2001 by Arthur C. Clarke

First published: 1968

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Science fiction

Time of plot: 3,000,000 b.c.e. and 2001

Locale: Earth, the moon, Jupiter, Saturn, and deep space

Principal characters

• Moon-Watcher, a prehistoric man-ape
• Dr. Heywood Floyd,
• David Bowman and Frank Poole, Discovery astronauts
• HAL, Discovery’s sentient computer

The Story:

Early ancestors of humankind are struggling to survive, and it appears that they will succumb to extinction. Moon-Watcher, who leads a tribe of these primates by virtue of his massive size, encounters a “new rock.” The new rock is a Monolith, a sentient entity in the form of a rectangular block with perfect proportions—the ratio of its depth to width to height is exactly 1 to 4 to 9. The Monolith conducts experiments on Moon-Watcher and his tribe, ultimately providing Moon-Watcher’s people with the ability to utilize and create rudimentary tools. As a result, Moon-Watcher’s tribe learns to hunt and defeats a competing tribe, ensuring humanity’s eventual existence.

Millions of years later, Dr. Heywood Floyd is sent by the president of the United States to a base on the moon in order to investigate mysterious magnetic fluctuations. The source of the fluctuations is another Monolith found buried in the moon’s Tycho crater. Floyd and other scientists refer to the moon’s Monolith as Tycho Magnetic Anomaly One (TMA-1) and prepare to conduct experiments on it. Uncovered, the Monolith is exposed to a sunrise on the moon and immediately emits a signal that disrupts almost all nearby electronic equipment. Distant communication satellites record the signal, and its destination is pinpointed.

In 2001, the spaceship Discovery travels through space toward Saturn. Discovery was initially scheduled to travel only to Jupiter, but its mission was altered shortly before it began, ostensibly for the purpose of surveying Saturn’s various moons. Two astronauts, David Bowman and Frank Poole, comprise the ship’s crew, while three members of a survey team lie dormant in cryogenic sleep for the journey. Bowman and Poole are accompanied by the ship’s advanced computer, the Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer (HAL), which is responsible for maintaining the ship’s course and systems.

Passing through the asteroid belt and reaching Jupiter, Discovery begins a maneuver that slingshots the ship around the gas giant, increasing its speed for the remainder of the journey to Saturn. Following the slingshot maneuver, Bowman and Poole return to their normal duties of caring for the ship. HAL, however, begins to detect various failures in the ship’s communications equipment, forcing Poole to conduct repairs on the ship’s exterior. Mission control determines that it is HAL, and not the communications equipment, that is malfunctioning. Mission control attempts to brief the astronauts on the procedure to replace HAL’s control of Discovery with that of a similar computer still on Earth, but communications fail. Indulging HAL, Poole again attempts to conduct repairs on the ship’s exterior, but he is killed when Poole’s spacepod mysteriously activates and crushes him.

Realizing that HAL is malfunctioning, Bowman demands manual control of the cryogenic chambers and begins the sequence to wake up the survey team. HAL objects and opens the ship’s airlock doors, depleting Discovery’s atmosphere and killing the survey team in the process. Bowman manages to don a pressure suit and successfully disconnects HAL. Communications are reestablished with Earth and mission control determines that HAL’s malfunction was due to a feeling of guilt caused by the computer’s instructions to withhold information from the crew. (Neither Bowman nor Poole was aware of the true objectives of the mission to Saturn, but it was necessary for HAL to know them.) Bowman is finally informed of the Monolith found on the moon and of the signal it sent to Saturn’s moon, Japetus (Iapetus).

Once safely in orbit around Saturn, Bowman begins preliminary surveys of Japetus, and it is quickly revealed that another Monolith is located on the satellite’s surface. This one, erroneously referred to as TMA-2, is many times larger than the previous Monoliths, but it retains the same extremely precise 1 by 4 by 9 proportions. Aware that no rescue operation can be mounted in time to save him before his oxygen supply runs out, Bowman decides to take a remaining spacepod and travel to TMA-2. As he approaches the Monolith, Bowman notices that it appears to be full of stars and transmits this information to Earth. It is his final transmission, as the Monolith opens, revealing itself to be some sort of portal, or stargate, and sends Bowman to the far reaches of space.

In the stargate, Bowman determines that the gate is fundamentally an interstellar Grand Central Station that connects to other stargates. While traversing its vast expanses, he witnesses ample evidence of other spacefaring races, though it is not evident if those races are still existent or are extinct. Eventually, Bowman is taken to a red giant star and lands on it. To his surprise, he finds himself in a facsimile of a hotel room found on Earth. The room has apparently been constructed based on information sent by the TMA-1 signal. Many of its details are superficial, such as books with no print and a television that shows only programs that are at least two years old. There is air to breathe and food to eat, however, and Bowman eventually succumbs to sleep.

As Bowman sleeps, the hotel room disappears and Bowman begins to live his life backward in his dreams. When he has regressed to infancy, the dream subsides into reality, and Bowman finds himself face to face with another Monolith. The Monolith processes Bowman’s thoughts and conducts experiments similar to those conducted on Moon-Watcher millions of years earlier. Bowman experiences a fundamental transformation into a “Star-Child,” and he reenters the stargate, this time heading back to Earth. In orbit, Bowman deactivates and detonates the world’s nuclear arsenal and with vague intention notes that “history as men knew it would be drawing to a close.”

Bibliography

Clarke, Arthur C. The Lost Worlds of “2001.” London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1972. Clarke’s own account concerning the writing and production of Kubrick’s 2001. Contains early versions of both the novel and the screenplay.

Lewis, C. S., and Arthur C. Clarke. From Narnia to Space Odyssey: The War of Letters Between Arthur C. Clarke and C. S. Lewis. Compiled and edited by Ryder W. Miller. New York: iBooks, 2003. A compilation of letters exchanged between Clarke and C. S. Lewis expressing their perspectives concerning technology and its ramifications. Provides insight into Clarke’s defense of technology as a natural aspect of the evolution of humankind.

Wheat, Leonard F. Kubrick’s 2001: A Triple Allegory. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2001. An unusual attempt at discussing 2001 as pure allegory. Presents Clarke’s vision of humankind and technology as an oversimplification of evolution, but provides interesting comparisons to Friedrich Nietzsche and Homer.