"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke
Thanks for the magic in your writing that transported me as a teenager to worlds beyond imagination and high school...
Arthur C. Clarke has died at the age of 90
11–19 of 19 posts
Re: Arthur C. Clarke has died at the age of 90
#12Bummer. I was expecting that he would indeed get to teenage centenarian.
Re: Arthur C. Clarke has died at the age of 90
#13Can't help but thing of this song: "Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer true; I'm half crazy over the love of you; It won't be a stylish marriage; I can't afford a carriage; But you look sweet, upon the seat; Of a bicycle built for two" Trivia sidenote -- he called the supercomputer in 2001 HAL because he thought the company IBM would become increasingly dominant in a technical world. HAL's letters each are one below I…
"Is it true, Dr. Chandra, that you chose the name HAL to be one step ahead of IBM?"
"Utter nonsense! Half of us come from IBM and we've been trying to stamp out that story for years. I thought that by now every intelligent person knew that H-A-L is derived from Heuristic ALgorithmic."
Re: Arthur C. Clarke has died at the age of 90
#14It seems to me that Arthur C. Clarke was one very thought stimulating and unique author, in line with Isaac Asimov and the like.
Thank you, Arthur Clarke.
Re: Arthur C. Clarke has died at the age of 90
#15Dammit :-( This guy was a real hero to me :-(
Re: Arthur C. Clarke has died at the age of 90
#16Clarke was one of the true masters. He not only wrote great books but brought attention and respect to the entire genre of sci-fi. Before Clarke a government space program wouldn't have been caught dead asking for a sci-fi author's opinion.
"Clarke's most important scientific contribution may be in propagating the idea that geostationary satellites would be ideal telecommunications relays. He described this concept in a paper titled "Extra-Terrestrial Relays — Can Rocket Stations Give Worldwide Radio Coverage?", published in Wireless World in October 1945. The geostationary orbit is now sometimes known as the Clarke Orbit or the Clarke Belt in his honour."
Re: Arthur C. Clarke has died at the age of 90
#17Arthur C Clarke was one of my heroes. I started reading ACC when I was still at school, the impression he left on me has not only helped me cultivate a scientific temperament but also helped me see humanity as one people. The sheer excitement of reading a ACC story playing out on a global or bigger stage was more than enough to lift you up from whatever your current set of mundane problems are and make you feel part of something bigger. Thanks ACC for all the times you made me feel special.
Re: Arthur C. Clarke has died at the age of 90
#18Dammit :-( This guy was a real hero to me :-(
I am thankful that he was so prolific, because he doesn't really have to leave.
Re: Arthur C. Clarke has died at the age of 90
#19It's a perfect time to celebrate his life, by reading (or re-reading) "Childhood's End", "2001", and "Rendezvous with Rama". All wonderful books that will enlighten and inspire.