He wrote the future: On Arthur C. Clarke's centenary(nature.com)
nature.com
He wrote the future: On Arthur C. Clarke's centenary
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v541/n7637/full/541286a.html
8 comments
If I only have time to read three, which ones would you suggest?
Clarke made a TV series in the UK called "Arthur C. Clarkes Mysterious World". If you've never heard of it, I highly recommend you check it out!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke's_Mysteriou...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke's_Mysteriou...
I loved that program when it first came out because of the episode that mentioned vitrified forts - which are still (AFAIK) a complete mystery:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitrified_fort
I also love the account of the meeting that Clarke, C.S. Lewis and Tolkien had in a pub:
"An extensive correspondence with Dr. Lewis led to the a meeting in a famous Oxford pub, the Eastgate. Seconding me was my friend, Val Cleaver, a space buff from way back (and now chief engineer of the Rolls Royce Rocket Division). Supporting Lewis was Professor J. R. R. Tolkien, whose trilogy, The Lord of the Rings created a considerable stir a few years ago. Needless to say, neither side converted the other, and we refused to abandon our diabolical schemes of interplanetary conquest. But a fine time was had by all, and when, some hours later, we emerged a little unsteadily from the Eastgate, Dr. Lewis’s parting words were "I’m sure you are very wicked people – but how dull it would be if everyone was good."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitrified_fort
I also love the account of the meeting that Clarke, C.S. Lewis and Tolkien had in a pub:
"An extensive correspondence with Dr. Lewis led to the a meeting in a famous Oxford pub, the Eastgate. Seconding me was my friend, Val Cleaver, a space buff from way back (and now chief engineer of the Rolls Royce Rocket Division). Supporting Lewis was Professor J. R. R. Tolkien, whose trilogy, The Lord of the Rings created a considerable stir a few years ago. Needless to say, neither side converted the other, and we refused to abandon our diabolical schemes of interplanetary conquest. But a fine time was had by all, and when, some hours later, we emerged a little unsteadily from the Eastgate, Dr. Lewis’s parting words were "I’m sure you are very wicked people – but how dull it would be if everyone was good."
>> and now chief engineer of the Rolls Royce Rocket Division
Did I read that right? Rolls Royce had/has a rocket division?
Did I read that right? Rolls Royce had/has a rocket division?
Turns that Val Cleaver was quite an interesting chap:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val_Cleaver
"he became general manager and chief engineer of the Rolls Royce's rocket departments, where he was responsible for the engines which powered the Blue Streak missile and Black Arrow launch vehicle"
Sadly the UK did have our own launch capability - but we only ever launched one satellite - Prospero:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prospero_(satellite)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val_Cleaver
"he became general manager and chief engineer of the Rolls Royce's rocket departments, where he was responsible for the engines which powered the Blue Streak missile and Black Arrow launch vehicle"
Sadly the UK did have our own launch capability - but we only ever launched one satellite - Prospero:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prospero_(satellite)
It's also worth reading his faintly autobiographical and heavily fact-based book about the development of radar-assisted landing systems during the second world war:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/143680.Glide_Path
It's one of his best, and quite different from most of his other books, and is worth reading even if you don't normally read historical novels.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/143680.Glide_Path
It's one of his best, and quite different from most of his other books, and is worth reading even if you don't normally read historical novels.
Also, he wrote some non-fiction which is eminently readable; "How the World was One" on the history of telecommunications, for instance.
I met Arthur C. Clarke once. He told me a joke. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NEh8nspzXw
he left a comment on my blog once :) i was thoroughly starstruck.
I also met Clarke once when he came to Singapore.
The local SF group gave him a sarong as a gift and he autographed my copy of "Childhood's End".
The local SF group gave him a sarong as a gift and he autographed my copy of "Childhood's End".
VERY fun, short and SFW clip.
interesting article about a guy who snuck into his house and what they found:
We Snuck Into Arthur C. Clarke’s Home, And. .(2013) : http://asiaobscura.com/2013/11/sifting-through-arthur-c-clar...
We Snuck Into Arthur C. Clarke’s Home, And. .(2013) : http://asiaobscura.com/2013/11/sifting-through-arthur-c-clar...
Thanks for posting that. I interviewed Arthur C. Clarke at his house (see joke above), so it was cool to see it again.
I did see that, really good stuff.
He seemed like he was quite lucid and articulate, even in his later years. I bet he has a ton of stories he could tell. . .
He seemed like he was quite lucid and articulate, even in his later years. I bet he has a ton of stories he could tell. . .
Dec 16, 1917
Clarke had such a positive view of humanity. I've read all of his novels and I don't think that he ever had a villian character.
I love his work. He's by leaps and bounds my favorite sci-fi author ever. His optimism remains unparalleled.
It's a measure of how much darker the world has turned recently that I've started in the last few years to think of ACC as perhaps a bit naive. Or maybe he was just too far ahead of the times? That's an optimist thought - albeit a long-term one.
It's a measure of how much darker the world has turned recently that I've started in the last few years to think of ACC as perhaps a bit naive. Or maybe he was just too far ahead of the times? That's an optimist thought - albeit a long-term one.
ironically, the first author i have been inclined to call "the new clarke" is liu cixin, based on the anything-but-optimistic "death's end" trilogy. still has a very clarke-like feel, but dark.
> a very clarke-like feel, but dark
I've no idea how that is even possible :) so I'll have to read something by that author to figure out what you mean.
I've no idea how that is even possible :) so I'll have to read something by that author to figure out what you mean.
check out "the three body problem"; it has a very clarke-like sense of wonder tinged with both optimism and melancholy, and the same blend of science and "magic science", but it also adds a dark feel that is nothing like clarke.
I've only read a few of his novels. I'd say that in 2061, the stowaway suicidal hijacker aboard Galaxy, and her employers, certainly qualify as villains. In 3001, I think it's legitimate to think of the monoliths and whoever built them as villains of a sort.
I don't count the later "co-authored" publications.
If you've never read any of the Rama sequels written by Gentry Lee, now is a really good time not to.
The first one has a few nice bits (but so, so few), but they're so bad, and so badly written, and so undermine the magic and majesty of the first book, and the final revelation when we discover who actually built the Rama spacecraft is so hackneyed and underwhelming[1], that they're some of the only books I have genuinely regretted reading.
And I've read some Piers Anthony and late era L. Ron Hubbard!
I really have no idea what Clarke was thinking.
[1] Spoiler rot13'd: Vg gheaf bhg gurl jrer ohvyg ol Tbq.
The first one has a few nice bits (but so, so few), but they're so bad, and so badly written, and so undermine the magic and majesty of the first book, and the final revelation when we discover who actually built the Rama spacecraft is so hackneyed and underwhelming[1], that they're some of the only books I have genuinely regretted reading.
And I've read some Piers Anthony and late era L. Ron Hubbard!
I really have no idea what Clarke was thinking.
[1] Spoiler rot13'd: Vg gheaf bhg gurl jrer ohvyg ol Tbq.
Yup, there's only one real Rama book.
The "sequels" are something else entirely - boring and a waste of time.
The "sequels" are something else entirely - boring and a waste of time.
Sounds like the Dune novels written after Frank Herbert's death, especially the very last one.
Well, in that case, there's certainly HAL 9000...
Which was a machine coping as best it could with contradictory objectives.
Well, that describes every thinking thing, good or evil, that ever lived.
It just occurred to me, though, that 2061 (and its villains) do not have a coauthor, although I don't know why that's important to you. Sorry, but your claim that he didn't write villains is just a little silly, and his view of humanity was a little more complicated than "positive."
We haven't even got to the short stories. If you've got a few minutes, read Hate and reconsider your thesis: https://books.google.com/books?id=hbAqAAAAQBAJ&lpg=PT13&dq=h...
It just occurred to me, though, that 2061 (and its villains) do not have a coauthor, although I don't know why that's important to you. Sorry, but your claim that he didn't write villains is just a little silly, and his view of humanity was a little more complicated than "positive."
We haven't even got to the short stories. If you've got a few minutes, read Hate and reconsider your thesis: https://books.google.com/books?id=hbAqAAAAQBAJ&lpg=PT13&dq=h...
Bicker, bicker, bicker. My original point is that Clarke wrote his own novels with an optimistic view of people.
But you win!
But you win!
[1] [ http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=29276 ]