Try our Advanced SearchShort stories by Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur Charles Clarke was born to an English farming family in the seaside town of Minehead, in the county of Somerset in southwestern England, on December 16, 1917. As a child, he enjoyed stargazing and reading American science fiction magazines, which sparked his lifelong enthusiasm for space sciences. After moving to London in 1936, Clarke was able to pursue his interest further by joining the British Interplanetary Society (BIS.) He worked with astronautic material in the Society, contributed to the BIS Bulletin, and began writing science fiction After World War II erupted in 1939, Arthur Clarke joined the Royal Air Force and served as a radar instructor and technician from 1941 to 1946. He was an officer in charge of the first radar talk-down equipment, the Ground Controlled Approach, during its experimental trials. The technique is used by aircraft control to guide aircraft to a safe landing based on radar images during inclement weather. Clarke’s only non-science-fiction novel, Glide Path, was based on his experiences in this project. After the war, Clarke returned to London, where he was awarded a Fellowship at King’s College, London, where he obtained a first class honors degree in Physics and Mathematics in 1948. He also returned to the British Interplanetary Society, and served as the Society’s president in 1946-47 and 1951-1953. Clarke moved to Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon) in 1956, largely to pursue his interest in underwater exploration along the country’s coast as well as on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. He lived first in the coastal village of Unawatuna and then in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s largest city. In 1962, Clarke was diagnosed with polio, which reduced his diving activities. In 1988, he was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome, and he was largely confined to a wheelchair until he passed away at the age of 90 on March 19, 2008. Arthur Clarke’s remarkable lifetime work was recognized by both the country of his birth and his adopted home country. In 1988, Queen Elizabeth II honored Clarke with a Knighthood, formally conferred by Prince Charles in Sri Lanka two years later. In 2005, Clarke was awarded Sri Lankabhimanya (The Pride of Sri Lanka), Sri Lanka’s highest civilian honor.
Listing 6 stories.
The captain of the largest aircraft in history becomes a cyborg after his aircraft crashes, and he sets his sights on becoming the first man to land on Jupiter.
When the Dalai Lama approaches a New York engineer with a strange request, mankind finds itself closer to the end of the world than ever before.
After discovering a mysterious alien artifact on the Moon, human astronauts endeavor to uncover its purpose and message from an extraterrestrial civilization.
After discovering the remnants left by an extinct extraterrestrial species, a Jesuit astrophysicist asks the spirit of Father Loyola what there’s left for a Christian like him to believe.
A young boy sits on the shore of one of Earth’s remaining beaches, his last moment at the planet’s natural sites before mankind must evacuate the planet it destroyed.
Two extraterrestrial beings land on Earth in search of information and struggle to adapt.