Back at the start of 2017, I
commented on Arthur C. Clarke (he died in
2008) and the fact that he was born 100 years ago. I first became aware of Clarke during the 1960s when manned spacecraft were landed on the Moon (see
this video). It was inspiring for geeky little kids such as me to hear grownups (such as Clarke) make the point: if we can put men on the Moon, how petty that makes our silly
wars and squabbles on Earth seem in comparison.
Probably the first book written by Clarke that I read was
Against the Fall of Night. Fifty years later I can still recall the wonderful changes inflicted on my brain by Clarke's story about imagined events in the far future of Earth.
While in his 20s, Clarke started writing fiction, but his life became entangled in World War II. What became
Against the Fall of Night began as a story idea in 1937, apparently inspired by the 1934 story "
Twilight", a tale of the far future by
John Campbell.
Clarke went on to write stories about fantastic engineering projects: space elevators, miles-long spaceships and even a device for turning Jupiter into a star.
 |
| space elevator |
Perspective
Perhaps the most dazzling contribution of Clarke as a science fiction story teller was his ability to imagine alien beings who were far more technologically advanced than we Earthlings. This was popularized in the film,
2001, in which mysterious artificial lifeforms interact with primitive humans.
In
Rendezvous With Rama, a mysterious spacecraft passes through the Solar System, giving Earthlings an awe inspiring view of advanced alien technology. It is fitting that in 2017, an elongated interstellar object was detected (see
Oumuamua).
Sadly, so far, in the realm of encounters with objects from other star systems, the imagined wonders of fiction still exceed reality.
Interesting article about Clarke from 1962 in
Amazing Stories
Related Reading:
Childhood's End
Related 100:
Jack Vance
Related Clarke
Next: before advancing to 2018, a quick trip back to
1960s Sci Fi
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