The prolific British Science Fiction writer Sir Arthur Charles Clarke was born in 1917. Clarke’s first writing was published in 1946 and he went on to publish several novels, short stories as well as works of non-fictions about popular science and gained recognition for his work in film and television.
He is most well-known for co-writing the screenplay for the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, which was developed out of an early short story of his. Clarke had a life-long interest in space travel, going so far as to become chairman of the British Interplanetary Society and inventing the plans for a communication system using satellites.
As a writer, he focused on science fiction, most notably anything set in space in the future, exploring other planets in the solar system and often included contact with alien civilizations. He also frequently included future (and past) evolution of humanity in his stories, artificial intelligence as well as topics of how to come to terms with one’s religious beliefs in light of new scientific discoveries.
In his later years, Clarke’s interest in exploration began to expand to the deep sea and frequently collaborated with other authors. In 1961 he was recognized by the UNESCO with the Kalinga Prize for his work in writing about science. He died in 2008.
