The famous UK
science-fiction writer, Sir Arthur C. Clarke has died today in Sri Lanka, the
Associated Press reported. According to his personal secretary Rohan De Silva,
Sir Arthur C. Clarke died at 1:30 a.m. after suffering breathing problems.
"He has passed away. He had a cardio-respiratory
attack," said de Silva quoted by Reuters.
Clarke has lived in Sri Lanka
since 1956, when he decided to pursue his interest for underwater exploration
along that coast and on the Great Barrier Reef.
In the recent years, he was bound to a wheelchair due to post-polio syndrome.
Arthur C. Clarke was born on December 6, 1918 as a son of an
English farming family, the seaside town of Minehead,
Somerset.
In 1936, he moved to London
and pursued his early interest in space sciences by joining the British
Interplanetary Society. He also began to write science fiction.
During the World War II, he joined the RAF, eventually
becoming an officer in charge of the first radar talk-down equipment, the
Ground Controlled Approach, during its experimental trials. He later described
that period of his life in the non-science-fiction novel, “Glide Path”. After
the war, he returned to London
and to the BIS, becoming its president in 1947-50 and again in 1953.
In 1945, a UK
periodical magazine “Wireless World” published his technical paper
"Extra-terrestrial Relays" in which he first set out the principles
of satellite communication with satellites in geostationary orbits. One year
later, Clarke wrote “The Sentinel”, the story that became the basis for his
most famous literary work: “2001: A Space Odyssey”
In 1968 his novel became the basis for the film of the same
name, co-written and directed by Stanley Kubrick.
During his seven decades career, Clarke has been the author
of over 100 books. The first story he sold professionally was "Rescue
Party", written in March 1945 and appearing in Astounding Science in May
1946. Amongst its best-known works are "Childhood's End" (1953),
"The City and the Stars" (1956), "The Nine Billion Names of
God" (1967), "Imperial Earth" (1975) and "The Songs of
Distant Earth" (1986).
In 1998, his lifetime work was recognized by H.M. The Queen
when he was honored with a Knighthood, formally conferred by Prince Charles in Sri Lanka
two years later.
Among his many non-fiction works, “Profiles of the Future”
(1962) looked at the probable shape of tomorrow's world and stated his “Three
Laws”.
“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."”
For his scientific work, Sir Arthur C. Clarke has received
numerous honors, such as the Vikram Sarabhai Professorship of the Physical
Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, the Lindbergh Award and a Fellowship of King's
College, London.
Also, the geostationary orbit at 36,000 kilometers above the equator is named
The Clarke Orbit by the International Astronomical Union.
As a science fiction writer Clarke won the Nebula Award of
the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1972, 1974 and 1979; the Hugo Award
of the World Science Fiction Convention in 1974 and 1980, and in 1986 became
Grand Master of the Science Fiction Writers of America.
