Arthur C. Clarke

Arthur C. Clarke was a British science fiction author and futurist whose work joined scientific speculation with technological possibility. He co-created 2001: A Space Odyssey and described the use of geostationary satellites for global communications.

Geostationary orbit: An equatorial orbit in which a satellite circles Earth at the planet’s rotation rate, appearing fixed above one longitude. Clarke recognized this orbit’s potential for communications satellites.
2001: A Space Odyssey: A 1968 science-fiction film and novel about human evolution, space exploration, and an enigmatic artificial intelligence. Clarke co-wrote the novel with Stanley Kubrick alongside the film’s development.
Stanley Kubrick: An American film director whose precise, formally ambitious films include 2001: A Space Odyssey. Kubrick and Clarke developed the film and novel of 2001 together.
Communications satellite: An artificial satellite that relays communications signals between distant points on Earth. Clarke proposed using satellites in geostationary orbit to relay global communications.
Clarke's three laws: Three observations by Clarke about technological prediction, including the claim that sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. These laws condense his reflections on forecasting and technological change.
Spaceflight: The use of vehicles to travel beyond Earth’s atmosphere and operate in space. Spaceflight supplies the engineering setting for many of Clarke’s stories and forecasts.
Childhood's End: A 1953 science-fiction novel in which alien supervision precedes humanity’s transformation into a new form of life. The novel is a landmark example of Clarke’s large-scale speculation about human destiny.
C. S. Lewis: A British writer and scholar known for Christian apologetics, literary criticism, and the Chronicles of Narnia. Lewis publicly criticized Clarke’s optimistic account of space travel and extraterrestrial contact.
Arthur C. Clarke's 1945 satellite proposal: A 1945 proposal describing three geostationary stations as a global radio-communications system. This article in Wireless World set out Clarke’s signature technological forecast.
Technological forecasting: The practice of estimating how technologies may develop and affect society. Clarke became widely known for forecasts that connected scientific possibility with social change.

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