"The universe is such a strange and wonderful place that reality will always outrun the wildest imagination." — Arthur C. Clarke Is it possible that there are monsters in the ocean? Do certain people have the apparently effortless ability to endure intense pain? Is time travel possible? Could the Parthians have invented the first battery in 240 B.C.E.? Can you will someone to die? How did the ancient South Americans draw massive land pictures that can only be viewed from a great height? All these strange phenomena—and many more—are investigated by authors John Fairley and Simon Welfare in an entertaining style. And Arthur C. Clarke contributes his own analysis to each chapter. His opinions are always thoughtful and wise, and often witty and provocative.
Author
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke was one of the most important and influential figures in 20th century science fiction. He spent the first half of his life in England, where he served in World War Two as a radar operator, before emigrating to Ceylon in 1956. He is best known for the novel and movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, which he co-created with the assistance of Stanley Kubrick. Clarke was a graduate of King's College, London where he obtained First Class Honours in Physics and Mathematics. He is past Chairman of the British Interplanetary Society, a member of the Academy of Astronautics, the Royal Astronomical Society, and many other scientific organizations. Author of over fifty books, his numerous awards include the 1961 Kalinga Prize, the AAAS-Westinghouse science writing prize, the Bradford Washburn Award, and the John W. Campbell Award for his novel Rendezvous With Rama. Clarke also won the Nebula Award of the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1972, 1974 and 1979, the Hugo Award of the World Science Fiction Convention in 1974 and 1980, and in 1986 became Grand Master of the Science Fiction Writers of America. He was awarded the CBE in 1989.
