Arthur C. Clarke

             Clarke was reputably one of the best Science Fiction writers. He got started in Science Fiction by the people that lived in his hometown. They helped him discover his scientific potential thus influencing the writings of his later years.
             Arthur Charles Clarke was born in Minehead, Somerset, England on the 16th of December 1917. His dads name was Charles Wright Clarke and his mothers name was Mary Nora Clarke. He had two brothers Frederick William and Michael Neal; also he had one sister named Mary Nora. He attended Huish's Grammar School in Taunton, England from 1928 to 1936. (Meredith 50) In 1936 he moved to London where he experimented with astronautical data for the British Interplanetary Society. (Bianchi 1) In 1941 Clarke joined the royal air force there he became a radar instructor. During this time he wrote an article called "Extra-Terrestrial Relays". In this he predicted the satellite system that is still used today. (Meredith 50) The orbit he predicted that the satellites would orbit at is still referred to The International Astronomical Union as The Clark Orbit. It is at 42,000 kilometers above the earth. (Bianchi 1) In 1946 he was discharged from the Royal Air Force. Then he enrolled at the University of London using an ex-serviceman's grant to get funding. There he received his Bachelors degree in Science. During his time spent at college he became an assistant editor for the journal Science Abstracts. The first book he wrote was Interplanetary Flight. It was published in 1950 and was a nonfiction book about astronautics. His second book was called The Exploration of Space. Which he published in 1951. (Meredith 50) On June 15th, 1953 he married Marilyn Mayfield. She was from America. They broke up in December of the same year. (Bianchi 1) In that same year eleven of his short stories where printed in Expedition to Earth. (Meredith 51) In 1954 he gave up space for the ocean. This was started because due to the cheapness of skin diving equipment he had found a cheap effective way to imitate "weightlessness".