RIP: Arthur C. Clarke

Not off-topic anywhere, considering that he affected ALL our lives on this
planet in countless ways....


Sci-fi guru Arthur C. Clarke dies at 90 Longtime Sri Lanka resident wrote
more than 100 books, including '2001'

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23697230/


MSNBC staff and news service reports
updated 3:23 p.m. PT, Tues., March. 18, 2008


COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Arthur C. Clarke, a visionary science fiction writer
who won worldwide acclaim with more than 100 books on space, science and
the future, died Wednesday in his adopted home of Sri Lanka, an aide said.
He was 90.

Clarke, who had battled debilitating post-polio syndrome since the 1960s
and sometimes used a wheelchair, died at 1:30 a.m. local time after
suffering breathing problems, aide Rohan De Silva told The Associated
Press.

Clarke was regarded as a technological seer as well as a science-fiction
writer, and was known as "the godfather of the telecommunications
satellite."


His most famous novel, "2001: A Space Odyssey," was the basis of the 1968
film of the same name, co-written and directed by Stanley Kubrick. The
film and the book elevated the plot's mentally unbalanced computer, HAL
9000, into the pantheon of great fictional characters.

Three "2001" book sequels followed, and one of them --"2010" -- was
made into a movie as well.

In addition to the "2001" series, some of Clarke's best-known works are
"Childhood's End" (1953), "The City and the Stars" (1956), "The Nine
Billion Names of God" (1967), "Imperial Earth" (1975) and "The Songs of
Distant Earth" (1986). His 1973 novel "Rendezvous With Rama" is reportedly
being adapted for film, with actor Morgan Freeman as producer and star.

A statement from the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation said that Clarke had
recently reviewed the final manuscript of his latest novel. "The Last
Theorem," co-written with Frederik Pohl, will be published later this
year, the foundation said.

Clarke won the Nebula Award of the Science Fiction Writers of America in
1972, 1974 and 1979; the Hugo Award of the World Science Fiction
Convention in 1974 and 1980, and in 1986 became Grand Master of the
Science Fiction Writers of America. He became an honorary fellow of the
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1976, and was
awarded British knighthood in 1989.

Son of a farmer
Arthur Charles Clarke was born in 1917 in the English coastal town of
Minehead, the eldest of four children in a farming family. He became
addicted to science fiction after buying his first copies of the pulp
magazine Amazing Stories at a Woolworth's store. He devoured the writings
of H.G. Wells and Olaf Stapledon, and began writing for his school
magazine in his teens.

During World War II, the Royal Air Force put him in charge of a new radar
blind-landing system. Then, after the war, he proposed the idea of using
geostationary satellites as relays for wireless communication. It took
decades for the idea to bear fruit, but it eventually earned him a claim
to fame almost as great as his science-fiction stories. Geosynchronous
orbits, which keep satellites in a fixed position relative to the ground,
are today called Clarke orbits.

Also during the 1940s, Clarke predicted that man would reach the moon by
the year 2000 -- an idea that some experts dismissed as nonsense. In the
late 1960s, Clarke served as a commentator along with CBS broadcaster
Walter Cronkite for the Apollo missions that turned his prediction into
reality. Later, NASA Administrator Tom Paine wrote in an inscription to
Clarke that the science-fiction author "provided the essential
intellectual drive that led us to the moon."

Yet another novel of Clarke's, "The Fountains of Paradise," helped spark
the real-world efforts to build a space elevator from Earth to orbit. The
idea is still being pursued, although its realization may still be decades
away.

"Sir Arthur's positive vision of the future excited generations about
space exploration, and inspired millions to pursue scientific careers,"
Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin said after hearing the news of Clarke's
death.

Disabled by post-polio syndrome, the lingering effects of a disease that
had paralyzed him for two months in 1959, Clarke rarely left his adopted
home in the Indian Ocean island of Sri Lanka.

He moved there in 1956, lured by his interest in marine diving -- which,
he said, was as close as he could get to the weightless feeling of space.
"I'm perfectly operational underwater," he once said.

Clarke was married in 1953 and was divorced in 1964. He had no children,
but kept in touch with friends and fans around the world via computer. He
spent each morning answering e-mails and browsing the Internet.

On the occasion of his 90th birthday last December, Clarke delivered a
speech to a small gathering during which he passed along three wishes: for
ethnically divided Sri Lanka to find a lasting peace, for the world to
embrace cleaner energy resources, and for extraterrestrial beings to "call
us or give us a sign."

In an interview with The Associated Press, Clarke said he did not regret
never having followed his novels into space, adding that he had arranged
to have DNA from strands of his hair sent into orbit. "One day, some
super civilization may encounter this relic from the vanished species and
I may exist in another time," he told AP.

Along with his DNA sample, Clarke enclosed a note with a brief handwritten
wish addressed to that far-flung futu "Fare well, my clone."


This report includes information from The Associated Press, Reuters and
msnbc.com. © 2008 MSNBC Interactive

Sad.

I recommend watching "Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World" for anyone who
can get it. It was a short-lived TV series that investigated popular
phenomena. Really good stuff.

--
Z~

On 18-Mar-2008, Square Wheels
wrote:

Not off-topic anywhere, considering that he affected ALL our lives on this
planet in countless ways....


Sci-fi guru Arthur C. Clarke dies at 90 Longtime Sri Lanka resident wrote
more than 100 books, including '2001'

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23697230/


MSNBC staff and news service reports
updated 3:23 p.m. PT, Tues., March. 18, 2008


COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Arthur C. Clarke, a visionary science fiction writer
who won worldwide acclaim with more than 100 books on space, science and
the future, died Wednesday in his adopted home of Sri Lanka, an aide said.
He was 90.

Clarke, who had battled debilitating post-polio syndrome since the 1960s
and sometimes used a wheelchair, died at 1:30 a.m. local time after
suffering breathing problems, aide Rohan De Silva told The Associated
Press.

Clarke was regarded as a technological seer as well as a science-fiction
writer, and was known as "the godfather of the telecommunications
satellite."


His most famous novel, "2001: A Space Odyssey," was the basis of the 1968
film of the same name, co-written and directed by Stanley Kubrick. The
film and the book elevated the plot's mentally unbalanced computer, HAL
9000, into the pantheon of great fictional characters.

Three "2001" book sequels followed, and one of them --"2010" -- was
made into a movie as well.

In addition to the "2001" series, some of Clarke's best-known works are
"Childhood's End" (1953), "The City and the Stars" (1956), "The Nine
Billion Names of God" (1967), "Imperial Earth" (1975) and "The Songs of
Distant Earth" (1986). His 1973 novel "Rendezvous With Rama" is reportedly
being adapted for film, with actor Morgan Freeman as producer and star.

A statement from the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation said that Clarke had
recently reviewed the final manuscript of his latest novel. "The Last
Theorem," co-written with Frederik Pohl, will be published later this
year, the foundation said.

Clarke won the Nebula Award of the Science Fiction Writers of America in
1972, 1974 and 1979; the Hugo Award of the World Science Fiction
Convention in 1974 and 1980, and in 1986 became Grand Master of the
Science Fiction Writers of America. He became an honorary fellow of the
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1976, and was
awarded British knighthood in 1989.

Son of a farmer
Arthur Charles Clarke was born in 1917 in the English coastal town of
Minehead, the eldest of four children in a farming family. He became
addicted to science fiction after buying his first copies of the pulp
magazine Amazing Stories at a Woolworth's store. He devoured the writings
of H.G. Wells and Olaf Stapledon, and began writing for his school
magazine in his teens.

During World War II, the Royal Air Force put him in charge of a new radar
blind-landing system. Then, after the war, he proposed the idea of using
geostationary satellites as relays for wireless communication. It took
decades for the idea to bear fruit, but it eventually earned him a claim
to fame almost as great as his science-fiction stories. Geosynchronous
orbits, which keep satellites in a fixed position relative to the ground,
are today called Clarke orbits.

Also during the 1940s, Clarke predicted that man would reach the moon by
the year 2000 -- an idea that some experts dismissed as nonsense. In the
late 1960s, Clarke served as a commentator along with CBS broadcaster
Walter Cronkite for the Apollo missions that turned his prediction into
reality. Later, NASA Administrator Tom Paine wrote in an inscription to
Clarke that the science-fiction author "provided the essential
intellectual drive that led us to the moon."

Yet another novel of Clarke's, "The Fountains of Paradise," helped spark
the real-world efforts to build a space elevator from Earth to orbit. The
idea is still being pursued, although its realization may still be decades
away.

"Sir Arthur's positive vision of the future excited generations about
space exploration, and inspired millions to pursue scientific careers,"
Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin said after hearing the news of Clarke's
death.

Disabled by post-polio syndrome, the lingering effects of a disease that
had paralyzed him for two months in 1959, Clarke rarely left his adopted
home in the Indian Ocean island of Sri Lanka.

He moved there in 1956, lured by his interest in marine diving -- which,
he said, was as close as he could get to the weightless feeling of space.
"I'm perfectly operational underwater," he once said.

Clarke was married in 1953 and was divorced in 1964. He had no children,
but kept in touch with friends and fans around the world via computer. He
spent each morning answering e-mails and browsing the Internet.

On the occasion of his 90th birthday last December, Clarke delivered a
speech to a small gathering during which he passed along three wishes: for
ethnically divided Sri Lanka to find a lasting peace, for the world to
embrace cleaner energy resources, and for extraterrestrial beings to "call
us or give us a sign."

In an interview with The Associated Press, Clarke said he did not regret
never having followed his novels into space, adding that he had arranged
to have DNA from strands of his hair sent into orbit. "One day, some
super civilization may encounter this relic from the vanished species and
I may exist in another time," he told AP.

Along with his DNA sample, Clarke enclosed a note with a brief handwritten
wish addressed to that far-flung futu "Fare well, my clone."


This report includes information from The Associated Press, Reuters and
msnbc.com. © 2008 MSNBC Interactive

Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
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"...an aide said" - I saw a post in one of the sci.space groups, with a link
to a blog that mentioned this - but nobody's named the "aide" or the source
of the 'news' - could they be quoting the blog and not be willing to say so?

It's a blog for crying out loud - even the blogger doesn't name his source!

Durring WW-II, a young ACC worked on the RAF project to
develope radar and ground control systems that would permit RAF
aircraft to find and land back at their airbases even in the foulest
weather, day or night. He wrote a novel based on those years of his
life called, "Glide Path."

Niccolo



On Wed, 19 Mar 2008 01:47:19 GMT, Square Wheels
wrote:


Not off-topic anywhere, considering that he affected ALL our lives on this
planet in countless ways....


Sci-fi guru Arthur C. Clarke dies at 90 Longtime Sri Lanka resident wrote
more than 100 books, including '2001'

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23697230/


MSNBC staff and news service reports
updated 3:23 p.m. PT, Tues., March. 18, 2008


COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Arthur C. Clarke, a visionary science fiction writer
who won worldwide acclaim with more than 100 books on space, science and
the future, died Wednesday in his adopted home of Sri Lanka, an aide said.
He was 90.

Clarke, who had battled debilitating post-polio syndrome since the 1960s
and sometimes used a wheelchair, died at 1:30 a.m. local time after
suffering breathing problems, aide Rohan De Silva told The Associated
Press.

Clarke was regarded as a technological seer as well as a science-fiction
writer, and was known as "the godfather of the telecommunications
satellite."


His most famous novel, "2001: A Space Odyssey," was the basis of the 1968
film of the same name, co-written and directed by Stanley Kubrick. The
film and the book elevated the plot's mentally unbalanced computer, HAL
9000, into the pantheon of great fictional characters.

Three "2001" book sequels followed, and one of them --"2010" -- was
made into a movie as well.

In addition to the "2001" series, some of Clarke's best-known works are
"Childhood's End" (1953), "The City and the Stars" (1956), "The Nine
Billion Names of God" (1967), "Imperial Earth" (1975) and "The Songs of
Distant Earth" (1986). His 1973 novel "Rendezvous With Rama" is reportedly
being adapted for film, with actor Morgan Freeman as producer and star.

A statement from the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation said that Clarke had
recently reviewed the final manuscript of his latest novel. "The Last
Theorem," co-written with Frederik Pohl, will be published later this
year, the foundation said.

Clarke won the Nebula Award of the Science Fiction Writers of America in
1972, 1974 and 1979; the Hugo Award of the World Science Fiction
Convention in 1974 and 1980, and in 1986 became Grand Master of the
Science Fiction Writers of America. He became an honorary fellow of the
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1976, and was
awarded British knighthood in 1989.

Son of a farmer
Arthur Charles Clarke was born in 1917 in the English coastal town of
Minehead, the eldest of four children in a farming family. He became
addicted to science fiction after buying his first copies of the pulp
magazine Amazing Stories at a Woolworth's store. He devoured the writings
of H.G. Wells and Olaf Stapledon, and began writing for his school
magazine in his teens.

During World War II, the Royal Air Force put him in charge of a new radar
blind-landing system. Then, after the war, he proposed the idea of using
geostationary satellites as relays for wireless communication. It took
decades for the idea to bear fruit, but it eventually earned him a claim
to fame almost as great as his science-fiction stories. Geosynchronous
orbits, which keep satellites in a fixed position relative to the ground,
are today called Clarke orbits.

Also during the 1940s, Clarke predicted that man would reach the moon by
the year 2000 -- an idea that some experts dismissed as nonsense. In the
late 1960s, Clarke served as a commentator along with CBS broadcaster
Walter Cronkite for the Apollo missions that turned his prediction into
reality. Later, NASA Administrator Tom Paine wrote in an inscription to
Clarke that the science-fiction author "provided the essential
intellectual drive that led us to the moon."

Yet another novel of Clarke's, "The Fountains of Paradise," helped spark
the real-world efforts to build a space elevator from Earth to orbit. The
idea is still being pursued, although its realization may still be decades
away.

"Sir Arthur's positive vision of the future excited generations about
space exploration, and inspired millions to pursue scientific careers,"
Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin said after hearing the news of Clarke's
death.

Disabled by post-polio syndrome, the lingering effects of a disease that
had paralyzed him for two months in 1959, Clarke rarely left his adopted
home in the Indian Ocean island of Sri Lanka.

He moved there in 1956, lured by his interest in marine diving -- which,
he said, was as close as he could get to the weightless feeling of space.
"I'm perfectly operational underwater," he once said.

Clarke was married in 1953 and was divorced in 1964. He had no children,
but kept in touch with friends and fans around the world via computer. He
spent each morning answering e-mails and browsing the Internet.

On the occasion of his 90th birthday last December, Clarke delivered a
speech to a small gathering during which he passed along three wishes: for
ethnically divided Sri Lanka to find a lasting peace, for the world to
embrace cleaner energy resources, and for extraterrestrial beings to "call
us or give us a sign."

In an interview with The Associated Press, Clarke said he did not regret
never having followed his novels into space, adding that he had arranged
to have DNA from strands of his hair sent into orbit. "One day, some
super civilization may encounter this relic from the vanished species and
I may exist in another time," he told AP.

Along with his DNA sample, Clarke enclosed a note with a brief handwritten
wish addressed to that far-flung futu "Fare well, my clone."


This report includes information from The Associated Press, Reuters and
msnbc.com. © 2008 MSNBC Interactive

Dave?.......what are you doing to me, Dave?
With that simple line (as close as I remember it) Clarke made his point.

Have a nice flight Mr. Clarke.
john

--
Vote for Ponzi - the US economy depends on him!
"Square Wheels" wrote in
message news:Hg_Dj.94678$w94.21687@pd7urf2no...

Not off-topic anywhere, considering that he affected ALL our lives on this
planet in countless ways....


Sci-fi guru Arthur C. Clarke dies at 90 Longtime Sri Lanka resident wrote
more than 100 books, including '2001'

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23697230/


MSNBC staff and news service reports
updated 3:23 p.m. PT, Tues., March. 18, 2008


COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Arthur C. Clarke, a visionary science fiction writer
who won worldwide acclaim with more than 100 books on space, science and
the future, died Wednesday in his adopted home of Sri Lanka, an aide said.
He was 90.

Clarke, who had battled debilitating post-polio syndrome since the 1960s
and sometimes used a wheelchair, died at 1:30 a.m. local time after
suffering breathing problems, aide Rohan De Silva told The Associated
Press.

Clarke was regarded as a technological seer as well as a science-fiction
writer, and was known as "the godfather of the telecommunications
satellite."


His most famous novel, "2001: A Space Odyssey," was the basis of the 1968
film of the same name, co-written and directed by Stanley Kubrick. The
film and the book elevated the plot's mentally unbalanced computer, HAL
9000, into the pantheon of great fictional characters.

Three "2001" book sequels followed, and one of them --"2010" -- was
made into a movie as well.

In addition to the "2001" series, some of Clarke's best-known works are
"Childhood's End" (1953), "The City and the Stars" (1956), "The Nine
Billion Names of God" (1967), "Imperial Earth" (1975) and "The Songs of
Distant Earth" (1986). His 1973 novel "Rendezvous With Rama" is reportedly
being adapted for film, with actor Morgan Freeman as producer and star.

A statement from the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation said that Clarke had
recently reviewed the final manuscript of his latest novel. "The Last
Theorem," co-written with Frederik Pohl, will be published later this
year, the foundation said.

Clarke won the Nebula Award of the Science Fiction Writers of America in
1972, 1974 and 1979; the Hugo Award of the World Science Fiction
Convention in 1974 and 1980, and in 1986 became Grand Master of the
Science Fiction Writers of America. He became an honorary fellow of the
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1976, and was
awarded British knighthood in 1989.

Son of a farmer
Arthur Charles Clarke was born in 1917 in the English coastal town of
Minehead, the eldest of four children in a farming family. He became
addicted to science fiction after buying his first copies of the pulp
magazine Amazing Stories at a Woolworth's store. He devoured the writings
of H.G. Wells and Olaf Stapledon, and began writing for his school
magazine in his teens.

During World War II, the Royal Air Force put him in charge of a new radar
blind-landing system. Then, after the war, he proposed the idea of using
geostationary satellites as relays for wireless communication. It took
decades for the idea to bear fruit, but it eventually earned him a claim
to fame almost as great as his science-fiction stories. Geosynchronous
orbits, which keep satellites in a fixed position relative to the ground,
are today called Clarke orbits.

Also during the 1940s, Clarke predicted that man would reach the moon by
the year 2000 -- an idea that some experts dismissed as nonsense. In the
late 1960s, Clarke served as a commentator along with CBS broadcaster
Walter Cronkite for the Apollo missions that turned his prediction into
reality. Later, NASA Administrator Tom Paine wrote in an inscription to
Clarke that the science-fiction author "provided the essential
intellectual drive that led us to the moon."

Yet another novel of Clarke's, "The Fountains of Paradise," helped spark
the real-world efforts to build a space elevator from Earth to orbit. The
idea is still being pursued, although its realization may still be decades
away.

"Sir Arthur's positive vision of the future excited generations about
space exploration, and inspired millions to pursue scientific careers,"
Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin said after hearing the news of Clarke's
death.

Disabled by post-polio syndrome, the lingering effects of a disease that
had paralyzed him for two months in 1959, Clarke rarely left his adopted
home in the Indian Ocean island of Sri Lanka.

He moved there in 1956, lured by his interest in marine diving -- which,
he said, was as close as he could get to the weightless feeling of space.
"I'm perfectly operational underwater," he once said.

Clarke was married in 1953 and was divorced in 1964. He had no children,
but kept in touch with friends and fans around the world via computer. He
spent each morning answering e-mails and browsing the Internet.

On the occasion of his 90th birthday last December, Clarke delivered a
speech to a small gathering during which he passed along three wishes: for
ethnically divided Sri Lanka to find a lasting peace, for the world to
embrace cleaner energy resources, and for extraterrestrial beings to "call
us or give us a sign."

In an interview with The Associated Press, Clarke said he did not regret
never having followed his novels into space, adding that he had arranged
to have DNA from strands of his hair sent into orbit. "One day, some
super civilization may encounter this relic from the vanished species and
I may exist in another time," he told AP.

Along with his DNA sample, Clarke enclosed a note with a brief handwritten
wish addressed to that far-flung futu "Fare well, my clone."


This report includes information from The Associated Press, Reuters and
msnbc.com. © 2008 MSNBC Interactive