The Challenge of the Spaceship

By Arthur C. Clarke

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671821393
• ISBN13: 9780671821395
• Release Date: May 1980
• Publisher: Pocket
• Length: 222 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Some of Clarke's better non-fiction writing

As many Arthur C. Clarke fans know, the great writer was not only the Dean of science fiction, but was also, at least pre-2001, one of the world's leading popular science writers. He wrote many volumes of non-fiction, most of them now out-of-print. One thing that anyone who has read through a good amount of them has no doubt noticed is that some essays pop up in more than one volume, and that some of the writing is a good deal more interesting than some others. The Challenge of the Spaceship is, thankfully, one of the best non-fiction collections that Clarke ever wrote. The book's title is somewhat misleading (so titled, probably, to parallel with the more aptly-titled The Challenge of the Sea). The book does not deal directly with spaceships, as far as their own technicalities and aspects of composition. What the book focuses on, instead, are the challenges that the spaceship is faced with overcoming -- exploring the solar system, reaching the stars, etc. -- and, most specifically, the cultural, artistic, philosophical, and even theological ramifications of attempting and meeting such challenges. This is far less prediction-oriented than some of Clarke's other work, and it is a real treat to any fan of the author's. The range of subjects and material that Clarke covers is nothing short of fascinating. As always, Clarke uses his encyclopedic knowledge of science, and astronomy in particular, to positively dazzle and astound the reader. He also, thankfully, possesses the rare ability to take difficult and complex concepts and put them into terms that most readers can understand. One will learn much from this book, things both practically useful and just quite simply interesting. To boot, the philosophical asides that Clarke can just never keep from returning back to are at turns highly imaginative and extremely interesting, thoughtful, and enlightening. As always, he writes with a highly-poetic that is a joy to read, and his ever-present, if subtle, sense of humor is to be found in spades. This book also includes one of my all-time favorite of Clarke's essays The Star of the Magi, in which he explores the question of which astronomical phenomena constituted the Star of Bethlehem. This is an essential book for fans of Clarke's non-fiction.