Transcendence of Gravity: Arthur C. Clarke and the Apocalypse of Weightlessness

Abstract

Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008) was one of the most influential advocates in the twentieth century for the exploration and colonization of space (Figure 7.1). He was a major figure in the British space lobby organization known as the British Interplanetary Society (BIS), serving as chairman in 1946–47 and again from 1950–53. His popular science book on spaceflight, The Exploration of Space, made it to the Book of the Month Club in the United States in 1951 and thus secured him a wide readership not only in Britain but also in the United States As a science fiction writer, he was not only one of the defining authors of the genre but also one of the first British science fiction writers who reached a mainstream readership (Figure 7.1). The movie 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), co-authored with film director Stanley Kubrick (1928–1999), and the accompanying novel, became a defining moment in the history and popularity of science fiction.¹