Expedition to Earth

by Arthur C. Clarke

1953 · 174 pages

breaking strain
loophole
inheritance
hide-and-seek
second dawn
exile of the eons

Keep track of it on your own bookshelf.

About this book

Short stories from the science fiction master—including the tale that inspired 2001: A Space Odyssey.

These stories present a brilliant showcase of Arthur C. Clarke's many-layered approach to the moral dilemmas of scientific advancement—from the thrilling and brutal "Breaking Strain" to the more poetic and thoughtful "Second Dawn." Also included is "The Sentinel"—the basis for the classic Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

This outstanding collection reminds us that the author of Childhood's End was not only a giant in the world of science fiction, a recipient of multiple Nebula and Hugo Awards, and an incomparable storyteller, but also a "skilled literary artist" (Hartford Courant).

"I do not know of any short story that has moved me more than Arthur C. Clarke's 'If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth.'" —The Christian Science Monitor

Quotes by Arthur C. Clarke

From Wikiquote

I can never look now at the Milky Way without wondering from which of those banked clouds of stars the emissaries are coming. If you will pardon so commonplace a simile, we have broken the glass of the fire-alarm and have nothing to do but to wait. I do not think we will have to wait for long
If we have learned one thing from the history of invention and discovery, it is that, in the long run — and often in the short one — the most daring prophecies seem laughably conservative.
It is not easy to see how the more extreme forms of nationalism can long survive when men have seen the Earth in its true perspective as a single small globe against the stars.