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Arthur C. Clarke

Stewart

Stewart

Active Member
Source: BBC News

British science fiction writer Sir Arthur C Clarke has died in Sri Lanka at the age of 90.

 He came to fame in 1968 when a short story called The Sentinel was made into the film 2001: A Space Odyssey by director Stanley Kubrick.

Once called "the first dweller in the electronic cottage", his vision captured the popular imagination.

Sir Arthur was born in Minehead, Somerset. A close aide said he died after a cardio-respiratory attack.

'Vision'

Sir Arthur's vivid - and detailed - descriptions of space shuttles, super-computers and rapid communications systems were enjoyed by millions of readers around the world.

He was the author of more than 100 fiction and non-fiction books, and his writings are credited by many observers with giving science fiction - a genre often accused of veering towards the fantastical - a human and practical face.

A farmer's son, he was educated at Huish's Grammar School in Taunton before joining the civil service.

During World War II, Clarke volunteered for the Royal Air Force, where he worked in the, then highly-secretive, development of radar.

The British astronomer, Sir Patrick Moore, had known Sir Arthur since they were teenagers.

He paid tribute to his friend, remembering him as "a very sincere person" with "a strong sense of humour."

Sir Patrick said: "So I was very fond of him indeed. A man of integrity, a man of vision, a man you could trust, and a very dear friend."


Future thinker

George Whitesides, the executive director of the National Space Society, on which Clarke served on the board of governors, also paid tribute to Sir Arthur.

He told BBC News 24: "That particular enthusiasm of his was what I think made him so popular in many ways.

"He was always thinking about what could come next but also about how life could be improved in the future.

"It's a vision that I think we could use more of today."

After a failed marriage Sir Arthur moved to Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, in 1956, where he lived, with a business partner and his family, and pursued his interest in scuba-diving.

His status as the grand old man of science fiction was threatened when, in 1998, allegations of child abuse, which he strenuously denied, caused the confirmation of a knighthood to be delayed.

Although cleared by an investigation, Sir Arthur's unconventional lifestyle continued to cause some raised eyebrows.
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hal9000.jpg

Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do
I'm half crazy all for the love of you...​
 
One of the few writers equally at home entertaining (Rendezvous with Rama and Childhood's End are my favorites) or informing (apparently he's the guy who came up with the idea for geosynchronous satellites). Not bad.
 
In my eyes he was quite literally a time traveller and lifted the imaginations of millions. Rest in Peace, Arthur.
 
He wasn't really a great author - he actually was much more.
What he was, was a great visionary.
A true genius, truly a man ahead of his time.
It's almost like he came from the future to tell us what the future will be like. Many technological innovations were first proposed by Arthur. I remember reading a story he wrote about the "solar wind". He described space ships that had huge "sails" of reflective material and that were powered by the force of sunlight striking the sails. It was later shown that photons do indeed exert a mechanical force on the surfaces they strike. Many other concepts too - space stations, artificial gravity...others I can't recall right now.
 
beer good said:
Seems like a good excuse to re-read Childhood's End, though.
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I finally read Childhood's End for the first time a few weeks ago based on beer good's glowing review of it. Those of you that haven't read this really need to. It's not long at all but very powerful.
 
I have Childhood's End on it's way to me from Bookmooch.com

Plan on reading it shortly after it gets here. Don't know if it will happen though, I seem to have a lot of books I want to read soon. :D
 
i read his fountains of paradise, and the first two books in his 2001 : A space odyssey series.
and i am surprised to find out that most of the scientific concepts behind these novels are almost practical and are already published as research papers.
the most surprising thing is, in his acknowledgments he sometimes tells that some calculations and concepts are worked out by himself!
really a genius.
 
Its so sad an to see an intellectual leaving us :( . I didnot read any of his novels yet but I have watched the movie A Scanner Darkly and was pretty much amazed at the reality they painted. Just this sunday, 5 days ago, I bought his novel A Scanner Darkly, to learn something from him. I felt hurt when I read the this thread today.
 
arnuld said:
Its so sad an to see an intellectual leaving us :( . I didnot read any of his novels yet but I have watched the movie A Scanner Darkly and was pretty much amazed at the reality they painted. Just this sunday, 5 days ago, I bought his novel A Scanner Darkly, to learn something from him. I felt hurt when I read the this thread today.
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Philip K. Dick wrote A Scanner Darkly.

The only two movies based on Arthur C. Clarke books tat I am aware of are 2001 and 2010.

Several Philip K. Dick stories have made their way to the big screen: A Scanner Darkly, Bladerunner, Total Recall, and Minority Report are some of the more well known ones.

A true visionary, Arthur C. Clarke is credited with inventing the geostationary communications satellite.
 
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