CINXE.COM

<!doctype html>     <html class="no-js" lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <title>SFE: Clarke's Laws</title> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge,chrome=1"> <meta name="description" content="Welcome to the fourth edition of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction." /> <meta name="keywords" content="" /> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1">  <script> window.ga=window.ga||function(){(ga.q=ga.q||[]).push(arguments)};ga.l=+new Date; ga("create", "UA-24275979-1", "auto"); ga("send", "pageview"); </script> <script async src="https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js"></script>  <link rel="icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon"> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="apple-touch-icon.png"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/style.css?v=1"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/media-queries.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/cookie.css"> <script src="/static/js/libs/modernizr-2.0.6.min.js"></script> <style media="screen" type="text/css"> ::-moz-selection { background: navy !important; } html, body { margin:0; padding:0; height:100%; } #container { min-height:100%; position:relative; } #header { background:#ff0; padding:10px; } #body { padding-bottom:15px; /* Height of the footer */ } #footer { position:absolute; bottom:0; width:100%; height:15px; /* Height of the footer */ background:#6cf; } </style>  </head> <body style="overflow-x: hidden;"> <div id="container"> <div id="body"> <div id="minorNavWrapper"> <nav id="minornav" class="clearfix"> <ul class="clearfix" style="font-weight: bold;"> <li><a href="/">Home</a></li> <li><a href="/about-us">About us</a></li> <li><a href="/random.php">Random</a></li> <li><a href="/contact.php">Contact</a></li> <li><a href="/donate.php">Donate</a></li> </ul> </nav> </div> <div id="mainNavWrapper"> <nav id="mainnav"> <ul class="clearfix"> <li class="home"><a title="Home page" href="https://sf-encyclopedia.com/"><img id="sfeLogoSmall" src="/static/img/sfe.png" alt="SFE: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction"><img id="sfeLogo" src="/static/img/logo.png" alt="SFE: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction"></a><span class="logoArrow"></span></li> <li class="section-all"><a href="https://sf-encyclopedia.com/category/0">All entries</a></li> <li class="section-themes"><a href="https://sf-encyclopedia.com/category/theme">Themes</a></li> <li class="section-authors"><a href="https://sf-encyclopedia.com/category/everyone">People</a></li> <li class="section-media"><a href="https://sf-encyclopedia.com/category/media">Media</a></li> <li class="section-culture"><a href="https://sf-encyclopedia.com/category/culture">Culture</a></li> <li class="section-news"><a href="https://sf-encyclopedia.com/news/">News</a></li> </ul> </nav> </div> <div id="main"> <div class="colsWrapper clearfix"> <div class="column mainCol clearfix" style="background-color:white !important;"> <fieldset id="globalSearch"> <form name="srchenter" method="post" action="/search.php"> <select name="catfilter" class="searchFilter" style="width: 132px" title="Select entry category for headword or global search"> <option value="">Search all entries</option> <option value="chk">Checklist titles</option><option value="art">Art</option> <option value="author">Author</option> <option value="award">Award</option> <option value="character">Character</option> <option value="comics">Comics</option> <option value="community">Community</option> <option value="critic">Critic</option> <option value="editor">Editor</option> <option value="fan">Fan</option> <option value="film">Film</option> <option value="game">Game</option> <option value="house name">House Name</option> <option value="international">International</option> <option value="music">Music</option> <option value="people">People (media)</option> <option value="prelim">Prelim</option> <option value="publication">Publication</option> <option value="publisher">Publisher</option> <option value="radio">Radio</option> <option value="theatre">Theatre</option> <option value="theme">Theme</option> <option value="tv">TV</option> </select> <input name="search" type="text" value="" style="margin: 0 0 5px 0; width: 155px !important;" onFocus="this.select()" onClick="this.select()" onHover="this.select()" class="searchText" id="defaultOpen">  <input type="submit" value="Headwords" class="button primary" style="margin: 5px 0 0 0;; padding-left: 8px; padding-right: 8px">  <input type="submit" name="glob" value="Global search" class="button primary" style="margin: 5px 0 0 0; padding-left: 8px; padding-right: 8px"> <input type="text" name="eofmode" value="" hidden> <div style="display:none;"> <p style="margin: 0px; float: left;"><input type="radio" name="tomeselect" value="sfe" checked> <i>Search SFE</i>   <input type="radio" name="tomeselect" value="eof"> <i>Search EoF</i></p> <p style="margin: 0px; float: right;"> <input type="checkbox" Name="noxref">  <i>Omit cross-reference entries</i>  </p> <script> document.srchenter.search.focus(); document.addEventListener("keydown", function(event) { if (event.code == "PageDown" || event.code == "ArrowDown" || ( !event.getModifierState("NumLock") && (event.code == "Numpad2" || event.code == "Numpad3"))) { document.srchenter.search.blur(); } }) </script> </div> </form> </fieldset> <article class="entryArticle content STeditorial"> <header class="entryHeader icon-theme"> <h1 class="entryTitle">Clarke's Laws </h1> </header><p class='tagLine'>Entry updated 2 August 2016. Tagged: Theme.</p><div class="browsingBtns"> <span> <input class="button PNI previous" type="button" onclick="window.location.href='/next.php?id=p&entry=clarkes_laws'" value="Prev" /> </span> <span> <input class="button PNI next" type="button" onclick="window.location.href='/next.php?&entry=clarkes_laws'" value="Next" /> </span> <span> <input class="button PNI incoming" type="button" onclick="window.location.href='/incoming.php?entry=clarkes_laws'" value="About This Entry" title="What links to the entry; contributor initials explained; how to cite; other information" /> </span> </div> <p>Three <a href="/entry/laws">Laws</a> – more accurately, guidelines – for sf authors and other practitioners of <a href="/entry/futures_studies">Futures Studies</a> or <a href="/entry/prediction">Prediction</a>, stated by Arthur C <a href="/entry/clarke_arthur_c">Clarke</a> in <i>Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry into the Limits of the Possible</i> (<b>1962</b>; rev <b>1973</b>; rev <b>1984</b>; rev <b>2000</b>):</p> <div class="quote"> <p><b>1.</b> When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.</p> <p><b>2.</b> The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.</p> <p><b>3.</b> Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.</p> </div> <p>#1 appeared as Clarke's Law in the original 1962 <i>Profiles of the Future</i>, with the cautious gloss that "elderly", in the disciplines of astronautics, <a href="/entry/mathematics">Mathematics</a> and <a href="/entry/physics">Physics</a>, means over 30. #2 can be found in the same chapter, though not designated as a law: it was termed Clarke's Second Law in the French translation, and a footnote in Clarke's 1973 revision of the text both acknowledges this and adds #3, which had first appeared in a published letter (19 January 1968 <i>Science</i> as "Clarke's Third Law on UFO's").</p> <p>Writing on the popularity of <a href="/entry/pseudoscience">Pseudoscience</a>, Isaac <a href="/entry/asimov_isaac">Asimov</a> proposed "Asimov's Corollary" (February 1977 <a href="/entry/fsf">F&SF</a>) to #1:</p> <div class="quote"> <p>"When, however, the lay public rallies round an idea that is denounced by distinguished but elderly scientists and supports that idea with great fervour and emotion – the distinguished but elderly scientists are then, after all, probably right."</p> </div> <p>The third of Clarke's Laws is the most quoted, and inspired another corollary by Barry Gehm: "Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced." (given as 1991 <a href="/entry/analog">Analog</a> but not traced). This is often wrongly ascribed to Gregory <a href="/entry/benford_gregory">Benford</a>, who quotes it in <i>Foundation's Fear</i> (<b>1997</b>). [DRL]</p> <p><b>previous versions of this entry</b></p> <ul><li><a href='https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/clarkes_laws' target='_blank'>Internet Archive</a></li></ul><br /><br /></article></div> <div class="sideBarsWrapper"> <div class="sideBarsColsWrapper clearfix"> <div class="column sideBar12 clearfix"> <div class="columnForm"><aside id="blogFeed" class="widget"> <div class="content STeditorial clearfix"> <h2>Recently visited entries<span style="background:url(/images/thingSFE2.png) !important"></span></h2><ul style='width: 50%; float: left;'> </ul> <p align=center style="float:right; padding-top:20px; padding-bottom:20px;">ISSN 3049-7612<br /> <a href="/facts.php?id=logo"> <img src="/images/VitMan.gif" width=150 height=150 title="Click for larger version of this SFE logo"></a><br /> <b><a href="/donate.php"><img src="/images/Paypal-Donate.gif" WIDTH="92" HEIGHT="26" BORDER="0" /></a><br /><a href="/">Home/Welcome page</a></b></p><div style="margin-bottom:10px;"></div></div> </aside><aside id="blogFeed" class="widget"> <div class="content STeditorial clearfix"> <h2><i>SFE</i> Special Features<span></span></h2><p style="margin-top: 10px;"><input type="button" value="What’s New" style="width: 150px !important;" class="button primary" onclick="window.location.href='/whatsnew.php'">  Latest entries; <a href="/updated.php">latest updates</a></p> <p style="line-height:1.6em;"><input type="button" value="In Memoriam" style="width: 150px !important;" class="button primary" onclick="window.location.href='/timeline.php?rip'">  Recent deaths</p> <p style="line-height:1.6em;"><input type="button" value="On This Day" style="width: 150px !important;" class="button primary" onclick="window.location.href='/today.php'">  Anniversaries; also <a href="/timeline.php">Timeline</a></p> <p style="line-height:1.6em;"><input type="button" value="Gallery" style="width: 150px !important;" class="button primary" onclick="window.location.href='/gallery.php'">  <i>SFE</i> Picture Gallery; <a href="/gallery.php?list&new">What’s New</a></p> <p style="line-height:1.6em;"><input type="button" value="Shopping" style="width: 150px !important;" class="button primary" onclick="window.location.href='/sfeshop.php'">  Affiliate settings</p> <p style="line-height:1.6em;"><input type="button" value="Random" style="width: 150px !important;" class="button primary" onclick="window.location.href='/random.php'">  Show a random <i>SFE</i> entry</p> <p style="line-height:1.6em;"><input type="button" value="SFE Facts" style="width: 150px !important;" class="button primary" onclick="window.location.href='/facts.php'">  Bar charts, awards and more</p> <p style="line-height:1.6em;"><input type="button" value="Entry Data" style="width: 150px !important;" class="button primary" onclick="window.location.href='https://sf-encyclopedia.com/incoming.php?entry=clarkes_laws'">  Incoming links, who wrote it, etc</p> <p style="margin-bottom:15px;"><a href="/searching">Search help</a> | <a href="/rss.php" target="_blank">RSS feed</a> <img src="/static/img/external.gif"> | <a href="/fe/"><i>Encyclopedia of Fantasy</i></a> <img src="/static/img/external.gif"></p><div style="margin-bottom:10px;"></div></div> </aside><aside id="connect" class="widget"> <div class="content STeditorial clearfix"> <h2>Connect with <i>SFE</i> <span></span></h2> <ul> <li> <h3 style="text-align: left !important;"><a href="/donate.php">Donate towards <i>SFE</i> expenses</a></h3> </li> <li> <h3 style="text-align: left !important;"><a href="/contact.php">Send email feedback to the <i>SFE</i> editors</a></h3> </li> <li style=" display:none;"> <h3 style="text-align: left !important;"><a href="https://twitter.com/john_clute" target="_blank">John Clute on Twitter [X]</a></h3> <a href="https://twitter.com/john_clute" class="twitter-follow-button">Follow @john_clute</a> <script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" type="text/javascript"></script> </li> <li style=" display:none;"> <h3 style="text-align: left !important;"><a href="https://twitter.com/sfencyclopedia" target="_blank"><i>SFE</i> on Twitter [X]</a></h3> <a href="https://twitter.com/sfencyclopedia" class="twitter-follow-button">Follow @sfencyclopedia</a> <script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" type="text/javascript"></script> </li> <li> <h3 style="text-align: left !important;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sf-Encyclopedia/138995776178949" target="_blank"><i>SFE</i> on Facebook</a></h3> </li> <li> <h3 style="text-align: left !important;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/john.clute.5" target="_blank">John Clute on Facebook</a></h3> </li> <li> <h3 style="text-align: left !important;"><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/sfencyclopedia.bsky.social" target="_blank"><i>SFE</i> on BlueSky</a></h3> </li> <li> <h3 style="text-align: left !important;"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@SF_Encyclopedia" target="_blank"><i>SFE</i> on Mastodon</a></h3> </li> </ul> </div> </aside> </div></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="cookieConsent"> <div id="closeCookieConsent" onclick="hidepopup()">x</div> This website uses cookies.  <a href="/cookies" target="_blank">More information here</a>. <a class="cookieConsentOK" onclick="setcookie()">Accept Cookies</a> </div> <script type="text/javascript"> function hidepopup() { document.cookie = "hidecookiepopup=yes; path=/"; // session only document.getElementById("cookieConsent").style.display = "none"; } function setcookie() { document.cookie = "cookiesOK=yes; max-age=31536000; path=/"; // 1 year document.getElementById("cookieConsent").style.display = "none"; } var cookiestring = document.cookie; // document.getElementById("connect").innerHTML = cookiestring; // TEST only if ( cookiestring.indexOf("cookiesOK=yes") == -1 ) { if ( cookiestring.indexOf("hidecookiepopup=yes") == -1 ) { document.getElementById("cookieConsent").style.display = "block"; } } </script> <div id="footer" style="background:#fff; padding: 5px;"> <footer id="globalFooter" class="clearfix"> <div id="credit">Website design by Ansible Editions </div> <div id="credit" style="float: left !important; padding-left:20px;">Site and <i>SFE</i> content © 2011-2024 John Clute & David Langford</div> </footer> </div> </div> </body></html>