CLARKE, Arthur C(harles) 1917-

(E. G. O' Brian, Charles Willis)

PERSONAL: Born December 16, 1917, in Minehead, Somersetshire, England; son of Charles Wright (a farmer) and Nora (Willis) Clarke; married Marilyn Mayfield, June 15, 1953 (divorced, 1964). Education: King's College, London, B.Sc. (first-class honors), 1948. Hobbies and other interests: "Observing the equatorial skies with a fourteen-inch telescope," tabletennis, scuba diving, and "playing with his Chihuahua and his six computers."

ADDRESSES: Home—25 Barnes Place, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka; Dene Court, Bishop's Lydeard, Taunton, Somerset TA4 3LT, England; fax (94-1) 698730.

Agent—David Higham Associates, 5-8 Lower John St., Golden Square, London W1R 4HA, England; Scouil, Chichak, Galen Literary Agency, 381 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016.

CAREER: British Civil Service, His Majesty's Exchequer and Audit Department, London, England, auditor, 1936-41; Institution of Electrical Engineers, Science Abstracts, London, assistant editor, 1949-50; freelance writer, 1951—. Underwater explorer and photographer, in partnership with Mike Wilson, on Great Barrier Reef of Australia and coast of Sri Lanka, 1954-64. Has appeared on television and radio numerous times, including as commentator with Walter Cronkite on Apollo missions, CBS-TV, 1968-70, and as host of television series Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World, 1980, and Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers, 1984. Acted role of Leonard Woolf in Lester James Peries's film Beddagama (based on Woolf's The Village in the Jungle), 1979. Director of Rocket Publishing Co., United Kingdom; founder, director, and owner, with Hector Ekanayake, of Underwater Safaris (scuba-diving business), Sri Lanka; founder and patron, Arthur C. Clarke Centre for Modern Technologies, Sri Lanka, 1984—. Chancellor of University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, 1979—; chancellor, International Space University, 1987—; Vikram Sarabhai Professor, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India, 1980; trustee, Institute of Integral Education, Sri Lanka. Fellow, Franklin Institute, 1971, King's College, 1977, and Carnegie-Mellon University Institute of Robotics, 1981. Lecturer, touring United States and Britain, 1957-74. Board member of National Space Institute, United States, Space Generation Foundation, United States, International Astronomical Union (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) Commission 51, and Planetary Society, United States. Chair, Second International Astronautics Congress, London, 1951; moderator, Space Flight Report to the Nation, 1961. Military service: Royal Air Force, radar instructor, 1941-46; became flight lieutenant.

MEMBER: International Academy of Astronautics (honorary fellow), International Science Writers Association, International Council for Integrative Studies, World Academy of Art and Science (academician), British Interplanetary Society (honorary fellow; chairperson, 1946-47, 1950-53), Royal Astronomical Society (fellow), British Astronomical Association, Association of British Science Writers (life member), British Science Fiction Association (patron), Royal Society of Arts (fellow), Society of Authors (council member), American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (honorary fellow), American Astronautical Society (honorary fellow), American Association for the Advancement of Science, National Academy of Engineering (United States; foreign associate), Science Fiction Writers of America, Science Fiction Foundation, H. G. Wells Society (honorary vice president), Third World Academy of Sciences (associate fellow), Sri Lanka Astronomical Society (patron), Institute of Engineers (Sri Lanka; honorary fellow), Sri Lanka Animal Welfare Association (patron), British Sub-Aqua Club.

AWARDS, HONORS: International Fantasy Award, 1952, for The Exploration of Space; Hugo Award, World Science Fiction Convention, 1956, for "The Star"; Kalinga Prize, UNESCO, 1961, for science writing; Junior Book Award, Boys Club of America, 1961; Stuart Ballantine Gold Medal, Franklin Institute, 1963, for originating concept of communications satellites; Robert Ball Award, Aviation-Space Writers Association, 1965, for best aerospace reporting of the year; Westinghouse Science Writing Award, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1969; Second International Film Festival special award, and Academy Award nomination for best screenplay (with Stanley Kubrick), Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, both 1969, both for 2001: A Space Odyssey; Playboy editorial award, 1971, 1982; Hon. D.Sc., Beaver College, 1971, University of Moratuwa, 1979; Nebula Award, Science Fiction Writers of America, 1972, for "A Meeting with Medusa"; Nebula Award, 1973, and Hugo Award, John W. Campbell Memorial Award, Science Fiction Research Association, and Jupiter Award, Instructors of Science Fiction in Higher Education, all 1974, all for Rendezvous with Rama; Aerospace Communications Award, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1974; Bradford Washburn Award, Boston Museum of Science, 1977, for "contributions to the public understanding of science"; Galaxy Award, 1979; Nebula and Hugo Awards, both 1980, both for The Fountains of Paradise; special Emmy Award for engineering, National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, 1981, for contributions to satellite broadcasting; "Lensman" Award, 1982; Marconi International fellowship, 1982; Centennial Medal, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 1984; E. M. Emme Astronautical Literature Award, American Astronautical Society, 1984; Grand Master Award, Science Fiction Writers of America, 1986; Vidya Jyothi Medal (Presidential Science Award), 1986; Charles A. Lindbergh Award, 1987; Third World Academy of Sciences associate fellow, 1987; named to Society of Satellite Professionals Hall of Fame, 1987; D.Litt., University of Bath, 1988; named to International Aerospace Hall of Fame, 1989; named to International Space Hall of Fame, 1989; Special Achievement Award, Space Explorers Association, Riyadh, 1989; R.A. Heinlein Memorial Award, National Space Society, 1990; Freeman of Minehead, 1992; Lord Perry Award for distance education, 1992; Nobel Peace Prize nomination, 1994; Distinguished Public Service Medal, NASA, 1995; Space Achievement Medal and Trophy, BIS, 1995; Mohamed Sahabdeen Award for Science, 1996; Von Karman Award, IAA, 1996; asteroid 4923 named 'Clarke,' IAU, 1996; Presidential Award, University of Illinois, 1997; knighted by Queen Elizabeth, 1998 (invested, 2000); European satellite, launched in April, 2000, named after Clarke in recognition of his contribution to the development of global communication networks. The Arthur C. Clarke Awards bestow annual prizes for writers in fifteen categories and are organized by the Space Frontier Foundation.

WRITINGS:

nonfiction

Interplanetary Flight: An Introduction to Astronautics, Temple, 1950, Harper (New York, NY), 1951, 2nd edition, 1960.

The Exploration of Space, Harper, 1951, revised edition, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1979.

The Young Traveller in Space, Phoenix, 1953, published as Going into Space, Harper, 1954, revised edition (with Robert Silverberg) published as Into Space: A Young Person's Guide to Space, Harper (New York, NY), 1971.

The Exploration of the Moon, illustrated by R. A. Smith, Harper (New York, NY), 1954.

The Coast of Coral, Harper (New York, NY), 1956.

The Reefs of Taprobane: Underwater Adventures around Ceylon, Harper (New York, NY), 1957.

The Scottie Book of Space Travel, Transworld Publishers (London, England), 1957.

The Making of a Moon: The Story of the Earth Satellite Program, Harper (New York, NY), 1957, revised edition, 1958.

Voice across the Sea, Harper (New York, NY), 1958, revised edition, 1974.

(With Mike Wilson) Boy beneath the Sea, Harper (New York, NY), 1958.

The Challenge of the Spaceship: Previews of Tomorrow's World, Harper (New York, NY), 1959.

(With Mike Wilson) The First Five Fathoms: A Guide to Underwater Adventure, Harper (New York, NY), 1960.

The Challenge of the Sea, Holt (New York, NY), 1960.

(With Mike Wilson) Indian Ocean Adventure, Harper (New York, NY), 1961.

Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry into the Limits of the Possible, Harper (New York, NY), 1962, revised edition, Holt (New York, NY), 1984.

The Treasure of the Great Reef, Harper (New York, NY), 1964, new edition, Ballantine (New York, NY), 1974.

(With Mike Wilson) Indian Ocean Treasure, Harper (New York, NY), 1964.

(With the editors of Life) Man and Space, Time-Life (Alexandria, VA), 1964.

Voices from the Sky: Previews of the Coming Space Age, Harper (New York, NY), 1965.

(Editor) The Coming of the Space Age: Famous Accounts of Man's Probing of the Universe, Meredith (New York, NY), 1967.

The Promise of Space, Harper (New York, NY), 1968.

(With Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., Gene Farmer, and Dora Jane Hamblin) First on the Moon, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1970.

Report on Planet Three and Other Speculations, Harper (New York, NY), 1972.

(With Chesley Bonestell) Beyond Jupiter, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1972.

The View from Serendip (autobiography), Random House (New York, NY), 1977.

(With Simon Welfare and John Fairley) Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World (based on television series), A&W Publishers, 1980.

Ascent to Orbit: A Scientific Autobiography: The Technical Writings of Arthur C. Clarke, Wiley (New York, NY), 1984.

1984: Spring—A Choice of Futures, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1984.

(With Simon Welfare and John Fairley) Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers, Putnam (New York, NY), 1984.

(With Peter Hyams) The Odyssey File, Fawcett (New York, NY), 1985.

Arthur C. Clarke's July 20, 2019: Life in the Twentyfirst Century, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1986.

Arthur C. Clarke's Chronicles of the Strange and Mysterious, edited by Simon Welfare and John Fairley, Collins (London, England), 1987.

Astounding Days: A Science Fictional Autobiography, Bantam (New York, NY), 1989.

How the World Was One: Beyond the Global Village, Bantam (New York, NY), 1992.

By Space Possessed, Gollancz (London, England), 1993.

Frontline of Discovery: Science on the Brink of Tomorrow, National Geographic Society (Washington, DC), 1994.

The Snows of Olympus: A Garden on Mars, Norton (New York, NY), 1995.

Arthur C. Clarke & Lord Dunsany: A Correspondence, edited by K. A. Daniels, Anamnesis Press (San Francisco, CA), 1998.

Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds!: Collected Essays, 1934-1998, edited by I. T. Macauley, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1999.

fiction

The Sands of Mars, Sidgwick & Jackson (London, England), 1951.

Prelude to Space, World Editions (New York, NY), 1951, published as Master of Space, Lancer Books (New York, NY), 1961, published as The Space Dreamers, Lancer Books (New York, NY), 1969.

Islands in the Sky, Winston, 1952, new edition, Penguin Books (New York, NY), 1972.

Childhood's End, Ballantine (New York, NY), 1953.

Against the Fall of Night, Gnome Press (New York, NY), 1953.

Expedition to Earth (short stories), Ballantine (New York, NY), 1953.

Earthlight, Ballantine (New York, NY), 1955.

Reach for Tomorrow (short stories), Ballantine (New York, NY), 1956.

The City and the Stars (based on novel Against the Fall of Night), Harcourt (New York, NY), 1956.

The Deep Range (also see below), Harcourt (New York, NY), 1957.

Tales from the White Hart, Ballantine (New York, NY), 1957.

The Other Side of the Sky (short stories), Harcourt (New York, NY), 1958.

Across the Sea of Stars (anthology; includes Childhood's End and Earthlight), Harcourt (New York, NY), 1959.

A Fall of Moondust, Harcourt, (New York, NY), 1961, abridged edition, University of London Press (London, England), 1964.

From the Oceans, from the Stars (anthology; includes The Deep Range and The City and the Stars), Harcourt (New York, NY), 1962.

Tales of Ten Worlds (short stories), Harcourt (New York, NY), 1962.

Dolphin Island: A Story of the People of the Sea, Holt (New York, NY), 1963.

Glide Path, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1963.

Prelude to Mars (anthology; includes Prelude to Space and The Sands of Mars), Harcourt (New York, NY), 1965.

An Arthur C. Clarke Omnibus (contains Childhood's End, Prelude to Space, and Expedition to Earth), Sidgwick & Jackson (London, England), 1965.

(Editor) Time Probe: The Science in Science Fiction, Dial (New York, NY), 1966.

The Nine Billion Names of God (short stories), Harcourt (New York, NY), 1967.

A Second Arthur C. Clarke Omnibus (contains A Fall of Moondust, Earthlight, and The Sands of Mars), Sidgwick & Jackson (London, England), 1968.

(With Stanley Kubrick) 2001: A Space Odyssey (screenplay), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1968.

2001: A Space Odyssey (based on screenplay), New American Library, 1968, published with a new introduction by Clarke, ROC (New York, NY), 1994.

The Lion of Comarre; and, Against the Fall of Night, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1968.

The Lost Worlds of 2001, Gregg Press (Boston, MA), 1972.

The Wind from the Sun (short stories), Harcourt (New York, NY), 1972.

(Editor) Three for Tomorrow, Sphere Books (London, England), 1972.

Of Time and Stars: The Worlds of Arthur C. Clarke (short stories), Gollancz (London, England), 1972.

Rendezvous with Rama, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1973, adapted edition, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1979.

The Best of Arthur C. Clarke, edited by Angus Wells, Sidgwick & Jackson (London, England), 1973, published as two volumes, Volume 1: The Best of Arthur C. Clarke: 1937-1955, Volume 2: The Best of Arthur C. Clarke: 1956-1972, 1977.

Imperial Earth: A Fantasy of Love and Discord, Gollancz (London, England), 1975, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1976.

Four Great Science Fiction Novels (contains The City and the Stars, The Deep Range, A Fall of Moon-dust, and The Fountains of Paradise), Harcourt (New York, NY), 1979.

(Editor, with George Proctor) The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume 3: The Nebula Winners, Avon (New York, NY), 1982.

2010: Odyssey Two, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1982.

The Sentinel: Masterworks of Science Fiction and Fantasy (short stories), Berkeley Publishing (Berkeley, CA), 1983.

Selected Works, Heinemann (London, England), 1985.

The Songs of Distant Earth, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1986.

2061: Odyssey Three, Del Rey (New York, NY), 1988.

(With Gentry Lee) Cradle, Warner Books (New York, NY), 1988.

A Meeting with Medusa (bound with Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson), Tor Books (New York, NY), 1988.

(With Gentry Lee) Rama II, Bantam (New York, NY), 1989.

(With Gregory Benford) Beyond the Fall of Night, Putnam (New York, NY), 1990.

The Ghost from the Grand Banks, Bantam (New York, NY), 1990.

Tales from the Planet Earth, illustrated by Michael Whelan, Bantam (New York, NY), 1990.

(With Gentry Lee) The Garden of Rama, Bantam (New York, NY), 1991.

The Hammer of God, Bantam (New York, NY), 1993.

(With Gentry Lee) Rama Revealed, Bantam (New York, NY), 1994.

(With Mike McQuay) Richter 10, Bantam (New York, NY), 1996.

3001: The Final Odyssey, Ballantine (New York, NY), 1997.

(With Michael Kube-McDowell) The Trigger, Bantam (New York, NY), 1999.

(With Stephen Baxter) The Light of Other Days, Tor (New York, NY), 2000.

The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke, Tor (New York, NY), 2001.

other

Opus 700, Gollancz (London, England), 1990.

Rama: The Official Strategy Guide, Prima Pub. (Rocklin, CA), 1996.

Also author of introduction to Inmarsat History. Contributor to books, including Mars and the Mind of Man, Harper, 1973. Author of foreword for Paul Preuss's books Breaking Strain, Avon, 1987, and Maelstrom, Avon, 1988. Also author of television series Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers and a movie treatment based on Cradle. Contributor of more than 600 articles and short stories, occasionally under pseudonyms E. G. O'Brian and Charles Willis, to numerous magazines, including Harper's, Playboy, New York Times Magazine, Vogue, Holiday, and Horizon.

Clarke's works have been translated into Polish, Russian, French, German, Spanish, Serbo-Croatian, Greek, Hebrew, Dutch, and over twenty other languages.

ADAPTATIONS: The book Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World was adapted as a series for television by Yorkshire Television, 1980. The short story "The Star" was adapted for an episode of The New Twilight Zone by CBS-TV in 1985. The following works have been optioned for movies: Childhood's End, by Universal; The Songs of Distant Earth, by Michael Phillips; The Fountains of Paradise, by Robert Swarthe; and Cradle, by Peter Guber. Sound recordings include Arthur C. Clarke Reads from his 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1976; Transit of Earth; The Nine Billion Names of God; and The Star, 1978; The Fountains of Paradise, 1979; Childhood's End, 1979; and 2010: Odyssey Two. A full-length recording of A Fall of Moondust was made by Harcourt in 1976.

SIDELIGHTS: Renowned not only for his science fiction, which has earned him the title of Grand Master from the Science Fiction Writers of America, Arthur C. Clarke also has a reputation for first-rate scientific and technical writing. Perhaps best known in this field for "Extraterrestrial Relays," the 1945 article in which he first proposed the idea of communications satellites, Clarke has also published works on such diverse topics as underwater diving, space exploration, and scientific extrapolation. Nevertheless, it is Clarke's science fiction which has secured him his reputation, with such novels as Childhood's End and Rendezvous with Rama acknowledged as classics in their field. In addition, his story "The Nine Billion Names of God" was named to the science fiction "Hall of Fame," while the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, written with director Stanley Kubrick, has been called the most important science-fiction film of the twentieth century.

The Exploration of Space, one of Clarke's first novels, broke ground in explaining scientific ideas to a popular audience. As H. H. Holmes described in the New York Herald Tribune Book Review, in "the realm of speculative factual writing … Clarke's new book will serve as the most important yet in its field. Not that it says much that is new," explained Holmes, but because "it is precisely calculated to bring our present knowledge of space travel before a whole new public." What enables the book to reach such an audience is a "charm and magnetism" that is due to "Clarke's ability to reduce complex subjects to simple language and his steadfast avoidance of fantasy as a substitute for factual narration," observed Roy Gibbons in the Chicago Sunday Tribune.

Although most speculative science texts are soon outdated, Clarke's work has withstood years of technical progress. In The Promise of Space, published in 1968 to "replace" The Exploration of Space, Clarke "is able to show the manner in which many of his predictions have been fulfilled," noted a Times Literary Supplement contributor. But rather than simply cataloging recent discoveries, Clarke's work incorporates them into new ideas: "All through the book Clarke not only recounts what has been done during the last two decades," explained Willy Ley in the New York Times Book Review, "but has his eye on both the immediate results and the future."

Although much of Clarke's early fiction reinforced the idea that space travel was an eventuality, Childhood's End, his first successful novel, is "Clarke's only work—fiction or nonfiction—in which 'The stars are not for Man,'" suggested Thomas D. Clareson in Voices for the Future: Essays on Major Science Fiction Writers. The novel relates the appearance of the Over-lords, a race of devil-shaped aliens who have come to guide Earth to peace and prosperity. Beginning by eliminating all individual governments and thus ending war, the Overlords use their superior technology to solve the problems of poverty, hunger, and oppression. The cost of this utopia is that most scientific research is set aside as unnecessary, and the exploration of space is forbidden. The motives of the Overlords become clear as the youngest generation of humans develops extrasensory powers; the children of Earth are to join the Overmind, a collective galactic "spirit" that transcends physical form. The need for science, technology, and space is eliminated with humanity's maturation, and the Earth itself is destroyed as her children join the Overmind.

Some critics view Childhood's End as the first manifestation of the theme of spiritual evolution that appears throughout Clarke's fiction. John Huntington, writing in the critical anthology Arthur C. Clarke, believed the novel to be Clarke's solution to one of the problems posed by technological progress: how spiritual development can keep pace with scientific development when by making man comfortable, science often takes away man's curiosity and drive. Childhood's End solves the problem with a stage of "transcendent evolution," and Huntington proposes that "it is its elegant solution to the problem of progress that has rightly earned Childhood's End that 'classic' status it now enjoys."

Clarke's best-known work, 2001: A Space Odyssey was the result of four years' work on both the film version and the subsequent novel. The collaboration between Clarke and director Stanley Kubrick began when the filmmaker sought a suitable basis for making the "proverbial good science fiction movie," as he has frequently described it. The two finally settled upon Clarke's 1951 short story "The Sentinel," and developed it "not [into] a script, which in [Kubrick's] view does not contain enough of the visual and emotional information necessary for filming, but a prose version, rather like a novel," related Michel Ciment in Focus on the Science Fiction Film. The result "was of more help to him in creating the right atmosphere because it was more generous in its descriptions," added Ciment.

The film and the novel have the same basic premise: a large black monolith has been sent to Earth to encourage the development of man. First shown assisting in the "dawn of man" four million years ago, a monolith is next uncovered on the moon, and upon its unveiling sends a strong radio signal toward the outer planets. As a result the spaceship Discovery, operated by the intelligent computer HAL 9000, is sent in the direction of the signal to investigate. However, while the human crew is kept ignorant of the ship's true assignment, the HAL 9000 begins to eliminate what it sees as obstacles in the way of the mission—including all of the crew. First captain Dave Bowman manages to survive, however, and upon his arrival at a moon of Saturn (Jupiter in the film) encounters yet a third monolith which precipitates a journey through the infinite, "into a world where time and space are relative in ways beyond Einstein," described Penelope Gilliatt in the New Yorker. Bowman is transformed during this journey, and subsequently arrives at a higher plane of evolution as the Star Child. "In the final transfiguration," noted Tim Hunter in Film Heritage, "director Kubrick and coauthor Arthur Clarke … suggest that evolutionary progress may in fact be cyclical, perhaps in the shape of a helix formation." The critic explained, "Man progresses to a certain point in evolution, then begins again from scratch on a higher level."

"Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey was an extraordinary development in fiction, a novel written in collaboration with the director who was simultaneously filming it," wrote Colin Greenland of the Times Literary Supplement. New Statesman contributor Brenda Maddox found the book lacking beside the movie. She claimed that the novel "has all the faults of the film and none of its virtues. The characters still have the subtlety of comic-strip men and, lacking the film's spectacular visual gimmickry … the story must propel itself with little gusts of scientific explanation." In contrast, Eliot Fremont-Smith asserted in the New York Times that "the immense and moving fantasy-idea of 2001 … is an idea that can be dramatically envisioned only in the free oscillations of the delicately cued and stretched mind." The critic added that the film "is too direct for this, its wonders too unsubtle and, for all their majesty, too confining." And where the movie may have been obscure, "all of it becomes clear and convincing in the novel. It is indeed an odyssey, this story, this exhilarating and rather chilling science fiction fantasy." Nevertheless, in comparing the visual genius of the film with the clarity of the book, Clarke himself admits in Focus on the Science Fiction Film that both versions "did something that the other couldn't have done."

Although for several years Clarke—and others—insisted that a sequel to 2001 would be impossible, in 1982 Clarke published 2010: Odyssey Two. Incorporating elements of both the film and novel versions, as well as new information from the Voyager probes of Jupiter, in 2010 "Clarke sensibly steps back down to our level to tell the story of a combined Russian and American expedition to salvage Bowman's deserted ship, the Discovery, and find out what happened," related Greenland. Although the expedition finds the remains of the ship and repairs the HAL 9000, the purpose of the black monolith mystifies them. While some critics find this an adequate approach to a sequel, others criticize Clarke for even attempting to follow up a "classic." Science Fiction Review writer Gene DeWeese believed a large problem is that 2010 "is not so much a sequel to the original book, which was in many ways superior to the movie, but a sequel to and an explanation of the movie. Unfortunately, many of these explanations already existed [in the novel of 2001. ]" Washington Post Book World contributor Michael Bishop similarly noted a tendency to over-explain: "Ponderous expository dialogue alternates with straightforward expository passages in which Heywood Floyd … or the author himself lectures the reader." And Gerald Jones of the New York Times Book Review complained that 2010 "violates the mystery [of the original] at every turn."

Despite the various criticisms, 2010 still "has its share of that same sense of wonder, which means that it is one of the dozen or so most enjoyable SF books of the year," observed DeWeese. "Clarke deftly blends discovery, philosophy, and a newly acquired sense of play," stated Time contributor Peter Stoler, creating a work that will "entertain" readers.

2061: Odyssey Three is the next chapter in the saga of the black monolith. The year 2061 marks the year of the next appearance of Halley's comet; Odyssey Three follows Heywood Floyd on a survey of the object. While en route, the survey party is redirected to rescue a ship that has crashed on the Jovian moon of Europa—the one celestial object the monoliths have warned humans against visiting. Some critics have been skeptical of a second sequel, such as the Time reviewer who found that "the mix of imagination and anachronism is wearing as thin as the oxygen layer on Mars." Although Jones also observed that "Clarke's heart is obviously not in the obligatory action scenes that advance the plot," he conceded that the author "remains a master at describing the wonders of the universe in sentences that combine a respect for scientific accuracy with an often startling lyricism." Clarke "is not to be measured by the same standards we apply to a mundane plot-smith," asserted David Brin in the Los Angeles Times. "He is, after all, the poet laureate of the Space Age. He is at his best making the reader feel, along with Heywood Floyd," continued Brin, "how fine it might be to stand upon an ancient comet, out under the stars, knowing that it is those dreams that finally come true that are the best dreams of all."

Clarke's faith in the human spirit is evident in his nonfiction book The Snows of Olympus: A Garden on Mars. Published in 1995, at a time when NASA struggled with massive budget cutbacks, this book nevertheless looks optimistically toward a future when humans will visit and colonize the planet Mars. Clarke asserts that if money were no object, human beings could walk on Mars early in the twenty-first century. He outlines a three-part mission to Mars, beginning with robot probes, which would locate needed resources on the planet and choose suitable landing sites. Unmanned space freighters would follow with equipment and supplies, intended to support the third part of the mission: the landing of a human crew. Clarke predicts that once a human colony is established, work will begin to alter the environment of Mars to make it habitable by unprotected human beings. He even believes that it is possible to create oceans and large-scale agricultural projects there. The Snows of Olympus is illustrated with computer-generated art depicting the transformation of Mars. Clarke created the pictures himself, beginning with maps of the planet generated by NASA's Voyager probe.

Clarke told John F. Burns of the New York Times Book Review that in the years when he was not writing, he felt like Frank Poole after he had his air supply cut off by HAL. Thus, Clarke has done what he long insisted was impossible: write the fourth installment of his "Odyssey series," 3001: The Final Odyssey. In 3001 another manned space voyage finds the deep-frozen Poole, long presumed dead, and revives him with fourth-millennium technology. Poole masters the use of the "braincap" and other gadgets, learns about Star City, and studies a thousand years of history he has slept through. During his long sleep, a monolith has exploded Jupiter, turning it and its moons into a secondary solar system. One moon, Europa, has been colonized by a monolith that monitors human behavior and influences the plantlike beings beneath the surface to grow. Poole is alarmed to learn that his old colleague, Dave Bowman, and HAL have both become absorbed by the monolith and that the black slab's superiors are intent on doing something unthinkable to the humans that they have enslaved. Writing in the New York Times Book Review, John Allen Paulos found that while the plot hangs together "reasonably well," much of the enjoyment comes from Clarke's ruminations on high technology, Freudian therapy, computer security, terrorism, and religious mania. Ian Watson of the Times Literary Supplement suggested that what makes 3001 compelling reading is the way in which he "retrofits" earlier episodes "so that they blend with the new future and the now ex-future."

Clarke released two novels near the turn of the twenty-first century: The Trigger, written with Michael Kube-McDowell, and The Light of Other Days, written with Stephen Baxter. The Trigger depicts a time in the future when weapons using gunpowder are rendered obsolete. A device called the "Trigger" causes them to self-destruct. When the Trigger falls into the wrong hands, questions of ethics arise. According to Booklist's Roland Green, "The discovery's potential for good and evil is enormous." Jackie Cassada of Library Journal described the book as a "thought-provoking, suspenseful tale."

Set in the mid-2300s as the last outdated rocket-boosted spaceship is launched in Russia, The Light of Other Days tells the tale of scientist Heram Patterson, who unveils wormhole technology, which allows people to view others anywhere in the world. It is soon discovered that this technology can be used to see into the future, and Patterson's son discovers that it can be used to view the past as well. The technology renders privacy nonexistent and reveals the earth's destruction by an asteroid in 500 years. Booklist's Sally Estes noted that "The stories' inter-relationships have a soap-opera quality," but described the book as a "sweeping, mind-boggling read."

The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke, published in 2001, contains over 100 science-fiction tales and nearly 1,000 pages. Most stories in the collection date from 1946 to 1970, but a few are earlier and several are more recent. Jackie Cassada of Library Journal remarked that the book displays Clarke's "enthusiasm for both good storytelling and impeccable science." Booklist's Roland Green concluded that Collected Stories "may be the single-author science-fiction collection of the decade."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

books

Agel, Jerome, editor, The Making of Kubrick's 2001, New American Library, 1970.

Aldiss, Brian W., Trillion Year Spree: The History of Science Fiction, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1986.

Authors and Artists for Young Adults, Volume 33, Gale (Detroit, MI), 2000.

Bleiler, E. F., editor, Science Fiction Writers: Critical Studies of the Major Authors from the Early Nineteenth Century to the Present Day, Scribner (New York, NY), 1982.

Clareson, Thomas D., editor, Voices for the Future: Essays on Major Science Fiction Writers, Bowling Green University Press (Bowling Green, OH), 1976.

Contemporary Literary Criticism, Gale (Detroit, MI), Volume 1, 1973, Volume 4, 1975, Volume 13, 1980, Volume 16, 1981, Volume 18, 1981, Volume 35, 1985.

Contemporary Novelists, 7th edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 2001.

Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology, 5th edition, Gale (Detroit, MI), 2001.

Hollow, John, Against the Night, the Stars: The Science Fiction of Arthur C. Clarke, Harcourt, 1983, expanded edition, Ohio University Press (Athens, OH), 1987.

Johnson, William, editor, Focus on the Science Fiction Film, Prentice-Hall (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1972.

Ketterer, David, New Worlds for Old: The Apocalyptic Imagination, Science Fiction, and American Literature, Indiana University Press (Bloomington, IN), 1974, pp. 43-49.

Knight, Damon, In Search of Wonder: Essays on Modern Science Fiction, Advent (Chicago, IL), 1967, pp. 177-205.

Magill, Frank N., editor, Survey of Science Fiction Literature, Volumes 1-5, Salem Press (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1979.

Malik, Rex, editor, Future Imperfect, Pinter, 1980.

McAleer, Neil, Arthur C. Clarke: The Authorized Biography, Contemporary Books (Chicago, IL), 1992.

Moskowitz, Sam, Seekers of Tomorrow: Masters of Science Fiction, World Publishing, 1966.

Of Time and Stars: The Worlds of Arthur C. Clarke, Gollancz (London, England), 1972, pp. 7-10.

Olander, Joseph D., and Martin Harry Greenburg, editors, Arthur C. Clarke, Taplinger (New York, NY), 1977.

Platt, Charles, Dream Makers: The Uncommon Men and Women Who Write Science Fiction, Volume II, Berkeley Publishing, 1983.

Rabkin, Eric S., Arthur C. Clarke, Starmont House, 1979.

Reid, Robin Anne, Arthur C. Clarke: A Critical Companion, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 1997.

St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 2000.

St. James Guide to Young Adult Writers, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1999.

Samuelson, David N., Arthur C. Clarke: A Primary and Secondary Bibliography, G. K. Hall (Boston, MA), 1984.

Short Story Criticism, Volume 3, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1989.

Slusser, George Edgar, The Space Odysseys of Arthur C. Clarke, Borgo (San Bernadino, CA), 1978.

Wollheim, Donald A., The Universe Makers, Harper (New York, NY), 1971.

periodicals

Algol, November, 1974.

Analog Science Fiction and Fact, September, 2000, Tom Easton, review of The Light of Other Days, pp. 135-141; May, 2001, Tom Easton, "The Reference Library," pp. 132-138.

Atlantic, July, 1952; April, 1963, p. 152.

Best Sellers, October 1, 1973; May, 1979; May, 1984, pp. 75-76; December 24, 1953, p. 13.

Booklist, October 1, 1995, pp. 239-240; August, 1999, Ray Olson, review of Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds! Collected Essays, 1934-1998, p. 2003; September 15, 1999, Roland Green, review of The Trigger, p. 196; February 1, 2000, Sally Estes, review of The Light of Other Days, p. 996; January 1-15, 1997, p. 778; September 15, 2000, Leah Sparks, review of The Light of Other Days, p. 259; January 1, 2001, Roland Green, review of "The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke," p. 928.

Book World, June 30, 1968, pp. 1, 3; December 19, 1971, p. 6.

Chicago Sunday Tribune, July 13, 1952.

Chicago Sunday Tribune Magazine of Books, February 16, 1958, p. 7.

Chicago Tribune, December 30, 1990, section 14, p. 6; January 30, 1994, section 14, p. 6.

Christian Science Monitor, February 26, 1963; February 10, 1972, p. 10; August 8, 1973, p. 9; December 3, 1982, p. B3; November 26, 1993, p. 15.

Commonweal, May 3, 1968.

Detroit News, November 28, 1982.

Discover, May, 1997, pp. 68-69.

Economist, April 12, 1997, p. 85.

Extrapolation, winter, 1980, pp. 348-360; summer, 1987, pp. 105-129; spring, 1989, pp. 53-69.

Guardian, January 20, 2001, Andrew Rissik, "Magic among the Stars."

Kirkus Reviews, November 1, 1987.

Library Journal, March 1, 1990, p. 98; November 1, 1995, pp. 101-102; February 15, 1997, p. 164; September 1, 1999, William Baer, review of Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds!, p. 226; December, 1999, Jackie Cassada, review of The Trigger, p. 192; March 15, 2001, Jackie Cassada, review of The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke, p. 110; September 15, 2001, Michael Rogers, "The Fountains of Paradise," p. 188; September 15, 2001, Michael Rogers, "The City and the Stars and the Sands of Mars," p. 118.

Locus, February, 1994, p. 75; November, 1993, p. 27.

Los Angeles Times, December 1, 1982; January 24, 1992, pp. E1, E4; February 12, 1995, p. M4; January 29, 1996.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, December 19, 1982; March 4, 1984; December 6, 1987; December 9, 1990, p. 10; February 3, 1991, p. 10; January 24, 1992, p. E1; August 8, 1993, p. 11; March 10, 1996.

Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September, 1979, pp. 25-26; October, 1999, Robert K. J. Kill-heffer, review of Greetings, Carbon-based Bipeds!, p. 36.

Nation, March 5, 1983.

National Review, November 20, 1962, pp. 403-404; May 14, 1976.

New Republic, May 4, 1968; March 20, 1976; March 24, 1979.

New Scientist, April 12, 1997, p. 44.

Newsday, April 4, 1968; April 20, 1968.

New Statesman, December 20, 1968, pp. 877-878; January 26, 1979.

Newsweek, October 30, 1961.

New Yorker, April 24, 1965; May 27, 1967; April 13, 1968; September 21, 1968; August 9, 1969, pp. 40-65; December 13, 1982; December 20, 1982.

New York Herald Tribune Book Review, July 13, 1952; August 10, 1952; August 23, 1953; March 2, 1958, p. 6.

New York Times, May 29, 1968; July 5, 1968; August 22, 1973, p. 35; February 26, 1985; April 7, 1993, pp. C13, C19; November 28, 1994, p. A4; April 1, 1997; April 11, 1997.

New York Times Book Review, March 14, 1954; July 15, 1956, p. 20; April 14, 1963, pp. 22, 24; August 25, 1968, p. 10; September 23, 1973; January 18, 1976; October 30, 1977, p. 12; March 18, 1979; January 23, 1983, p. 24; March 6, 1983; May 11, 1986; December 20, 1987; May 6, 1990, p. 22; July 8, 1990, p. 22; February 3, 1991, p. 33; September 1, 1991, p. 13; June 13, 1993, p. 22; March 13, 1994, p. 30; January 28, 1996; March 9, 1997; December 26, 1999, Gerald Jones, review of Greetings! Carbon-based Bipeds!, p. 14.

New York Times Magazine, March 6, 1966.

Observer, January 21, 2001, Robin McKie, "Master of the Universe."

Omni, March, 1979.

People, December 20, 1982.

Playboy, July, 1986.

Popular Science, October, 2001, Nicole Foulke, "The Banyan Trees of Mars," p. 42.

Publishers Weekly, September 10, 1973; June 14, 1976; January 6, 1984, p. 75; January 27, 1984, p. 72; September 18, 1995, pp. 121-122; January 22, 1996, p. 61; July 26, 1999, review of Greetings, Carbon-based Bipeds!, p. 74; December 6, 1999, review of The Trigger, p. 58; January 31, 2000, review of The Light of Other Days, p. 86.

Reader's Digest, April, 1969.

Saturday Review, July 5, 1952; April 20, 1968.

Science, August 30, 1968, pp. 874-875.

Science Fiction Review, March-April, 1979; August, 1981; February, 1983, p. 15; May, 1984; fall, 1984, p. 26; summer, 1986.

Science-Fiction Studies, July, 1979, pp. 230-231; November, 1997, pp. 441-458.

Scientific American, December, 1999, review of Greetings, Carbon-based Bipeds!, p. 143.

Time, July 19, 1968; November 15, 1982; January 11, 1988.

Times (London, England), November 25, 1982.

Times Higher Education Supplement, Andrew Robinson, review of Greetings, Carbon-based Bipeds!, p. 21.

Times Literary Supplement, July 15, 1968; January 2, 1969; December 5, 1975; June 16, 1978, p. 662; January 21, 1983; October 31, 1986; March 21, 1997; January 28, 2000, Oliver Morton, review of Greetings, Carbon-based Bipeds!, p. 12; March 2, 2001, Edward James, The Collected Stories, p. 23.

Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), January 30, 1994, section 14, p. 6.

Virginia Quarterly Review, winter, 1974.

Voice Literary Supplement, November, 1982, pp. 8-9.

Washington Post, February 16, 1982; November 16, 1982.

Washington Post Book World, December 26, 1982, p. 6; March 25, 1984, p. 6; November 25, 1990, p. 8; March 9, 1992, p. B1.

West Coast Review of Books, number 1, 1986.

Western Folklore, number 28, 1969, pp. 230-237.

Wilson Library Bulletin, March, 1990, pp. 110-111.

World Press Review, April, 1985.

online

Arthur C. Clarke Unauthorized Homepage, http://www.lsi.usp.br/~rbianchi/clarke/ (November 16, 2003).*