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Prelude to Space Kindle Edition

by Arthur C. Clarke (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 184 ratings
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An uncannily prophetic novel of early space exploration from the legendary “colossus of science fiction” and creator of 2001: A Space Odyssey (The New Yorker).
 
The world’s first lunar spacecraft is about to launch. The ship, Prometheus, is built from two components—one designed to travel trough outter space to the Moon and back, and the other to carry the first component through Earth’s atmosphere and into orbit. Dirk Alexson, a historian assigned to documenting the project, travels from London to the desert base in Australia where Prometheus is to be launched. In a true example of life imitating art, Alexson describes what would become the foundation for the actual space shuttle program twenty years later.
 
First published in 1951, Prelude to Space is full of detailed technical descriptions and conversations regarding the possibility of spaceflight, many of which mirrored—or were actually cited in—the construction of the first spaceships and telecommunications satellites. Clarke’s uncanny ability to predict so many events, concerns, dilemmas, and triumphs of space exploration decades in advance make this fascinating novel as much science as it is fiction.
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  1. Print length
    122 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    RosettaBooks
  5. Publication date
    November 30, 2012
  6. File size
    2208 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Clarke Is Mighty Convincing As A Scientific Prophet!"-- Orville Prescott, The New York Times

From the Inside Flap

compelling story of the launching of Prometheus -- Earth's first true spaceship -- and of the men who made it happen.

Dirk Alexson:
Chronicler of the greatest space adventure of all time, he was chosen to immortalize the incredible story of the men and their heroic mission.

Sir Robert Derwent:
Direct-General of Interplanetary -- London Headquarters for the international space-flight project -- he was the man who got the mission off the ground and into the pages of history.

Professor Maxton:
The world's leading atomic engineer, he designed the huge ship's drive units and he waited with the rest of the world to see if the project would be a success.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07NMDL2RZ
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ RosettaBooks (November 30, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 30, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2208 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 122 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 184 ratings

About the author

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Arthur C. Clarke

Arthur C. Clarke

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SIR ARTHUR C. CLARKE (1917-2008) wrote the novel and co-authored the screenplay for 2001: A Space Odyssey. He has been knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, and he is the only science-fiction writer to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. His fiction and nonfiction have sold more than one hundred million copies in print worldwide.

Photo by en:User:Mamyjomarash (Amy Marash) (en:Image:Clarke sm.jpg) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
184 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

ShaZORN
5.0 out of 5 stars Clarke remains a major guide for us.
Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2014
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I am an advocate of space. The only quibble I have with this is the fact that the technology is dated, but if you are willing to put up with vacuum tubes, the spirit of this work should be an inspiration for today. Where did we miss the future?
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joe shmoe
4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing foresight from 10 years before even the actual first successful space launch.
Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2018
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Amazing foresight from 10 years before even the actual first successful space launch.
Very interesting to see what technologies were then considered as indispensable for space flight, and to compare with which technologies were, and are today, actually employed in astronautics.
Even more interesting to see what international organizations were expected to be driving the conquest of space and the way in which the well informed and superbly documented author described the interpersonal, inter organizational and international relations and stakes.
Of course not everything turned out in reality as anticipated in this well written book but the quality is technically very high.
The use of language is also superb, possibly even somewhat to a fault when the purely literary aspects are given too much of a Shakespearian emphasis for such a work.
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gregg g
3.0 out of 5 stars If you are looking for adventure, there is very little
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2024
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I had thought this novel might be somewhat like Destination Moon and focus on the actual mission. Instead, it focuses on the pompous, very British, preparations for the trip to the moon.
Like Destination Moon, the author could not seem to imagine that such a trip could be achieved without resorting to atomic reactors to create the impulse of the rocket.
For all Clarke's abilities, he could not foresee the introduction of solid state electronics that made robotic spacecraft so effective and computers so small and lightweight. Particularly amusing is how he mentions extremely high speed aircraft of 1000 miles per hour speed to transport NEWS REELS of the launch back to London (if course). It seems like even the guy who predicted geo-stationary satellites could not imagine nearly instantaneous television coverage.
He also, it seems, could not bring himself to imagine a world where the British Empire dissolved and successive administrations (in the name of efficiency and practicality) dismantled the majority of the UKs scientific, engineering, and manufacturing base. In his story, the British play a leading role in the enterprise, with Americans being merely a financial and administrative support group. Even in the fifties, that idea was completely ridiculous, but for it to be true in 1975 would be even sillier. And of course, no science fiction author in history could ever imagine that humans would go to the moon 6 times and then just QUIT, for 60 years.
All in all, I became bored very quickly when Clarke continued detailing the interminable "preparations" for the journey and the pompous ruminations about the social implications for posterity and the future of mankind. The viewpoint of the novel is that of a historian tasked with recording the momentous journey for the history books, because it is decided that reporters do not have the appropriate historical perspective on the enterprise.
I suppose some of the activities of preparation are a wonderful time capsule on how things might have been done if they had been attempted in the 1950s. But the enjoyment of that aspect passes quickly, and the story becomes really boring, at least for me.
I would have enjoyed something that touched on the preparations, but then got on with the adventure of the flight itself. This story ends with the ship launching.
So if you are looking for an adventurous telling of a moon mission as envisioned by a great 1950s science fiction author, this is not it. Instead, it is a pompous rumination on the amazing British "boffins" who seem to solve any problem and supply the entire world with vision and drive to explore. It also spends an inordinate amount of time talking endlessly of the incredible momentousness of the enterprise.
Alas, I think they were right in the beginning. Self-centered, ignorant, illiterate, distracted, foolish human beings will not know the importance of man's landing on the moon for centuries, and no historian will be able to penetrate the tiny distracted minds of most people grubbing around on earth, worrying about their shelter and their next meal, and fighting over the last scrap of resources or trying to force everyone else on earth to think like they do.
That is truly why we went to the moon 6 times, and then just QUIT FOR 60 YEARS. Thank God we have a new generation of visionaries today with the personal resources to pursue the enterprise with or without government. Although, I definitely have my reservations about Elon Musk being the first Czar of Mars, or worse even than that, a "free speech" cesspool like 4Chan.... or the Republic of Anarchy with no social contract at all.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A Visionary's View of Our Reach for the Stars
Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2018
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Although constrained by politics and finances, we have not yet attained the future as envisioned by the author, it is but a matter of time.
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Walter Vess Jr.
4.0 out of 5 stars A good look at our predictive future
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2019
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Sometimes it is fun to go back and read about our future that has become our history. Clark has always been one of my favorite author.
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Dave
5.0 out of 5 stars It's a Clarke book...
Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2014
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What else do you need to say... Of course it is perfect! A bit dated, but overall a very good book.
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Manapazza
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!
Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2013
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I highly recommend this book to any Science-Fiction and Science enthusiast! It entertains, informs, and educates. You will love it!
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Matthew Kresal
3.0 out of 5 stars Not How We Went To The Moon, But How We Might Have
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2020
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As hard as it may be to believe that the Moon landings occurred fifty years ago, it seems equally hard to believe there was a time when people were still imagining it happening for the first time. One of those who did so was science fiction titan Arthur C Clarke whose first published novel Prelude to Space conceived such an endeavor. Though first published in 1951 and imagining events in the 1970s, it makes for enjoyable reading.

In part, that's because of what Clarke got right. There's a crew of three who end up going to the Moon, each with specific tasks and skills, not unlike the real-life Apollo missions. The portrayal of media coverage of the mission, as well as the public debate about whether space exploration is worth the cost, have echoes of their own in the Space Race and our current era. The way that Interplanetary, the organization behind the effort, is portrayed isn't a million miles off from the likes of SpaceX and private companies heading into space in the 21st-century. Clarke is even close about when the first lunar probe and human spaceflights would be taking place. All of which is rather neat to think about, given Apollo 11's historic mission was nearly twenty years away when the novel was published though he proved right, in the words of his astronaut Hassel, that “The first voyage will be the one that History will remember. After that, they’ll all merge together.”

There's plenty Clarke didn't predict, though. His nuclear powered Prometheus with its stages Alpha and Beta don't bear much resemblance to the Saturn V or the Apollo capsules that made the real journey. There's no space race to spurn things on, so it's the British based Interplanetary that sends the expedition off from Australia. The vision on display of the 1970s can be chuckle-worthy at times, such as a moment about a third way through the novel when at a party, "there was much dancing to the gentle, nostalgic rhythms so popular in the late ’70s." Of course, Clarke is quick to point out in a 1976 preface included with later editions that "contrary to a general belief—prediction is not the main purpose of science-fiction writers," and that he wasn't aiming to do so here either.

Of course, we're talking about a novel written in the 1940s, published in the 1950s, and there are times when it very much feels like it. The dialogue and characterizations are very much of the time, and it was easy at times to think of this as the SF equivalent of one of those old black and white British war films popular in this era. There's a lot of stiff upper lips, even from American characters like our historian protagonist, for example. The plot, too, in what would become a running theme with Clarke's work, is rather thin at places but, one can forgive that with the earnestness in which he gets his ideas across.

As first novels go, there have been far worse ones that Prelude to Space. Like much of Clarke's later works, including masterworks such as Childhood's End and 2001, this is a novel of ideas first and foremost. While we may have gotten to the Moon even before Clarke's fictional astronauts, what remains is an intriguing vision of those days of future past. Not so much how we got to the Moon, but how we might have done in a different world.
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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Just like old times. Clark doing what he did best.
Reviewed in Canada on January 5, 2024
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Clark using his style of storyteling is a journey down memory lane. He gets some things right,but others are now wrong but he was writing it seventy years ago. I still love re-reading his work.
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M Yon
4.0 out of 5 stars Old-fashioned but likable story of the Space Age
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 28, 2018
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This was one of the first of Sir Arthur’s novels that I read, though not the first. I had actually come to his work through his short stories, such as The Star (1955) and The Nine Billion Names of God (1953), before finding a copy of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) in my school library.

Prelude is not a book of the same calibre of 2001. And yet its quiet manner, a tale of men and women working together to reach out into the unknown, is one that has stayed with me for over forty years.

“It was written in July, 1947, during my summer vacation as a student at King’s College, London. The actual composition took exactly twenty days, a record I have never since approached. This speed was largely owing to the fact that I had been making notes on the book for more than a year; it was already well organized in my head before I set pen to paper.”

As the novel was written in 1947, the plot is perhaps understandably rather cliched these days. Set in the 1970’s and told from the point of view of historian Dr. Dirk Alexson, it is the story of how Mankind first reaches the Moon. We view it as a non-specialist would see it, as it would be given to the general public by an objective observer. It also allows us to see science non-technically – a role in a few years that, as a populariser of science, Sir Arthur would happily fill. It is clearly a creative summation of Clarke’s ideas of how it could be, although it is different to what really happened.

“You Americans have always been a bit conservative about space flight, and didn’t take it seriously until several years after us.”

In Clarke’s book the research and development is not achieved by government funding but by private enterprise, and mainly European and Commonwealth participation at that. Think of a British Space-X – perhaps Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, rather than NASA.

Clarke’s explanation of this is charmingly straightforward:

“In 1947, it seemed quite reasonable to base an Interplanetary Project in London; as one of my English characters remarks… That statement was still true a decade after I had finished the book—when Sputnik I was launched in October, 1957. It is now very hard to realize that right into the late 1950’s many American engineers in the rocket field itself pooh-poohed the idea of space flight.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, therefore, the perspective of the novel is a Brit-centric view, with much of the research and development occurring in London and the final flight setting off from that ex-British colony and member of the UK Commonwealth, Australia.

However, it is not as jingoistic as that outline might suggest. Alexson is from the University of Chicago, for example, and the group of scientists and pilots that Alexson observes is deliberately multinational. Even German scientists, who a few years earlier were bombing London, are accepted as part of this group. There are no national or political barriers on this brave new frontier, clearly something that Clarke believes in passionately and ardently.

It is also partly biographical, with many of the characters and events allegedly based on Clarke and his compatriots’ work in the 1940’s and 50’s, but then extrapolated further. I think that it is this that I found attractive on first reading. There is this feeling that, in the 1970’s, this is what it would be like to be part of that exciting, and dangerous, experiment, on the cutting edge of technology and the edge of the unknown.

Nevertheless, from the perspective of the 2010’s, Prelude is also easy to criticise. For all of its buoyancy and confidence, it is also naïve and unrealistically optimistic. It was out of date by the time Mankind reached the Moon, something Clarke admits in his honest and endearing Post-Apollo Preface, written in August 1969.

Being a product of the 1940’s and 50’s, the writing style is charmingly old-school. There’s a lot of explaining going on through the characters, of Dirk being told things to help his understanding and his writing of the historical record. It is linear in style and occasionally stilted in prose, but even so something I found engaging and endearing.

Clarke also addresses the belief held by many general readers that science fiction is ‘the fiction that predicts the future’. Clarke, in his Post-Apollo Preface refutes that: “… few (science fiction writers), if any, have ever claimed “this is how it will be.” Most of them are concerned with the play of ideas, and the exploration of novel concepts in science and discovery.”

Despite the author’s protestations, Prelude did, admittedly, get some ideas right. This is the first time that Clarke’s ideas of geosynchronous satellites are shown in his novels, something taken for granted today. There are other ideas here that were shown in the real Apollo missions – crews of three, each with their specific roles, the use of booster spaceships to launch the final spaceship into space, rather like the Space Shuttle riding on a Jumbo jet and so on.

There are also some aspects that, even with the passage of seventy-odd years, modern readers will recognise. The media coverage of the mission is as it would be now – when the secret mission is announced, there is a media frenzy as newspaper reporters try to gain exclusive admission to the training centre and the astronauts, wheedling details out from those involved and making facts up if they don’t have access. There are attempts at terrorism and disagreements from religious groups over whether Mankind should travel into space. None of this, of course, would happen today.

Other elements are less pertinent in 2017. The use of nuclear booster rockets is not generally seen as workable these days, although Stephen Baxter did use them in his alternative history, Voyage. Similarly, the importance of governments in sponsoring research and development was underestimated by Clarke, although he justifies his choice in his new Introduction.

…The modest amounts of money with which I assumed space research could be conducted will now cause some rueful amusement. No one could have imagined, in 1947, that within twenty years not merely millions, but billions, of dollars would be budgeted annually for space flight, and that a lunar landing would be a primary objective of the two most powerful nations on Earth. Back in the 1940’s it seemed most unlikely that governments would put any money into space before private enterprise had shown the way.”

Prelude is very much a debut novel of an author growing in style and developing structure. There are themes here that Sir Arthur will revisit in his other more famous novels – the benefits of space travel, the unifying nature of international cooperation towards common goals, for example. It is obviously a story close to Sir Arthur’s heart. There are parts that border on the biographical, or perhaps what Clarke hopes to be in the future. The CEO of Interstellar, Sir Robert Derwent, is perhaps the mouthpiece of Sir Arthur’s hopes and dreams for the future, his distillation of the discussion why humans should, and will, travel to the Moon and beyond.

Whilst very much a product of its time, Prelude to Space is a novel that holds up better than many other debuts from other equally famous authors. Compare this with Heinlein’s Rocketship Galileo, for example, and the differences are clear. Whilst it could be argued that Galileo is aimed at what would now be referred to as the ‘Young Adult’ market, and Prelude is much more of a grown-up affair, Clarke’s novel is a much more refined and subtler work, although Clarke could also write for a younger audience. Clarke’s novel The Sands of Mars, also published in 1952, is perhaps more like Galileo.

As much as I enjoyed it, Prelude is a lesser work when regarded in the context of Clarke’s full bibliography, and yet it is a reflection of the time it was written – an optimistic, forward-looking treatise of the Space Age and how the future could be. For all of its literary limitations, it is an endearingly appropriate celebration of Sir Arthur’s life and work.
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