Sci fi writer Arthur C Clarke passes away at the age of 90

19 March 2008

Sir Arthur C Clarke, the celebrated science-fiction author and futurist, died at 1:30 am this morning in Sri Lanka, at the age of 90. Sri Lanka's internationally renowned citizen had been a resident of the island-nation since 1956. He also held citizenship of his birth country, England.

Clarke was born on 16 December 1917 in the English county of Somerset, to farming parents, and developed a keen interest in science fiction at the age of 12 after reading the March 1930 issue of the US sci-fi magazine Amazing Stories.

Pursuing that interest, he became an early member of the British Interplanetary Society, a group of dreamers who met to discuss ways of putting a man on the moon.

During WW II, he joined the Royal Air Force as a radar specialist. After the war ended, he started his professional career as a science-fiction writer and distinguished himself in this field.

He took a break from his initial foray into writing to graduate in Physics from King's College, an education earlier denied to him due to financial constraints. He resumed writing after his graduation and won several awards for his works, including the famous Hugo and Nebula awards.

In the 1940s, Clarke predicted that man would reach the moon by 2000, an idea some dismissed as nonsense. He is best known for his 1945 prediction of a worldwide communications system involving artificial satellites in orbit around the earth, which led to the development of the satellite industry worth billions of dollars.