Clarke's fiction, which often deals with themes of exploration and discovery, almost always conveys to the reader a sense of wonder about the universe. Some critics, seeing the author's detailed descriptions of possible futures, have accused Clarke of ignoring the human element for the sake of science in his work. But while the development of scientific ideas and speculations plays a large role in Clarke's narratives, "what distinguishes Clarke's fictions from the usually more ephemeral examples of science fiction is his vision," Eric S. Rabkin asserted in his 1979 study Arthur C. Clarke. This vision, wrote Rabkin, is "a humane and open and fundamentally optimistic view of humankind and its potential in a universe which dwarfs us in physical size but which we may hope some day to match in spirit."
Born in 1917 in an English seaside town, Clarke discovered science fiction at the age of twelve, when he encountered the pulp magazine Amazing Stories. The encounter soon became an "addiction," as Clarke related in a 1983 article in the New York Times Book Review: "During my lunch hour away from school I used to haunt the local Woolworth's in search of my fix, which cost threepence a shot, roughly a quarter today." The young Clarke then began nurturing his love for the genre through the books of such English writers as H.
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