One of Clarke's classic essays with speculations on space exploration and its profound effect on mankind. Deals with philosophical issues, not with technical details how to build a spaceship.
According to the notes in Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds! (1999), the essay, which started as an address, was first published in the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society for December 1946.
In 1959 Clarke revised and updated the piece for inclusion in the eponymous collection of essays. The version in Greetings... omits few sentences (including one quote from another author), but otherwise, except for trifles like punctuation, spelling and merged paragraphs, the piece is identical with the one in The Challenge of the Spaceship (1959).
Also, according to Locus1, a revised version of the talk appeared also in British Thought (1947, ed. Ivor Brown).
In 1959 Clarke revised and updated the piece for inclusion in the eponymous collection of essays. The version in Greetings... omits few sentences (including one quote from another author), but otherwise, except for trifles like punctuation, spelling and merged paragraphs, the piece is identical with the one in The Challenge of the Spaceship (1959).
Also, according to Locus1, a revised version of the talk appeared also in British Thought (1947, ed. Ivor Brown).
| Date | Publication | Publisher | Type | Page | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | The Challenge of the Spaceship: Previews of Tomorrow's World | Harper & Brothers | Nonfiction | ||
| 1960 |
|
Über den Himmel hinaus: Unser Leben im Zeichen der Raumfahrt | Econ | Nonfiction | 13 |
| 1960 |
|
The Challenge of the Spaceship: Previews of Tomorrow's World | Frederick Muller Ltd | Nonfiction | |
| 1961 |
|
The Challenge of the Spaceship | Ballantine Books | Nonfiction | 9 |
| June 1980 |
|
The Challenge of the Spaceship | Pocket Books | Nonfiction | 13 |
| July 1993 |
|
By Space Possessed: Essays on the Exploration of Space | Gollancz | Nonfiction | 29 |
| 1999 |
|
Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds!: A Vision of the 20th Century As It Happened | Voyager | Nonfiction | 30 |
| August 1999 |
|
Greetings, Carbon-Based Bipeds!: Collected Essays 1934-1998 | St. Martin's Press | Nonfiction | 30 |