Clarke's Three Laws

Science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke formulated the following three laws:

Table of contents showTocToggle("show","hide") 1 Clarke's First Law 2 Clarke's Second Law 3 Clarke's Third Law 3.1 Gregory Benford's Corollary to Clarke's Third Law 1 Unrelated topics

Clarke's First Law

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.

Clarke's Second Law

The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is by venturing a little way past them into the impossible.

Clarke's Third Law

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Gregory Benford's Corollary to Clarke's Third Law

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.

Unrelated topics

• Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics