{"title":"The prophet business: Arthur C. Clarke, Sri Lanka and the making of a global space persona.","authors":"David Skogerboe, David Baneke","doi":"10.1017/S0007087425000299","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article analyses the development of Arthur C. Clarke's (1918-2008) persona as the 'prophet of the Space Age', focusing on its relation with his adopted homeland, Sri Lanka. Unlike many space personas, Clarke was not an astronaut or a political leader, but a writer and advocate for space technology who developed a global reputation as an authority on the future. In 1956, Clarke relocated from his native England to the former British colony of Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). This article examines how both Clarke himself and a wide range of organizations, nations and individuals, including many from Sri Lanka, contributed to the creation of a global 'prophet' persona. This includes Clarke's public life in Sri Lanka, which came to embody the earthbound, satellite-focused space future he promoted. This persona was in turn used to project commercial and moral justifications for space technologies, especially through Western lenses and for Western audiences, but in numerous ways gave Sri Lanka an active role in the global Space Age.</p>","PeriodicalId":46655,"journal":{"name":"British Journal for the History of Science","volume":" ","pages":"1-22"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"British Journal for the History of Science","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007087425000299","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This article analyses the development of Arthur C. Clarke's (1918-2008) persona as the 'prophet of the Space Age', focusing on its relation with his adopted homeland, Sri Lanka. Unlike many space personas, Clarke was not an astronaut or a political leader, but a writer and advocate for space technology who developed a global reputation as an authority on the future. In 1956, Clarke relocated from his native England to the former British colony of Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). This article examines how both Clarke himself and a wide range of organizations, nations and individuals, including many from Sri Lanka, contributed to the creation of a global 'prophet' persona. This includes Clarke's public life in Sri Lanka, which came to embody the earthbound, satellite-focused space future he promoted. This persona was in turn used to project commercial and moral justifications for space technologies, especially through Western lenses and for Western audiences, but in numerous ways gave Sri Lanka an active role in the global Space Age.
本文分析了Arthur C. Clarke（1918-2008）作为“太空时代先知”的角色发展，重点关注其与他的第二故乡斯里兰卡的关系。与许多太空人物不同的是，克拉克既不是宇航员，也不是政治领袖，而是一名作家和太空技术的倡导者，他作为未来的权威在全球享有声誉。1956年，克拉克从他的祖国英格兰移居到前英国殖民地斯里兰卡（当时的锡兰）。本文探讨了克拉克本人以及包括许多来自斯里兰卡的组织、国家和个人如何为全球“先知”形象的创造做出贡献。这包括克拉克在斯里兰卡的公共生活，这体现了他所倡导的以地球为中心、以卫星为中心的太空未来。这个角色反过来又被用来为太空技术提供商业和道德上的理由，特别是通过西方镜头和西方观众，但在许多方面使斯里兰卡在全球太空时代发挥了积极作用。
期刊介绍：
This leading international journal publishes scholarly papers and review articles on all aspects of the history of science. History of science is interpreted widely to include medicine, technology and social studies of science. BJHS papers make important and lively contributions to scholarship and the journal has been an essential library resource for more than thirty years. It is also used extensively by historians and scholars in related fields. A substantial book review section is a central feature. There are four issues a year, comprising an annual volume of over 600 pages. Published for the British Society for the History of Science
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