Arthur C. Clarke's Chronicles of the Strange and Mysterious [Paperback]

John Fairley (Author), Simon Welfare (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (April 13, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0586069720
• ISBN-13: 978-0586069721
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,143,550 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars A confusion of ideas., March 27, 2005

By 

Ned Middleton (British professional underwater photo-journalist & author) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Arthur C. Clarke's Chronicles of the Strange and Mysterious (Paperback)

I am totally confused by this book's title. Ordinarily, one might expect a book called "Arthur C. Clarke's Chronicles of the Strange and Mysterious" to have been written by Arthur C. Clarke!, but not so. It transpires, some years ago, Clarke hosted two hugely successful British television series' entitled Mysterious World and World of Strange Powers - the accompanying books for which went on to become best-sellers. Now, seemingly in an attempt to jump onto the bandwagon, these two authors have produced a book containing fresh mysteries and have invited Clarke to analyse them. Confusing or what?

And there hangs the problem as far as the subject matter is concerned. Clarke is a most distinguished scientist and engineer. For him, therefore, all paranormal events have a perfectly rational explanation - even if he does not actually have that explanation to hand.

We live in a world beset with mysteries and we like reading about them. As and when conclusive proof comes along to prove, discount or explain away this mystery or that, I personally do not want my reading of such matters spoilt by one who know best and by one who knows all the answers simply because he is a scientist.

Some interesting mysteries - but there are better books available.

NM