Ĭlarke died from heart and respiratory failure at the age of 90. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1998, and was awarded Sri Lanka's highest civil honour, Sri Lankabhimanya, in 2005. Ĭlarke emigrated to Sri Lanka in 1956 largely to pursue his interest in scuba diving That year, he discovered the underwater ruins of the ancient Koneswaram temple in Trincomalee. He was the chairman of the British Interplanetary Society from 1947–1950 and again in 1953. He proposed a satellite communication system in 1945 which won him the Franklin Institute Gold Medal in 1963. Ĭlarke served in the Royal Air Force as a radar instructor and technician from 1941–1946. He also wrote many short stories, and several serious works on science. Some of Clarke's novels include Childhood's End, A Fall of Moondust, The Songs of Distant Earth, The Sands of Mars, and Meeting with Medusa. Clarke and Isaac Asimov were probably the two best-known science fiction writers of their day.
He was most famous for his science fiction novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, and for working with director Stanley Kubrick on the movie of the same name. He was knighted in 1998 and was awarded Sri Lanka's highest civil honour, Sri Lankabhimanya, in 2005.Sir Arthur Charles Clarke ( Minehead, Somerset, 6 December 1917 – Colombo, Sri Lanka, 19 March 2008) was a British author and inventor. He lived in Sri Lanka until his death.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 fame later on in the 1980s, from being the host of several television shows such as Arthur C. That year he discovered the underwater ruins of the ancient Koneswaram temple in Trincomalee. He was the chairman of the British Interplanetary Society from 1946–1947 and again in 1951–1953.Ĭlarke emigrated from England to Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) in 1956, largely to pursue his interest in scuba diving. In 1945, he proposed a satellite communication system using geostationary orbits. In 1934, while still a teenager, he joined the British Interplanetary Society. For many years Clarke, Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov were known as the "Big Three" of science fiction.Ĭlarke was a lifelong proponent of space travel. His other science fiction writings earned him a number of Hugo and Nebula awards, which along with a large readership made him one of the towering figures of science fiction. These along with his science fiction writings eventually earned him the moniker "Prophet of the Space Age". In 1961 he was awarded the Kalinga Prize, an award which is given by UNESCO for popularising science. On these subjects he wrote over a dozen books and many essays, which appeared in various popular magazines. Clarke was a science writer, who was both an avid populariser of space travel and a futurist of uncanny ability. He is famous for being co-writer of the screenplay for the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, widely considered to be one of the most influential films of all time.
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke CBE FRAS was a British science fiction writer, science writer and futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host.