John Drury Clark Ph.D Date of Birth: 15.08.1907 Country: USA

1. Early Life and Education
2. Chemistry and Periodic Table
3. Career in Rocketry
4. Liquid Rocket Propulsion and NARTS
5. Influence on Science Fiction
6. Conan and Howard
7. Editing and Conan's Revived Popularity
8. Facilitating Careers in Science Fiction
9. Fosterage of Fletcher Pratt's Literary Partnerships
10. Inspiration for L. Ron Hubbard
11. Trap Door Spiders and Asimov's Black Widowers
12. "The Petrified Planet" Trilogy
13. Public and Political Activity

Early Life and Education

Arthur C. "Art" Clarke, an esteemed American rocket propellant scientist and chemist, was also an avid reader and fan of science fiction. Born in Fairbanks, Alaska, he pursued his education at the University of Alaska and later at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California from 1927 to 1930, earning a bachelor's degree in physical chemistry. During his final two years at CalTech, he shared a room with Lyon de Camp. Clarke went on to receive a master's degree from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and, subsequently, a doctorate in chemistry from Stanford University in 1934.

Chemistry and Periodic Table

In 1933, Clarke published a novel cylindrical diagram for the periodic table of elements. The design was notably used for a striking and popular illustration in Life magazine's special issue on elementary particles published on May 16, 1949. It inspired an artist named Edgar Longman to create a mural that became a prominent feature of the 1951 Festival of Britain in London. Clarke devised a variant of the diagram in 1950, but it did not achieve the same level of success.

Career in Rocketry

Clarke moved to Schenectady in upstate New York in the early 1930s, securing a position with General Electric. After several years, he relocated to New York City and eventually Philadelphia, where he worked as a research chemist for John Wyeth & Brother in 1943. On June 7 of that year, he married Mildred Baldwin, an operatic soprano. The marriage later ended in divorce.

Liquid Rocket Propulsion and NARTS

From 1949 until his retirement in 1970, Clarke worked on liquid rocket propellants at the Naval Air Rocket Test Station (NARTS) in Dover, New Jersey (converted to the Army's Liquid Rocket Propulsion Laboratory at Picatinny Arsenal after 1960), serving as chief chemist. In 1962, Clarke married Inge Pratt, artist and widow of Fletcher Pratt.

His book, "Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants" (Rutgers University Press, 1972), drew upon his experiences in the field and was dedicated to Inge. It narrated the development of liquid rocket propulsion in the United States, blending technical explanations with anecdotal accounts of the people involved and the often humorous mishaps that occurred along the way. This rare book, which is no longer in print, now sells for over $400.

Influence on Science Fiction

As a fan of science fiction and fantasy during the pulp magazine era, Clarke encountered several figures who were either authors or would become authors in both fields, including P. Schuyler Miller, Fletcher Pratt, and L. Ron Hubbard. He met Miller while living in Schenectady in the 1930s and became acquainted with Pratt after moving to New York City. Through these connections, he introduced de Camp to Miller, Pratt, and an informal circle of New York-based science fiction enthusiasts, which included Otto Binder, John Wood Campbell, Edmond Hamilton, Otis Adelbert Kline, Henry Kuttner, Frank Belknap Long, Manly Wade Wellman, and Jack Williamson.

Conan and Howard

Clarke first encountered Robert E. Howard's creation Conan and Solomon Kane in Weird Tales magazine and became an ardent admirer, working with Miller in early 1936 to outline Conan's career and map the world of Howard's then-published Hyborian Age stories. Miller sent the material to Howard, who verified and amended their findings. The authors' map became the basis for the one later used in the Gnome Press editions of the Conan tales. Their updated outline, "A Probable Outline of Conan's Career," was published in the fanzine The Hyborian Age in 1938.

Editing and Conan's Revived Popularity

Clarke's authority on the subject led to his being invited to edit and provide an introduction to Gnome Press's first book editions of Howard's Conan stories in the 1950s. Expanded versions of Clarke and Miller's essays on Conan, "An Informal Biography of Conan the Cimmerian," appeared in Gnome's Conan: Barbarian in 1953 and (edited by de Camp) in the fanzine Amra vol. 2, no. 4 in 1959. This served as a literary bridge between the individual Conan stories in the Gnome editions and the Lancer paperback books of the 1960s.

Facilitating Careers in Science Fiction

While unemployed in the mid-1930s, Clarke wrote a pair of science fiction stories, "Minus Planet" and "Space Blister," using outlines provided by Lyon de Camp. The stories were published in Astounding Stories in 1937. After failing to sell additional stories, Clarke abandoned his own writing but remained an active participant in science fiction circles. However, his encouragement played a role in Lyon de Camp's decision to pursue a writing career in science fiction, which began with short stories and eventually led to novels co-authored with their mutual friend Miller.

Fosterage of Fletcher Pratt's Literary Partnerships

Clarke further aided de Camp's career by introducing him to Fletcher Pratt's wargaming group and to Pratt himself in 1939. De Camp and Pratt went on to co-author one of the most popular light fantasy series, the "Harold Shea" stories and "Tales from Gavagan's Bar."

Inspiration for L. Ron Hubbard

Clarke also provided the idea for L. Ron Hubbard's humorous fantasy novella "The Case of the Friendly Corpse," published in the August 1941 issue of Unknown magazine. According to de Camp, Clarke and a friend named Mark Baldwin "cooked up a prospectus for a fictitious College of the Unholy Names" in the 1930s, which Clarke lent to Hubbard in 1941. Hubbard drew on this prospectus to create his story.

Trap Door Spiders and Asimov's Black Widowers

Clarke's first marriage led to the formation of a men's literary dinner club, the Trap Door Spiders, founded in 1944 by Pratt. Due to the unpopularity of Clarke's new wife among his friends, including Pratt, the club provided an opportunity for them to socialize with Clarke without his wife's presence. This club later served as the model for Isaac Asimov's fictional mystery-solving group, the Black Widowers, with Clarke appearing as James Drake.

"The Petrified Planet" Trilogy

In 1952, Clarke provided the scenario and edited the science fiction trilogy "The Petrified Planet," published by Twayne. Billed as "the first 'shared world' anthology," the scenario postulated a star system inhabited by silicon-based life forms and was used as the basis for three novellas by Pratt, H. Beam Piper, and Judith Merril, which comprised the bulk of the work. A fragment of the introductory section ("Silicon World"), written by Clarke, was reprinted in Startling Stories in December 1952, and the complete section was published in 1983 in an Ace edition of Piper's contribution, "Uller Uprising." However, the Startling Stories fragment was attributed to Pratt, suggesting that Clarke may have used Pratt's name as a pseudonym.

Public and Political Activity

From 1946 to 1953, Clarke served on the Council of Economic Advisers in the White House.