In October 2005 BBC Radio 4 visited Arthur C. Clarke in Sri Lanka to celebrate the 60th anniversary of an article’s publication in a magazine called Wireless World. “Extra-Terrestrial Relays: Can Rocket Stations Give World Wide Radio Coverage?” was the first place artifical geostationary satellites were described. The entire documentary, featuring such Clarke knowledgeables as Stephen Baxter, Isaac Asimov and even Clarke’s younger brother, is thankfully still archived on the BBC Radio 4 website and is available for listening in the RealAudio format! I thought this was a very refreshing take documenting his “futurology” vs. his Science Fiction. This documentary doesn’t dwell on Clarke’s futurology as much as most documentaries on the man do.
Arthur C. Clarke: The Science And The Fiction
Heather Couper meets the man behind the ideas
1 Broadcast |REALAUDIO| – 28 Minutes 59 Seconds [DOCUMENTARY]
Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4
Broadcast: Wendesday 5 October 2005 11.00-11.30am
In this programme, Heather Couper hears Sir Arthur’s own story and meets with family, fans and fiction writers he has influenced. His younger brother Fred remembers their childhood on a Somerset farm: Arthur was building telescopes and launching home-made rockets. Did the other children join in their brother’s activities? “No!”, recalls Fred with a shudder. “We kept away from the dangerous blighter”.
Posted by Jesse Willis