John Drury Clark
| John Drury Clark | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 15, 1907 Fairbanks, Alaska |
| Died | July 6, 1988 (aged 80) Denville, New Jersey |
| Pen name | John D. Clark |
| Occupation | Scientist, writer, rocket fuel developer, chemist |
| Genre | Nonfiction, science fiction |
John Drury Clark, Ph.D. (August 15, 1907 – July 6, 1988) was an American rocket fuel developer, chemist, and science fiction writer and fan. He was instrumental in the revival of interest in Robert E. Howard's Conan stories and influenced the writing careers of L. Sprague de Camp, Fletcher Pratt, and other authors.
Clark was born in Fairbanks, Alaska. He attended the University of Alaska, and then the California Institute of Technology at Pasadena, California from 1927-1930, graduating with a B.S. in Physical Chemistry. During his last two years at Caltech he was the college roommate of future science fiction author L. Sprague de Camp. He received an M.S. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and, in 1934, a PhD from Stanford University.
In 1933 Clark published a novel spiral chart of the periodic system of the chemical elements. This design was used by Life Magazine for a striking and influential illustration as part of a special number on the elements, 16 May 1949. It inspired the artist Edgar Longman, whose mural was a prominent exhibit in the Festival of Britain science exhibition, London, 1951. Clark came up with a new version in 1950, but this did not have the same success.
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