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Arthur C. Clarke's Science Fiction Becomes Science Reality
by Jeanette Cain
When you make a telephone call, when you watch a television show, or when you use the Internet, your actions are relayed through a communications satellite. Most are in the GEO, which stands for "geostationary orbit," which is an area of orbit that is quickly becoming over-populated. The 1990's ushered in a demand for global communications, resulting in over 600 satellites being launched into the low-Earth orbit, which is below the GEO, to cope for this need. How do these things come to pass?
In 1945, Arthur C. Clarke predicted in an issue of Wireless World, that satellites capable of communicating would one day circle the Earth. Science fiction yesterday, but a number of these satellites launched into Earth's low orbit (LEO) carry Clarke's name on them today.
As I was searching the web for available book titles by Clarke, I ran into a site that told of the book which really gave the origin of space communication to the imagination and genius of Clarke. The title, The Exploration of Space, immediately hit a nerve in my brain. I just knew I had that book! Did I forget to mention that in addition to being a pack rat, I am also an avid garage sale participant, especially when books are for sale? Some of my greatest pleasures have been received from the books that I purchased for 10 and 25 cents, even 50 cents, but never over a dollar! These books line the baseboards of every room in my small house. When I had no space left around the baseboards, I used the window sills.
With the sudden remembrance of my Arthur C. Clarke book being alive and well somewhere in this house, I began searching the sills and ended up on the floor, thumbing through volumes of literature, mathematics, astronomy, navigation, etc. I found The Exploration of Space holding up a 5x7 picture of my children. I was ecstatic! With this book, I thee understand the beginning of satellite communications and the man behind it!
As I opened the cover, there, staring me in the face, was the same drawing of the GEO area found on web sites, which explain the system workings. The next page showed a section that says:
By the same author:
Interplanetary Flight
The Sands of Mars
I had just browsed through several web sites that mentioned over seventy books by Clarke. The next page offered a painting by Leslie Carr after a drawing by R. A. Smith. It is named an "Automatic Rocket Surveying Mars", and it looks real! With a few minor paint touch-ups, it could pass for any satellite now encircling Earth's low orbit. I was captured in the painting for some time, considering how far science has progressed since then, but still how far it will continue to grow. As I read the appreciation page, I realized how much we depend on someone else to give us support and encouragement. Clarke said the book was "To Jim who suggested it; To Fred, who provided the environment; To Dot, who had to read my writing." Clarke was right to thank those helping his efforts to enlighten mankind. It also gave me the chance to say a silent "Thank you!" to all those people who have given encouragement and support, not for making communication satellites, but for teaching me to read, to think, and to continue when things get really bad.
The book's preface is down-to-earth, considering the idea that all of this was yesterday's science fiction. Clarke said it was in response to his publication of the book Interplanetary Flight, which dealt with the science of space travel. With this book, Clarke chose to help the rest of us, as he says,
"The present work has, therefore, been prepared for the benefit of all those who are interested in the "why" and "how" of astronautics yet do not wish to go into too many scientific details. I believe that there is nothing in this book that the intelligent layman could not follow: he may encounter unfamiliar ideas, but that will be owing to the very nature of the subject, and in this respect he will be no worse off than many specialists."
The only difference with this book and the first was in trying to describe what a spaceship would look like, or even, what we might expect to find on the other planets in our system, before moving to the next. There was one sentence in which he openly admitted that he did not expect readers to accept everything presented in the book, but simply, a possibility of a possible future. I believe we have seen the future Clarke spoke of in that book published in 1951.
I remembered the day I brought the book home. It had been from an estate sale of a family who obviously loved books. There were boxes of books that I had so desperately wanted to bring home with me, admire, and take care of! But, my son's car had room for only around seven boxes, at the low cost of around $14.00. As I was thumbing through the book again, I flipped back to the first page with the sketch of the GEO of the possible future. I suddenly noticed some writing that was from the ex lib. of a name that is impossible to make out. That is when I remembered that the person who had owned this book was one of the people Clarke had spoken of, for one of those for whom the book had been written - a dreamer, and I felt honored to own a book written by a brilliant man and read by a brilliant layman. I now wish to say, "Thank you!" to both.
Author's note: I attempted to locate a place from which to purchase this book on the web for anyone interested in reading it. I only saw a Barnes & Noble listing it as being available from another source, in a paperback edition, or a used one to purchase. I was astonished at the price of the originals, which had been owned by another. If you are interested, maybe you can find a site offering this book for immediate sale and let me know. I will place it with this article for another interested in reading the possiblities covered in Clarke's book.
Source:
1. Clarke, Arthur C. The Exploration of Space. Harper & Brothers: NY 1951.
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