A
Personal Tribute: Sir Arthur C. Clarke
There are few people in the developed nations of the world
- and in some parts of the third world - who fail to recognise
the name Arthur C. Clarke. Visionary, technologist, writer,
pundit, futurist, humanitarian - these are all terms that
have been applied to him throughout his remarkable life.
Born at a time when aviation - particularly commercial
aviation - was in its infancy and when Europe was recovering
from the ravages of World War I, he became fascinated as
a young boy by two very different extremes of study: dinosaurs
and radio. What's more, his life encompassed a most extraordinary
period of technological growth the world has witnessed,
coupled with some of humanity's darkest hours. When he was
born, men had yet to fly the Atlantic, at the time of his
passing people the world over are contemplating a human
voyage to one of his most-loved subjects of study: Mars.
In this time frame, Clarke's life became one of remarkable
foresight, his predictions and ideas peppering both his
fiction and non-fiction writing alike; and his work directly
influenced much of what we take for granted today: global
communications, radar systems that make mass air transportation
safe and so on. He was one of the first to consider the
societal implications of rocketry and space flight in such
works as “The Exploration of Space” (1951) and
“The Promise of Space” (1968) - both of which
sit in a bound volume of his works in my study. He promoted,
and popularised many ideas that at the time seemed preposterous
but which are now at the centre of major scientific and
engineering studies - such as the space elevator.
Anyone who is remotely aware of Clarke's name and life
is immediately able to point to him as the grandfather of
modern global telecommunications. While he was not the "discoverer"
of the geostationary orbit, he was the first to recognise
how it could be productively used as the "hub"
of a world-wide communications network. Of course, at the
time he was cogitating the idea through the later years
of World War 2, no-one had any inkling of how rapidly technology
would advance over the next 50 years, so that when his ideas
were published in the October 1945 edition of Wireless World,
they focused on the use of man-tended relay stations rather
than the 10,000-channel-plus systems we now have, capable
of automatically relaying voice, data and video around the
globe in just a few minutes.
But that is just the tip of the iceberg. During the war,
Clarke worked on a revolutionary system called "GCA",
or Ground Controlled Approach radar, alongside the American
luminary, Louis Alvarez. This was a remarkable application
of the still-fledgling radar that could be used to guide
aircraft down to a safe landing no matter what the weather
conditions – thus becoming the forebear of modern
ILS systems used at airports around the world. GCA did not
see practical use during the war, but played a significant
role in the 1948-49 Berlin airlift - helping to keep aircraft
moving in and out of the beleaguered western section of
that city when the weather would otherwise had shut all
operations down. His work in this ground-breaking field
became the subject for what might be regarded as being the
closest thing he has written to an autobiography: the novel
"Glide Path".
However, it is as a science-fiction author that Clarke
is best known. One cannot hear his name mentioned without
it inevitably being linked to what director Stanley Kubrick
called "the proverbial good science-diction movie":
“2001: A Space Odyssey”. Regarded as a classic
of its time, and still one of the most influential science
fiction movies ever made, "2001" spawned what
Sir Arthur himself called his "cottage industry":
a book based around the original movie premise, featuring
the same characters but telling a somewhat different story;
a further book exploring the concepts and ideas that never
made it to the final cut of the movie ("Lost Worlds
of 2001"), and of course the sequel novels: "2010:
Odyssey 2", "2061: Odyssey 3" and "3001:
The Final Odyssey". "2010" went on to spawn
a film of its own, "2010: The Year We Make Contact",
which - while not as visually or intellectually as stimulating
as"2001" nevertheless marked one of the first
electronic writing collaborations in the world, with Clarke,
in Sri Lanka, corresponding daily with Director Peter Hyams
in California using a marvellous new medium: "electronic
mail". And even these exploits gave rise to another
book: "The Odyssey File" - a volume I particularly
like because it gives a genuine and warm insight into Clarke's
personality and nature - and his irrepressible humour and
optimism (even though there are quite dark moments in the
correspondence between the two men - a reflection of the
political situation in the 1980s).
Clarke's science and science-fiction output was prolific
throughout his life - so much so that it came close to matching
that of another prolific visionary and writer, Isaac Asimov.
So close, in fact, that it lead directly to the Clarke /
Asimov Treaty (as the two jokingly referred to it) wherein
Clarke would refer to Asimov as the best writer of science
fact, reserving the second-best position for himself, and
Asimov by return would refer to Clarke as the best writer
of science-fiction, and so take the runner-up position in
the genre.
But even in his fiction writing, Clarke kept a very firm
eye on the future and the human condition. Many have labelled
his novels as "cold" in terms of character development.
I can't hold with this view. Novels such as "Rendezvous
with Rama", "Earthlight", "Imperial
Earth", "The Fountains of Paradise" and "The
Songs of Distant Earth" carry within them a very human
commentary. Yes, it may seem stilted at times today - but
that is not a failing of the writer but more a reflection
on how society itself has changed, together with our use
of language in the hlaf century since some of these titles
were first published.
As a pundit, Clarke was on-hand for the Apollo Moon landing,
providing a very human (and dare I say a very English) perspective
on the Apollo 11 landing for CBS television. He later returned
to television for various documentaries (and eventually
an increasing number of documentaries about his own life
and work - something he took with both great delight and
self-depreciating humour) culminating in the two quirky
TV series, "Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World"
and "Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers"
which respectively looked at unexplained phenomena and the
"world" of the "paranormal" - each series
fronted by Clarke, who could never resist talking to the
camera with a twinkle of deep-seated fun in his eye and
a tongue occasionally planted firmly in his cheek. Some
ten years after there original mid-80's broadcasts, these
series culminated in "Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious
Universe" -which Clarke later good-naturedly commented
upon as being proof that, "sometimes money outweighs
common sense in television."
Throughout his life, Clarke influenced millions - be it
on an individual basis, through people being personally
inspired by his vision and hope for the future as exemplified
through his writing, or indirectly through either the application
of many of his ideas (vis. telecommunications) or his ceaseless
campaigning for technology-based, "borderless"
education for the poverty-stricken regions of the Indian
sub-continent and elsewhere.
For me, Clarke's influence has been pivotal in several
aspects of my life. He was one of the first science-fiction
authors I ever read as a young boy. "The Sands of Mars",
"Rendezvous with Rama" and "The Fountains
of Paradise" remain some of my most cherished books,
novels I return to again and again.
Out of "Sands" grew an increasing fascination
with Mars, that went hand-in-glove with my growing interest
in planetary astronomy. His vision of Mars exploration and
the nature of Mars took me down roads that lead to Percival
Lowell, Carl Sagan, Johannes Kepler (fuelling a renewed
interest in Kelper's work that was otherwise being drummed
into me through the delights of the British educational
system circa the mid-70s), and Wells (and Welles!) and which
eventually had me lapping up everything I could lay my hands
on or watch regarding the Mariner 9 and Viking Mars missions
(including slipping downstairs as a teenager living at home
to watch the "after closedown" Open University
science programmes broadcast post 1:00am on BBC2).
From "Earthlight" came my growing desire to see
humanity really get out and explore space (admittedly coupled
with my love for the Classic Star Trek TV series), which
in turn lead me (along with my fascination for all things
Mars) to researching and lecturing about the history of
manned and unmanned space exploration beyond the lunar program
(which had itself been a mainstay of more younger years
growing up in Hong Kong).
From "Fountains" came an altogether more esoteric
"love affair": my fascination with the country
of Sri Lanka - a fascination also fuelled by the fact that
Clarke had made that small glorious teardrop island his
own home. Once I'd read "Fountains" I knew that
one day I would have to visit Sri Lanka and see the inspiration
for the book: the magnificent fortress palace of Sigiriya
for myself. Never for a moment did I realise that in doing
so, I would be so profoundly affected by the country itself.
I cannot claim to have known Sir Arthur well - but I did
have the great good fortune to meet him and become more
than a passing acquaintance. The first time we met was in
1994. My "free" time then was pretty much split
between "science fact" and science-fiction: I'd
been giving talks and presentations on space flight and
the world's space programs since the late 1980s; at the
same time, I'd gotten involved in organising and running
science-fiction based charity fundraising conventions. In
1994 I was co-organising what was intended to be a "modest"
August event at the Radisson Edwardian Hotel in London,
with perhaps 600 people attending. Then I received a telephone
call from a good friend: Matt Irvine, who was escorting
Arthur on one of his infrequent trips to the UK. Apparently
Arthus had got to hear of our event from none other than
Buzz Aldrin (how and why is a story for another time), and
was very keen to "pop along". When he learned
that Patrick "Jean Luc Picard" had also asked
if he could "drop in" on the event, a most remarkable
event was born: two cross-generational icons of the space
age (fact and fiction) sharing a stage, and a deep and genuine,
mutual admiration for one anaother. To say this was, and
remains, a high point in my life would be an understatement.
Not only did I get to meet, and start to get to know Arthur
Clarke, I became caught up in his infectious enthusiasm
for humanity's future.
Six years after that event, I finally fulfilled my desire
to visit Sri Lanka. There were highly personal reasons for
doing so - my wife and I had selected it as the place we
wanted to get married, as we had both always desired to
spend time there. What I hadn't expected was an invitation
to drop into the Clarke residence in Colombo, the nation's
capital. Or more precisely, an invitation to "come
to tea", passed on to us through Sir Arthur's brother,
Fred.
And in this small way I became privileged to spend time
with Sir Arthur at his home over 5 annual visits to Sri
Lanka, each year receiving a warm invitation for y wife
and I to "come over for tea" and resume conversations
started a year previously and continued (sporadically) through
e-mail communications. During these visits I found Sir Arthur
to be a confirmed Marsophile. He avidly scoured the Internet
looking for articles and information relating to the planet
and maintained regular downloads of images from MGS, Odyssey
and Pathfinder. He was excited and delighted at the prospect
of the MER missions (and privately predicted we'd be seeing
the rovers trundling around Mars for far more than their
anticipated 90 days). On out last visit, he produly demonstrated
one of his latest toys: software that enabled him to direct
his own virtual MER across a Martian landscape.
And he was fully au-fait with the work of the Mars Society.
We had several happy discussions centred on Mars Direct,
and sessions huddled over one of his PCs, looking at the
latest images of Mars released by NASA - or reviewing activities
at MDRS. He took pride and delight in showing my wife and
I his further dabblings in 3D imaging programs such as Vista
Pro to produce his own renderings of Martian landscapes
(some of which had appeared in his 1994 exploration of the
possible colonisation of Mars, "The Snows of Olympus").
Throughout each visit, Sir Arthur was never anything less
than warm and attentive...eager for "insider"
news from England and rich with anecdotes and good humour.
In an age when "celebrity" is an acronym for
self-absorption, that a man who has rubbed shoulders with
world leaders, who has advised major corporations and who
counts many of the 20th centuries greatest thinkers, writers,
explorers and - yes - actors among his friends, could be
so welcoming to virtual strangers, year-in, year-out, to
me stands as testament to Arthur Clarke's generous, giving,
and wholly down-to-earth outlook on life.
Last December, at his 90th birthday party, and once again
battling the ill health that had dogged his entire adult
life (and which had never succeeded in denting his enthusiasm
or optimism), he was given to remark, "I want to be
remembered most as a writer. I want to entertain readers
and hopefully stretch their imaginations as well. If I have
given you delight in all that I have done, let me lie quiet
in that night, which shall be yours anon."
Throughout his life, Sir Arthur C Clarke did more than
simply give "delight". He gave vision and inspiration
to successive generations. In a quiet, unassuming way, he
helped shape the world and define the limitless opportunities
the future has to offer us. And he gave hope to many, many
thousands throughout the world through his efforts to bring
them communications, education, water and other essentials
- efforts which still continue today through the work of
the Arthur C Clarke foundation, and which, through his efforts,
involve many of the world's leading corporations.
With his passing, another light has gone out on the world;
but that inspirational hope remains, as his own words remind
us (and as we had, for our first 5 years of operations,
bannered on the Mars Society UK's homepage):
"Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited
horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided
in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged
canyons and lofty mountains of Mars."
As we in the Mars Society contemplate our future, we should
reflect on these words and take them to heart. They are
Sir Arthur's legacy - and our rallying-cry to ensure that
his vision is justifiably and positively made real.
Good night, Sir Arthur. Rest quiet in the night - and thank
you.
Bo Maxwell
March 19th 2008
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