Major Issues
Author Links
Essay Questions

Major Issues

Biographical critics trace Arthur C. Clarke’s fascination with science through his university studies, where he majored in math and physics, his work for the British Interplanetary Society and as an editor of "Science Abstracts," and his large volume of science fiction writing. Scholars note that Clarke’s fiction reveals an equal interest in the possible scientific advancements of the future and the potential opportunities for physical and spiritual transcendence that they might provide. Critics have remarked on Clarke’s penchant for predicting and forecasting the future, and his faith in the inevitability of human exploration of space. The presence and nature of a divine force in the universe is one of Clarke’s recurrent themes. Alien contact and the presentation of human progress from an "alien point of view" are other notable features. Reviewers and readers appreciate the humor that leavens these weighty philosophical and technological issues in Clarke’s fiction.

Author Links

Arthur C. Clarke Unauthorized Homepage
A short overview of Clarke’s importance as a science fiction writer, a biography, list of primary works, and interviews, plus lots of photos.

Brilliant Careers
"Salon" magazine’s profile of Clarke’s life and major accomplisments.

Arthur C. Clarke on Life and Death
1993 interview with Wired magazine in which Clarke ruminates on technology, mysteries, and his previous and current predictions for the future.

The Other Side of the Sky
Review of collection in which "The Nine Billion Names of God"was first published.

Sir Arthur C. Clarke
Carefully maintained site listing links to works by and about Clarke all available online, including huge image library.