Sir Arthur C Clarke

Arthur C Clarke

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Arthur C Clarke's
Non Fiction

This is a list of Arthur C Clarke’s non-fiction works that have appeared in book form. It includes collaborations (with co-author names given). These books cover all his areas of interest and expertise: space travel, telecommunications, undersea exploration, probing the mysterious and paranormal, and extrapolating on humanity’s future.

The list does not include hundreds of essays, book reviews and other stand-alone pieces of writing he has contributed to dozens of publications. A useful, albeit incomplete listing of such work is found in Arthur C. Clarke: A Primary and Secondary Bibliography by David N. Samuelson (G K Hall, 1984).

Many of these titles are still in print, some having run into multiple editions and reprints. Please check online or with book sellers for availability.

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First on the Moon (with Apollo XI Astronauts)

FIRST ON THE MOON. The sound of the words themselves cannot convey the full meaning, the weight of wonder that they bear. The time, money, lives, will, knowledge - the total effort that went into putting man on the moon is beyond measurement. FIRST ON THE MOON: A voyage with Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. is the exclusive story of Apollo 11 and the always thrilling and historic personal experiences of the three astronauts who put man on the moon. It is a voyage in every sense of the world - through time, from President Kennedy’s fateful pronouncement on May 25, 1961, that the United States would put man on the moon before the decade was out, and through space, with Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. Incredible stories such as this one are rarely described in any way befitting the adventure itself, but with the help of Gene Farmer and Dora Jane Hamblin, FIRST ON THE MOON has been written with a depth and impact equal in every way to the adventure itself. FIRST ON THE MOON is history, but it is also the chronicle of any and all men who unite to meet the unspoken challenge posed by the unknown. It is an exclusive and official account, the way the voyage was, as seen by the men who experienced it.

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Going into Space

Space travelling… the field of the future…new worlds to conquer… Thrilling prospects for today’s young people! Here is a book which will provide much food for thought to avid space enthusiasts. In non-technical, but scientifically accurate terms, it tells the history of rocket development; man’s achievements in dealing with the forces and laws that govern the universe; the possibilities of travelling to the different planets of the solar system; the construction of a space ship, including the means for launching, controlling power, accommodating passengers and landing; and the prospect of establishing temporary and permanent space stations above the Earth’s stratosphere for such purposes as communications and refueling. A real trip to the moon is described, as it might well occur before the end our century. All the conditions that one would experience on such an adventure, both while travelling in the space ship and on the Moon itself, are stimulated to such a degree that the reader may feel he has truly left the ground. For the more skeptical, Mr. Clarke outlines recent developments which bring science closer than ever to the goal of conquering space. And he convincingly justifies man’s aims and purposes in exploring this fascinating field to the fullest. For those eager to participate in interplanetary affairs more actively, the author has some sound suggestions to offer.

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Greetings, Carbon-based Bipeds!

Arthur C. Clarke is one of this century’s most visionary and versatile thinkers. The author of more than eighty books of fiction and non-fiction, Clarke writes with a unique combination of scientific erudition, imagination, and insatiable curiosity that has mesmerized and inspired countless numbers of readers. For six decades his lively and sagacious works have forecast the march of science and technology through our modern age and have provided prescient warnings of the perils if these developments are left unchecked. Finally, in the crowning achievement of his extraordinary career, Clarke has collected his nonfiction works into one volume. With new introductions to each decade’s body of work, Clarke offers both personal reflections and historical scope to his uncannily accurate predictions and observations. Charting an exceptional career, these essays display his piercing mind and lively wit while revealing how science has expanded exponentially on its own inventions throughout the century. From predicting the future of satellite communications in the 1940’s, to his groundbreaking reporting from Cape Kennedy in the 1960’s to anticipating the Internet literally decades before it happened, Clarke has acted as both technological prophet and cultural conscience, celebrating the great scientific powers of humanity while warning of the social challenges these developments entail. Varying from deadly serious to bantering, these innovative essays celebrate Clarke’s unceasing dedication to and belief in the power of human curiosity and his unparallel ability to convey the wonder of the universe. Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds! is a stunning testament to an inventive thinker whose commitment to “the spectacular possibilities of the distant future” has consistently pushed the boundaries of the possible into reality.

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How the World was One

As the infant field of communications began growing in the early part of this century, so did the boy named Arthur C. Clarke - who watched, wide-eyed, as his small English village was transformed overnight. In his job as the village switchboard operator, he once overloaded the circuits, excitedly eavesdropping on his first transatlantic call. From there his involvement grew more and more technical, culminating in his now-famous paper “Extra-Terrestrial Relays,” which anticipated many of the developments of the next fifty years. For five thousand years communication never advanced beyond the speed of horse and wind-driven ship - but in the explosive span of thirty years, it changed forever. Newer, faster communication toppled tyranny, won wars, and changed history all the way from the second Russian Revolution to the Gulf war. Here is the story of the stranger-than-fiction mishaps, oversights, capricious acts of fate, and incredible human energy that eventually transformed the earth into our modern global village. Clarke brings unique expertise and a lifetime of experience to How the World Was One. Beginning with submarine cables, through the development of fiber optics and communications satellites, and then projecting far into a future of neutrino, gravitational, and tachyon (faster than light) communications, Arthur C. Clarke shows how these remarkable innovations shaped and changed the earth - and made the world one.

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Indian Ocean Adventure

Some years ago Arthur Clarke began to investigate the world beneath the seas. With his friend and colleague Mike Wilson, he spent months roaming the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. Then the two embarked on another long odyssey to explore and photograph the waters off the coast of Ceylon. The writer and photographer became so fascinated with Ceylon and the waters around it that they now live there permanently exploring underwater and recording their adventures in books and pictures.

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Indian Ocean Treasure

The search for sunken treasure has an overwhelming fascination; this book is about an exciting real-life treasure hunt, mapped and illustrated, and vividly narrated by Arthur C. Clarke with photographs by Mike Wilson. Arthur C. Clarke is the famous science-fiction writer, on whose stories the film 2001: A Space Odyssey was based. Mike Wilson and Two American boys, Bobby Kriegel and Mark Smith, were taking underwater photographs of sharks and other fish when Wilson suddenly saw a sunken ship beneath him. The three of them made a preliminary investigation of the site and emerged with some silver coins, brass cannons, copper bars and musket-balls from the wreck. There followed a series of gripping adventures. The wreck turned out to be an 18th century vessel stuffed with silver coins. But the waters were treacherous and the wreck did not yield up its secrets easily…

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Interplanetary Flight

Described by one reviewer of the first edition as “perhaps the best introduction yet written for those making their first  contact with the interplanetary idea” this well-known work by Arthur C. Clarke has now been brought fully up to date in the light of recent achievements, including many accurately predicted by the author. The approach throughout is from the astronomical rather than the engineering point of view and the level of writing is such that the non-scientific reader can follow the argument easily. To this end, nearly all the mathematics has been relegated to an appendix where an interested reader will find much useful data. Entirely revised and enlarged, with a new chapter on “Earth Satellites and Lunar Probes”, many new illustrations, and a comprehensive index, this second edition of Interplanetary Flight establishes more firmly than ever the high reputation of this work as both a serious introduction to the new science of astronautics and a truly exciting survey of the possibilities and problems of space travel.

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Into Space (with Robert Silverberg)

Man’s newest frontier – space – possibly the most exciting frontier in history is presented in this book for young readers by two well-known writers on the subject. The book covers the history of rocket development, the launching of the satellites, a step-by-step account of manned space flight, and finally the tremendous achievement of man’s landing on the moon. The authors then go on to tell what to expect in the future. They discuss possible uses of space stations; the scientific work that can be done in space; interplanetary travel and what may be found on the planets in the solar system; and finally interstellar trips. Man’s aims and purpose in exploring space are realistically appraised. There are sound suggestions given to those readers who may wish to take part in future space programs. This is a completely revised edition of Arthur C. Clarke’s Going into Space, which was published in 1954 when space exploration was still a dream.

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Man and Space (with the Editors of Life)

This book reviews the history of man’s interest in space and analyzes the technological developments that have enabled him to explore this new frontier. The book also discusses the future - not only describing travel to the moon and beyond but also reporting changes that may occur on earth as a consequence of experiments in space. The volume consists of alternating text chapters and picture essays. Some of the essays complement material covered in the preceding chapter (for example, Chapter 5 and the accompanying essay both deal with unmanned satellites); others supplement the text chapters with new material (Chapter 8 discusses interstellar travel; Essay 8 describes the training of the astronauts who must make the journeys into space). In the Appendix are a glossary of terms, a statistical chart of the planets, and a list of important events and people in space history.

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Profiles of the Future

This book originally appeared in 1962, and was based on essays written during the period 1959-1961. Since it was concerned with ultimate possibilities, and not with achievements to be expected in the near future, even the remarkable events of the last decade have dated it very little. But Arthur Clarke has now gone over the book making corrections and comments where necessary in order to bring it right up-to-date. The author, amongst many fascinating excursions into what the future may hold, discusses the fourth dimension and the obsolescence of the law of gravity, the exploration of the entire solar system and the colonization of some of it; seas will be mined for energy and minerals, and asteroids will be pulled to Earth to supply needed materials; men, already bigger than they need be, may be bred smaller to be more efficient on less food. Arthur Clarke writes with a light, deft touch, realising that almost anything is possible in this improbable world we live in.

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