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The View from Serendip
Memoirs of a British ex-patriot, who happened to be a celebrated novelist and social commentator.
245 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
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271 people want to read
About the author
Arthur C. Clarke
1,656 books11.7k followersStories, works of noted British writer, scientist, and underwater explorer Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, include
2001: A Space Odyssey
(1968).
This most important and influential figure in 20th century fiction spent the first half of his life in England and served in World War II as a radar operator before migrating to Ceylon in 1956. He co-created his best known novel and movie with the assistance of Stanley Kubrick.
Clarke, a graduate of King's College, London, obtained first class honours in physics and mathematics. He served as past chairman of the interplanetary society and as a member of the academy of astronautics, the royal astronomical society, and many other organizations.
He authored more than fifty books and won his numerous awards: the Kalinga prize of 1961, the American association for the advancement Westinghouse 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 fiction of America in 1972, 1974 and 1979, the Hugo award of the world fiction convention in 1974 and 1980. In 1986, he stood as grand master of the fiction of America. The queen knighted him as the commander of the British Empire in 1989.
This most important and influential figure in 20th century fiction spent the first half of his life in England and served in World War II as a radar operator before migrating to Ceylon in 1956. He co-created his best known novel and movie with the assistance of Stanley Kubrick.
Clarke, a graduate of King's College, London, obtained first class honours in physics and mathematics. He served as past chairman of the interplanetary society and as a member of the academy of astronautics, the royal astronomical society, and many other organizations.
He authored more than fifty books and won his numerous awards: the Kalinga prize of 1961, the American association for the advancement Westinghouse 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 fiction of America in 1972, 1974 and 1979, the Hugo award of the world fiction convention in 1974 and 1980. In 1986, he stood as grand master of the fiction of America. The queen knighted him as the commander of the British Empire in 1989.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
January 24, 2025
I had no idea that Arthur C. Clarke was a guest commentator on CBS News when Walter Cronkite reported live on the Apollo 11 Moon landing on 20 July 1969. Quite an irony that such a long-held SF dream – with Wernher von Braun also counting himself as an SF fan – would be presided over by one of the genre’s most respected and beloved figures.
Clarke’s rationalism and scientific rigour shine forth in this wonderful collection of essays and writings. Despite being hopelessly outdated, there is a naïve optimism in these pages that perhaps characterised America at the time.
And let’s not forget Clarke’s impish sense of humour, who says he never quite forgave Bill Anders for his failure of nerve on Christmas Day 1968, when the famous Earthrise photo was taken, to radio back that the crew had spotted a large black monolith on the far side of the moon.
Clarke’s rationalism and scientific rigour shine forth in this wonderful collection of essays and writings. Despite being hopelessly outdated, there is a naïve optimism in these pages that perhaps characterised America at the time.
And let’s not forget Clarke’s impish sense of humour, who says he never quite forgave Bill Anders for his failure of nerve on Christmas Day 1968, when the famous Earthrise photo was taken, to radio back that the crew had spotted a large black monolith on the far side of the moon.
December 11, 2010
Not too long ago I was forced to hide in the basement of my local public library during a tornado warning. During the two hours the staff and several of us patrons hid from the twister that never came, I snooped through the library’s stockpile of used books. This yard sale collection is rolled out every couple of months to provide much-needed funds for library operations. Anyhow, while snooping I discovered a copy of Arthur C. Clarke’s hard-to-find opus The View from Serendip.
I asked a library volunteer if, in the event we survived the non-existent tornado, I could take this out-of-print book upstairs and buy it right away…Y’know, instead of waiting for the next book sale when someone else might grab it first. The library volunteer uttered a rather curt reply: “No. And don’t take books off these shelves. I’m trying to keep them organized.” Smarting from her rebuke, I put the book back and resolved to hide in a friendlier part of the library’s basement while no tornados touched down anywhere in the county.
A couple of months later there was a properly sanctioned library book sale. Brushing past several suspicious elderly women, I nabbed the book first. (I’m sure those grandmothers were headed towards it. I saw that “Sir Arthur C. Clarke is dreamy!” look in their eyes.) And that’s the story of how I scored a good-condition hardcover of The View of Serendip for a single dollar. Hooray for used book sales at public libraries!
I’ve shared the above story in lieu of a review that would inevitably wind up being a love fest for one of my favorite authors. But I’ll add this: The View From Serendip is one of those great books that reminds me of the worthy writings of the late Carl Sagan. In contrast to the stereotype of godless scientists performing insidious research, this book reveals the scientific mind I more commonly encounter: one which is ethical, hope-driven, and which has a passionate desire to see humanity grow, mature, and prosper.
I asked a library volunteer if, in the event we survived the non-existent tornado, I could take this out-of-print book upstairs and buy it right away…Y’know, instead of waiting for the next book sale when someone else might grab it first. The library volunteer uttered a rather curt reply: “No. And don’t take books off these shelves. I’m trying to keep them organized.” Smarting from her rebuke, I put the book back and resolved to hide in a friendlier part of the library’s basement while no tornados touched down anywhere in the county.
A couple of months later there was a properly sanctioned library book sale. Brushing past several suspicious elderly women, I nabbed the book first. (I’m sure those grandmothers were headed towards it. I saw that “Sir Arthur C. Clarke is dreamy!” look in their eyes.) And that’s the story of how I scored a good-condition hardcover of The View of Serendip for a single dollar. Hooray for used book sales at public libraries!
I’ve shared the above story in lieu of a review that would inevitably wind up being a love fest for one of my favorite authors. But I’ll add this: The View From Serendip is one of those great books that reminds me of the worthy writings of the late Carl Sagan. In contrast to the stereotype of godless scientists performing insidious research, this book reveals the scientific mind I more commonly encounter: one which is ethical, hope-driven, and which has a passionate desire to see humanity grow, mature, and prosper.
September 2, 2012
The central theme around which this collection of shorter non-fiction is organized is the serendipity which led Clarke to, literally, permanently move to Serendip (an obsolete name for Sri Lanka). As such, it neatly covers, in roughly chronological order, the major events of both the world and his world from the late 1950s through the mid 1970s. Among the more entertaining chapters are those reluctantly devoted to predicting the future, which Clarke does as well as any of his peers. Which is to say, about 50/50 on a good day. For example, he clearly envisions smart phones and a communications network which shares many salient features with the Internet. On the other hand, despite making a good case for it, we have yet to see the video-phone become commonplace; perhaps it's merely a matter of time. The same can be said of telecommuting which, although not called such, is touted as an all-purpose tonic for what ails society. Even more seemingly far-fetched is the idea of purely synthetic foods or consumer goods which are engineered to last for generations.
What is most striking for anyone who has followed the arc of his writing across the years, is evidence of how his youthful optimism slowly, but inexorably, gave way to the pessimism reflected in his last novels. Thus, a young man who was essentially touting a "plentiful Earth" scenario had, by the early 70s, modified his views to be more cautionary: "...if you take me too seriously, you'll go broke -- but if you don't take me seriously enough, your children will go broke." This tempering of his optimism would, sadly, become progressively less cheerful over the following several decades. He did not become as embittered as, say, Mark Twain, but the truth revealed by the years did take its toll.
Fans of Clarke will, undoubtedly, find much to enjoy in this collection. Whether describing treasure-hunting among the Sri Lankan coral reefs; the intricacies of that country's customs and policies; his unsuspecting involvement in the development of a range of technologies (most notably communications satellites); his reasons for writing what he does and not writing what he does not; the making of his one cinematic masterpiece ("2001"); or the story of failed works which never saw the light of day; through all, Clarke reveals himself to his fans on a more personal level than is possible within the context of a science fiction novel.
What is most striking for anyone who has followed the arc of his writing across the years, is evidence of how his youthful optimism slowly, but inexorably, gave way to the pessimism reflected in his last novels. Thus, a young man who was essentially touting a "plentiful Earth" scenario had, by the early 70s, modified his views to be more cautionary: "...if you take me too seriously, you'll go broke -- but if you don't take me seriously enough, your children will go broke." This tempering of his optimism would, sadly, become progressively less cheerful over the following several decades. He did not become as embittered as, say, Mark Twain, but the truth revealed by the years did take its toll.
Fans of Clarke will, undoubtedly, find much to enjoy in this collection. Whether describing treasure-hunting among the Sri Lankan coral reefs; the intricacies of that country's customs and policies; his unsuspecting involvement in the development of a range of technologies (most notably communications satellites); his reasons for writing what he does and not writing what he does not; the making of his one cinematic masterpiece ("2001"); or the story of failed works which never saw the light of day; through all, Clarke reveals himself to his fans on a more personal level than is possible within the context of a science fiction novel.
May 6, 2021
It's hard to gauge just how much I like Arthur C. Clarke, because his deliberative writing style encourages you to take it slow and to knit his ideas with your own parallel thoughts and speculations. I've never really considered myself a devoted admirer of sci-fi (despite enjoying plenty, including Clarke's own 2001: A Space Odyssey), so it was interesting to read a collection of Clarke's non-fiction, as popular science is much more my sort of thing.
The View from Serendip is a surprisingly varied collection of essays, speeches and other miscellanea Clarke wrote in the 1960s and 70s, with a focus on space, technology and Clarke's personal love for the island of Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka; another name for which is the archaic 'Serendip'). All are clean, lucid, engaging and intellectually stimulating; some are humorous, and many are remarkably prescient. He writes of a 'global electronic library' (pg. 90) available to all, long before the Internet was a thing – and the same goes for mobile phones, personal computers, the threat of automation to employment, and the communications revolution in general.
I think the reason I sometimes struggle with Clarke is less to do with his writing style, which is usually high-calibre, and more to do with shame at the fact that we've fallen rather short of his expectations for us. As a futurist – and one of the more accurate ones, it seems – he not only wrote about where he thought we would go, but where we should go. He wrote concurrently with the dawning of the Space Age, inspiring the Apollo astronauts as much as he was inspired by them, and he saw a future that was more advanced than the one we have delivered in reality. 2001 was supposed to see manned bases on the Moon; the actual year is now nineteen years into our past and we've not been back there since before The View from Serendip was published.
Clarke writes that by 1992, "the first child may well have been born in some lunar colony", we may have nuclear fusion to solve our energy problems, and we would be preparing to go to Mars, if not already there (pg. 94). We can dismiss these now as the optimistic dreams of a science-fiction writer (though Clarke never says that they will happen), but the point I'm trying to make is that they're all feasible. All of Clarke's speculations are rooted in hard science, which is part of his great appeal as a writer. We just don't seem to have committed to the vision of Clarke and others like him. In Serendip, he even mentions the Higgs boson at one point… It seems that our development as a species has been on pause since the 1960s.
Absent moon bases, missions to Mars and fusion energy, it seems at times like the only predictions Clarke has been resoundingly confirmed in, as of 2020, have been the negative ones; the space programs hamstrung by budget cuts, the lack of public appreciation for the benefits they bring, the information-saturated society with its horizons skewed by the ubiquity of small screens. Clarke is an optimistic writer, but if he had been inclined, he could have written a dystopia that would give Orwell a run for his money.
The writing in The View from Serendip reminds us that it's important to hold on to Clarke's optimistic vision, which was shared by many of the 'can-do' Space Age. There's a tendency nowadays to see our present situation as inevitable: the Moon a pointless rock, Mars an expensive folly, 'interstellar' a word for nerds in basements writing fanfic. To realize how wrong this is, note how on page 217 Clarke predicts smartphones, a "multipurpose home communications device" that people value so highly they invest in it even ahead of an automobile. Only Clarke points out that such devices, properly-constructed, could last a very long time, and passed down from generation to generation like "a good watch". Just think of that – when nowadays you're meant to be hyped about the new iPhone before you've even finished paying off the last one. And that's nothing to do with the technological limitations of an iPhone, but everything to do with a bloated, consumerist culture that is geared towards disposability and money-spinning. The fault is not in the stars, which are achievable, but in ourselves. For all our successes, we must surely be something of a disappointment to the great men of the past.
The View from Serendip is a surprisingly varied collection of essays, speeches and other miscellanea Clarke wrote in the 1960s and 70s, with a focus on space, technology and Clarke's personal love for the island of Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka; another name for which is the archaic 'Serendip'). All are clean, lucid, engaging and intellectually stimulating; some are humorous, and many are remarkably prescient. He writes of a 'global electronic library' (pg. 90) available to all, long before the Internet was a thing – and the same goes for mobile phones, personal computers, the threat of automation to employment, and the communications revolution in general.
I think the reason I sometimes struggle with Clarke is less to do with his writing style, which is usually high-calibre, and more to do with shame at the fact that we've fallen rather short of his expectations for us. As a futurist – and one of the more accurate ones, it seems – he not only wrote about where he thought we would go, but where we should go. He wrote concurrently with the dawning of the Space Age, inspiring the Apollo astronauts as much as he was inspired by them, and he saw a future that was more advanced than the one we have delivered in reality. 2001 was supposed to see manned bases on the Moon; the actual year is now nineteen years into our past and we've not been back there since before The View from Serendip was published.
Clarke writes that by 1992, "the first child may well have been born in some lunar colony", we may have nuclear fusion to solve our energy problems, and we would be preparing to go to Mars, if not already there (pg. 94). We can dismiss these now as the optimistic dreams of a science-fiction writer (though Clarke never says that they will happen), but the point I'm trying to make is that they're all feasible. All of Clarke's speculations are rooted in hard science, which is part of his great appeal as a writer. We just don't seem to have committed to the vision of Clarke and others like him. In Serendip, he even mentions the Higgs boson at one point… It seems that our development as a species has been on pause since the 1960s.
Absent moon bases, missions to Mars and fusion energy, it seems at times like the only predictions Clarke has been resoundingly confirmed in, as of 2020, have been the negative ones; the space programs hamstrung by budget cuts, the lack of public appreciation for the benefits they bring, the information-saturated society with its horizons skewed by the ubiquity of small screens. Clarke is an optimistic writer, but if he had been inclined, he could have written a dystopia that would give Orwell a run for his money.
The writing in The View from Serendip reminds us that it's important to hold on to Clarke's optimistic vision, which was shared by many of the 'can-do' Space Age. There's a tendency nowadays to see our present situation as inevitable: the Moon a pointless rock, Mars an expensive folly, 'interstellar' a word for nerds in basements writing fanfic. To realize how wrong this is, note how on page 217 Clarke predicts smartphones, a "multipurpose home communications device" that people value so highly they invest in it even ahead of an automobile. Only Clarke points out that such devices, properly-constructed, could last a very long time, and passed down from generation to generation like "a good watch". Just think of that – when nowadays you're meant to be hyped about the new iPhone before you've even finished paying off the last one. And that's nothing to do with the technological limitations of an iPhone, but everything to do with a bloated, consumerist culture that is geared towards disposability and money-spinning. The fault is not in the stars, which are achievable, but in ourselves. For all our successes, we must surely be something of a disappointment to the great men of the past.
December 11, 2014
An interesting insight into how Arthur C Clarke's mind worked.
Some highlights that I enjoyed:
1) Ayu Bowan! - The mountain lifted by Hanuman in the epic Ramayana may have been the site of an ancient asteroid impact. Maybe the locals remembered it and that became the myth in the Ramayanas.
2) Life in Space - "It is far more probable that the universe is crawling ... with life. And it will come in three varieties:
Life as we know it.
Life as we don't know it, but can imagine it.
Life as we can't possibly imagine it."
3) Satellites and Saris - he talks about the transforming potential of communication satellites. He argues that the United States would not have been possible without the railroad and the telegraph.
"One of the magical moments of Satyajit Ray's exquisite Pather Panchali is when the little boy Apu hears for the first time the Aeolean music of the telegraph wires on the windy plain. Soon those singing wires will be gone forever; but a new generation of Apus will be watching, wide-eyed, when the science of of a later age draws down pictures from the sky - and opens up for all the children of India a window on the world"
Some highlights that I enjoyed:
1) Ayu Bowan! - The mountain lifted by Hanuman in the epic Ramayana may have been the site of an ancient asteroid impact. Maybe the locals remembered it and that became the myth in the Ramayanas.
2) Life in Space - "It is far more probable that the universe is crawling ... with life. And it will come in three varieties:
Life as we know it.
Life as we don't know it, but can imagine it.
Life as we can't possibly imagine it."
3) Satellites and Saris - he talks about the transforming potential of communication satellites. He argues that the United States would not have been possible without the railroad and the telegraph.
"One of the magical moments of Satyajit Ray's exquisite Pather Panchali is when the little boy Apu hears for the first time the Aeolean music of the telegraph wires on the windy plain. Soon those singing wires will be gone forever; but a new generation of Apus will be watching, wide-eyed, when the science of of a later age draws down pictures from the sky - and opens up for all the children of India a window on the world"
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 4, 2023
An interesting look at what Clarke forecast for the near future from his position in the 1950s to 1970s. Unfortunately his prophecies about space exploration have not yet come to pass, although his forecasts about communications are rapidly coming true in the age of the Internet. I enjoyed the writing although there were a number of typos, but had to take a couple of stars off for inaccuracy of predictions!
June 12, 2022
Not nearly as good as I’d hoped it would be. Clarke is one of my favorite sci-fi authors and so I had high hopes for his non-fiction, but this particular collection left a lot to be desired. Somewhere on the two to three star scale, I’ll go with two as even the best pieces here aren’t even all that great.
June 6, 2023
Splendid
I quite enjoyed reading this. In one of the chapters about the anniversary celebrations for the phone, Clarke appears to be predicting the smartphone back in the 1970s. As he came up with the concept of communications satellites, that is certainly possible and shows an interest in his subject
I quite enjoyed reading this. In one of the chapters about the anniversary celebrations for the phone, Clarke appears to be predicting the smartphone back in the 1970s. As he came up with the concept of communications satellites, that is certainly possible and shows an interest in his subject
January 15, 2019
Interesting semi biography and extracts from lectures of the ,70/80s
March 22, 2024
Nice collection of essays and speculations on future technology and social change
June 15, 2024
I was hoping for more insight into his process for so accurately predicting the future. Instead, it was the equivalent of a sit com clip show.
November 26, 2014
I finally picked this off the shelf because some of it is about Sri Lanka. Unfortunately for me, not very much of it. It's a random collection of articles, most of which have Clarke speculating on where technology, and specifically space exploration, will go during the last few decades of the 20th century. But his prose style is quite irritating: by turns dry and smug, with the occasional stilted attempt at humour.
Having said that, some of the predictions are remarkable. While he misses the mark on some things (he couldn't have imagined the stalling of the space programme) he also basically predicts - in the early 1970s - the Internet, email, RSS feeds, social media and smartphones. For that alone it's a valuable piece of history. It's just a shame there wasn't more about his life in and around the Indian Ocean (apart from a couple of snorkelling trips).
May 24, 2011
This came with another Clarke book I bought, I don't know that I would have bought it on it's own. But it was very intersting. Written in the 70s, he was dead on about a lot of technological advances such as palm pilots, iphones, and the internet. It also provided some nice biographical information about him which was interesting. Some of his dates were off, but he had a pretty good vision of the near future.
February 28, 2009
A fine example of the pure mastery that was Arthur C Clarke. He left his mark on liturate with everyone of his stories and his spirit lives on through his life's work. Stimulating both scientists and dreamers he has had and will always have a profound impact on the way we view the universe around (and under) us.
September 26, 2015
Arthur C. Clarke may best be known for his works of fiction, but his short essays are just as fun as his stories and novels. He had a unique talent for both scientific divulgation and storytelling which makes this book entartaining and informative. If you liked this one, I recommend reading 'Profiles of the Future' and 'Report on Planet Three' too.
December 5, 2015
Eerily timeless, delightfully optimistic.
February 26, 2016
This story is a charming tale of our far future. One brave soul finds the courage to be curious and question the status quo of our dying society. What he finds changes the path of humankind.
February 6, 2024
4 stars from younger me
December 13, 2010
Interesting how Arthur c Clark saw the future
Read
June 28, 2015Wonderful introduction to science fiction.
Read
May 5, 2019This is the slovenian edition: Morje in vesolje
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews