Some of his early influences included dinosaur cigarette cards, which led to an enthusiasm for fossils starting about 1925. He received his secondary education at Huish school in Taunton. As a boy, he lived on a farm, where he enjoyed stargazing, fossil collecting, and reading American science-fiction pulp magazines. Ĭlarke was born in Minehead, Somerset, England, and grew up in nearby Bishops Lydeard. He was knighted in 1998 and was awarded Sri Lanka's highest civil honour, Sri Lankabhimanya, in 2005. Ĭlarke was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1989 'for services to British cultural interests in Sri Lanka'. Clarke augmented his popularity in the 1980s, as the host of television shows such as Arthur C. That year, he discovered the underwater ruins of the ancient original Koneswaram Temple in Trincomalee. Ĭlarke immigrated to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1956, to pursue his interest in scuba diving. He was the chairman of the British Interplanetary Society from 1946 to 1947 and again in 1951–1953. In 1945, he proposed a satellite communication system using geostationary orbits. In 1934, while still a teenager, he joined the BIS, British Interplanetary Society. Ĭlarke was a lifelong proponent of space travel.

For many years Clarke, Robert Heinlein, and Isaac Asimov were known as the 'Big Three' of science fiction. His science-fiction writings in particular earned him a number of Hugo and Nebula awards, which along with a large readership, made him one of the towering figures of the genre. Clarke's science and science-fiction writings earned him the moniker 'Prophet of the Space Age'.

In 1961, he received the Kalinga Prize, a UNESCO award for popularising science. He wrote many books and many essays for popular magazines. Clarke was a science fiction writer, an avid populariser of space travel, and a futurist of a distinguished ability. He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, widely regarded as one of the most influential films of all time. Sir Arthur Charles Clarke CBE FRAS (16 December 1917 – 19 March 2008) was an English science-fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host.

Arthur c clarke and stephen baxter