Arthur C. Clarke passed away today at age 90

/me makes the kettle drum noise from the first movement of "Also Sprache Zarathustra"*

*the famous music used in 2001

Clarke and Heinlein both had enormous influence on me, and are still two of my favorite authors.

I was struck, looking at the picture in this thread, how much Sir Arthur resembles the "old man" Dave Bowman in the Kubrick film. I hope They give him the same chance he gave his character to explore the universe.

Are you thinking along the same lines as Gene Roddenberry? Good idea.

I dunno. He may have wanted to be Deep Sixed as much as shot into Space.

No, I was speaking of his spirit. But that's not a bad idea either. Only one problem...the current "ashes to space" programs only use suborbital launchers. Sir Arthur needs to be in the space named after him.

Put Clarke in Clarke Orbit! Surely Hughes, Comsat, Loral, or one of that crowd could spare a fraction of an ounce on one of their birds.

Some people are Greats when alive and when they pass, A C Clarke is one such person. Some never achieve Great until they pass or are proved a genius.

Clarke, although contraversal at times, would always be remembered for allowing humans to dream and believe in those dreams, to reach beyond what faces us all in daily life.

Reading his books, must have inspired many scientist to ponder 'what if'...... Governments to say 'lets do this'...... and ordinary people to say 'wouldn't that be awesome'.

He will be missed but has left mankind a great legacy.

if he had a SL account can i have his stuff?

Only if you can get HAL to open the Pod Bay Doors.

I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave.

OMG...I was just mulling over Sir Arthur's books in my head...do you suppose it would be possible to build a cylindrical space habitat in SL, a la "Rendevous with Rama"?

LL: Give us control of the gravity, please.

2001: A Space Odyssey my favorite.
R.I.P.

It would probably be turned into a Mall if they did....

Anyone read "Ghost from the Grand Banks?"

One scene in the book, concerning the little girl and "Mandelbrot Lake" will haunt me forever.

*Who's Arthur C Clarke?

Was he famous or something?


/me waits for a slap upside the head.


*just kidding

does it anyway....

Some old guy, wrote some books much loved by people who couldn't be bothered with real literature.

Think Harry Potter, take away the broomstick and add an overwhelming sense of self regarding gravitas.

Supposedly "predicted" the geostationary orbit.. oh and the space elevator.. which obviously can't be a prediction.. since we haven't actually seen one work yet.

lol.. actually I am a fan, and genuinely quite sad... but too much is too much sometimes..

You, sir, are dangerously close to going on my Ignore list. The fact that I know you're speaking jest is all that saves you.

For those who truly don't know, here is a capsule biography: http://www.arthurcclarke.net/?scifi=2

He he. I love when holes are poked in sacred cows, even when they are mine. Thanks for a good chuckle.

/slap.


He invented you! Were it not for him you wouldn't have Overlords, Coral Reefs, or an opposable thumb.

I have a sneaking suspiscion he invented Jacques Cousteau as well..........

That's a geosynchronous orbit. Geostationary ones are geosynchronous ones that are over the equator, and thus keeping the satellite over the same spot on the earth. (They also need to be circular orbits; otherwise the satellite would oscillate East and West over a fixed location on the ground.)

You cannot have a geostationary orbit anywhere but over the equator. A geosynchronous satellite that is not over the equator moves north and south over the ground, once per day.

Still, thanks for pointing out that ACC was an important science as well as science fiction writer. I loved his articles where he discussed all the arguments "proving" that space travel was impossible (including arguments by highly reputable scientists of the time).

His report of a radical improvement over Costeau's Aqualung by a Australian inventor caused Cousteau to basically rip off the invention for a low price. According to the inventor who made only a little money, Cousteau threatened that if he didn't sell him the company they would "flood the market with cheap imitations."

Costeau was proposing at the time that Gills be grafted onto people so they could breathe underwater---Clarke had probably joked about that idea and Cousteau took it serious.



"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

OH! Ain't he the guy that wrote that there "scientology" book thingy??





*man, I'm just asking to get beaten to a pulp!

Here is a Phone interview with Clarke, in a windows media audio file, with Arthur Clarke where he is asked what he thought about Hubbard.




There had been a old rumor that Hubbard had once bet Arthur Clarke he could start a new religion--but based on this phone interview that doesn't seem likely.