Arthur C. Clarke is renowned not only for his science fiction--which has earned him the title of Grand Master from the Science Fiction Writers of America and the unofficial "poet laureate of the space age," as David Brin writing in the Los Angeles Times dubbed him. Clarke also has a reputation for first-rate scientific and technical writing. His best-known work in the latter field is "Extraterrestrial Relays," a 1945 article in which he first proposed the idea of communications satellites; Clarke has also published works on such diverse topics as underwater diving, space exploration, and scientific extrapolation. Nevertheless, it is Clarke's science fiction that has won him his reputation, with such novels as Childhood's End and Rendezvous with Rama being widely hailed as classics of the genre. In addition, his story "The Nine Billion Names of God" was named to the science fiction "Hall of Fame," while the movie...