In 2005, Clarke was awarded Sri Lankabhimanya (The Pride of Sri Lanka), Sri Lanka’s highest civilian honor.Īrthur Clarke’s experiences during World War II and education in physics and mathematics made him well poised to make significant contributions in engineering after the war. In 1988, Queen Elizabeth II honored Clarke with a Knighthood, formally conferred by Prince Charles in Sri Lanka two years later. 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.Īrthur Clarke’s remarkable lifetime work was recognized by both the country of his birth and his adopted home country. In 1962, Clarke was diagnosed with polio, which reduced his diving activities. He lived first in the coastal village of Unawatuna and then in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s largest city. He also returned to the British Interplanetary Society, and served as the Society’s president in 1946-1953.Ĭlarke 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. 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.

Clarke’s only non-science-fiction novel, Glide Path, was based on his experiences in this project. The technique is used by aircraft control to guide aircraft to a safe landing based on radar images during inclement weather. He was an officer in charge of the first radar talk-down equipment, the Ground Controlled Approach, during its experimental trials. 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 fictionĪfter 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.

As a child, he enjoyed stargazing and reading American science fiction magazines, which sparked his lifelong enthusiasm for space sciences. 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.

Prelude to Space by Arthur C. Clarke