Arthur C. Clarke 1917 - 2008

Growing up & reading Sci-Fi there were 2 writers I held in higher esteem than any others. 1 was Isaac Asimov. The other, Arthur C. Clarke. Sir Arthur Clarke passed away today at the age of 90.

I 1st discovered his work when 2001: A Space Odyssey was about to come out in 1968. That movie was a milestone in Sci-Fi, coming just before the landing on the moon in 1969. & while he was right about the fact that we would have a space station, he was wrong about the timing. But that was thru no fault of his own. He had 1 fact right that the USA & other countries have, til recently ignored. That fact: Without letting free market capitalism operate in the development of space exploration, the cost will remain prohibitive & be slower than it need be.. Go back & look at the movie, if you doubt me. The space shuttle was Pan-Am, the communications AT&T, the hotel on the spcae station was a Hilton. & entry through customs was by voiceprint.

Since I discovered him back then, then I have read a huge number of his books. Among my favorites is Childhood's End.

Like Asimov his work often ended up predicting where science would go. His inteligence could take what often seemed impossible & make it seem probable. In fact, he was the 1st to envision a global system of orbital communications satellites. He was even nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for coming up with the concept. (How the mighty Peace Prize has fallen, honoring Al Gore for false science & ignoring him for getting it right.) It will be interesting to see if his space elevator ever becomes a reality.

Sadly, he also denied the existance of God. & I have to say that for all his acomplishments he now knows that in the 1 area he should have known better, he was wrong.

He continued his working to the end. According to news reports he had just finished reviewing the manuscript of his latest novel entitled (ironicly enough) The Last Theorem.

Mille Grazie, Sir Arthur, for all the enjoyable hours of reading you provided.