Clarke, Arthur C. (1917–2008)

Arthur Charles Clarke has been described in many ways: as a “true Renaissance person,” a scientist and inventor, a cosmic dreamer, and the father of satellite communications. During his 90-year lifetime and 70-year career, he wrote nearly 100 books, both fiction and nonfiction. Always, his prime mission was to explore the mysteries of the world and the cosmos. In his scientific and engineering writings, he opened many new doors, most notably in the fields of radar and satellite communications. He not only inspired generations through his writing but also first envisioned the geosynchronous satellite system on which today's global electronic communication system is based.

Clarke is most celebrated for his science fiction, which won every top honor in the field. In fact, Rendezvous With Rama alone won the Hugo, the Nebula, the Jupiter, and the Campbell Memorial awards. He later earned the Edgar Award, named in honor of Edgar Allan Poe.

Arthur C. Clarke

Source: Photo by Karl H. Anders, MD. All rights reserved.

Clarke's fiction classics include Childhood's End, Fountains of Paradise, and 3001: The Final Space Odyssey. (Both of these books anticipate the creation of a so-called space elevator—a futuristic device that might one day lift cargo and humans to “Clarke orbit.” This is one of his many predictions that has yet to be realized.)

His books and almost countless short stories have now been translated into many languages. Yet it was the screenplay that he cowrote with Stanley Kubrick for the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey— based on Clarke's short story “The Sentinel”—that best explains how he became a household name around the globe. The American Film Institute ranks 2001: A Space Odyssey as one of the top 10 movies of all time. Ironically, only after the film was released did Clarke actually go back and finish writing the book that made him so famous.

Clarke's compelling science fiction would have brought him fame, but this was only one of his talents. His scientific writings, inventions, and predictions led to his recognition as a “true Renaissance man.” His writings spanned science, energy, the oceans, the environment, mathematics, computers, [Page 135]and communications as well as world peace, futurism, and politics—always with a hint of his wry British humor. His famous “Arthur C. Clarke's Three Laws” from his 1962 Profiles of the Future captures the spirit of this much beloved guru:

• 1.
  When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
• 2.
  The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
• 3.
  Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

It was Clarke's technical writings that most won him respect and admiration in the scientific world. Many astronauts, including John Glenn, have indicated that Clarke first inspired them. In the spring of 1945, Clarke circulated a paper outlining a radical new idea. It explained how three rocket-launched communications satellites positioned in geosynchronous orbit could provide a global network using earth stations that did not have to track across the sky. Later that year, Clarke published his full landmark paper “ExtraTerrestrial Relays” in Wireless World. It explained in detail the orbital mechanics of the geosynchronous orbit. Clarke showed that a satellite traveling in circular orbit some 22,230 miles (35,870 kilometers) above the earth's surface would appear stationary in this sky. This is because this “magic” orbit at this precise altitude would have precisely the right velocity to travel around the globe once a day, and this velocity would generate sufficient centrifugal force to exactly overcome the gravitational pull at this height. Only one unique solution to this particular set of conditions applies—no other orbit can meet these special conditions.

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