magical aspects
of spaceflight - weightessness."
  
In the book Profiles of the Future (1962) he looks at the probable
shape of tomorrow's world. In this book he states his three Laws.
  
In 1964, he started to work with  Stanley Kubric in a SF movie script.
After 4 years, he shared an Oscar Academy Award nomination with hi
m for the film version of 2001: A Space Odyssey. 
  
He co-broadcasted the Apollo    11 ,  12 and  15 missions with Walter
Cronkite and Wally Schirra for CBS.
  
In 1985, He published a sequel to 2001: 2010: Odyssey Two. He worked
with Peter Hyams in the movie version of 2010. They work  was done
using a Kaypro computer and a modem, for Arthur was in Sri Lanka
and Peter Hyams in Los Angeles.  Their communications turned into
the book The Odyssey File - The Making of 2010.
  

  
1984 MGM/UA Entertainment Group
  
His thirteen-part TV serie Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World in
1981 and  Arthur C. Clarke's World of strange Powers in 1984 has
now been screend in many countries. He made part of other TV series
about the space, as  Walter Cronkite's  Universe  series in 1981.
  
He has lived in Colombo, Sri Lanka since 1956 and has been doing
underwater exploration along that coast and the Great Barrier Reef.
  


  
The real author of this page is Neil McAleer. Here I just summarized
the most important facts of Clarke's life (in my point of view),
described in his authorized biography (McAleer, Neil  Arthur C. Clarke
- The Authorized Biography. Chicago: Contemporary Books; 1992). This
is a very good book, and was the source of most of the information
here. 
  

Laboratory of Integrated Systems 
This page was created and is maintained by Reinaldo Bianchi. Any
comments, suggestions or informations please write me. 
e-mail to:  
rbianchi@lsi.usp.br  

Created February 1, 1995
Last updated February 28, 1996
Copyright c 1995 by Reinaldo A. C. Bianchi   
