Arthur C. Clarke Biography

Arthur C. Clarke is considered the greatest science fiction writer of all time and an international treasure in many other ways, including the fact that an article by him in 1945 led to the invention of satellite technology. Books by Mr. Clarke--both fiction and nonfiction--have more than one hundred million copies in print worldwide.

Clarke was born in the seaside town of Minehead, Somerset, England on December 16, 1917. He moved to London in 1936 and joined the British Interplanetary Society to pursue his interest in space sciences. He joined the RAF in 1939 to fight in World War II, eventually becoming an officer in charge of the first radar talk-down equipment during its experimental trials. He returned to London and to BIS following the war, and also earned a first-class degree in mathematics and physics at King's College London during that time. He married an American divorcee, Marilyn Mayfield, in 1953, but divorced soon after and remained a bachelor the rest of his life. He emigrated to Sri Lanka in 1956, where he lived until his death on March 19, 2008.

In his early career, Clarke primarily wrote short stories, the first of which ("Loophole") was published in 1946. His first novel Prelude to Space, followed in 1951. His works won multiple awards, including two Hugos, three Nebulas, and one Academy award (for the screen play of 2001: A Space Odyssey). He was knighted by the UK in 1998.

Arthur Clarke's website

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