A towering figure in science fiction is with us no more. One of the biggest influences on modern SF, Arthur C Clarke was a brilliant man. Eccentric, and sometimes a bit full of himself, he was nevertheless a fine writer. He will be missed. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em> -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>
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Another great thinker and humanist gone. We are all diminished by his passing. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis: </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>
Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Another great thinker and humanist gone. We are all diminished by his passing. <br />Posted by yevaud</DIV><br /><br />http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/19/2193681.htm <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="4" color="#ff0000"><font size="2">Assumption is the mother of all stuff ups</font> </font></p><p><font size="4" color="#ff0000">Gimme some Schmack Schmack!</font></p> </div>
<p>Yes he will be badly missed.</p><p>I think "Rendevous With Rama" was my favourite novel of his. "Unputdownable."</p><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <h1 style="margin:0pt;font-size:12px">----------------------------------------------------- </h1><p><font color="#800000"><em>Lady Nancy Astor: "Winston, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea."<br />Churchill: "Nancy, if you were my wife, I'd drink it."</em></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Website / forums </strong></font></p> </div>
<strong>Obituary</strong> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <h1 style="margin:0pt;font-size:12px">----------------------------------------------------- </h1><p><font color="#800000"><em>Lady Nancy Astor: "Winston, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea."<br />Churchill: "Nancy, if you were my wife, I'd drink it."</em></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Website / forums </strong></font></p> </div>
<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>A towering figure in science fiction is with us no more. One of the biggest influences on modern SF, Arthur C Clarke was a brilliant man. Eccentric, and sometimes a bit full of himself, he was nevertheless a fine writer. He will be missed. <br /> Posted by CalliArcale</DIV></p><p>And I was just about to ask if he considered himself retired or not. It had been quite a while since I saw his name on a new book. </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>
<p>Yes. I just saw this. What a great man. What a fantastic contribution he made to SciFi. </p><p> http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080318/ap_on_en_ot/obit_clarke</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>A towering figure in science fiction is with us no more. One of the biggest influences on modern SF, Arthur C Clarke was a brilliant man. Eccentric, and sometimes a bit full of himself, he was nevertheless a fine writer. He will be missed. <br /> Posted by CalliArcale</DIV><br />Hmm...</p><p>I wonder what his tomb stone will look like?</p><p><br /> <img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/11/10/1b59031d-c289-49d8-aa54-c190f844e342.Medium.jpg" alt="" /><br /> </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><em>So, again we are defeated. This victory belongs to the farmers, not us.</em></p><p><strong>-Kambei Shimada from the movie Seven Samurai</strong></p> </div>
<p>Just got home and saw this, sad day for all us scifi fans. Let me check but the last book of his that I remember reading was "Light of Other Days"</p><p> </p><p>Edited for dumd**s mistakes. </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:271px;background-color:#FFF;border:1pxsolid#999"><tr><td colspan="2"><div style="height:35px"><img src="http://banners.wunderground.com/weathersticker/htmlSticker1/language/www/US/MT/Three_Forks.gif" alt="" height="35" width="271" style="border:0px" /></div>
<p>He was most famous story writer in the world.</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
<p>That Sir Arthur's contibution went well beyond SF.</p><p>He was a great scientific populariser, futurist, and also pioneered the concept of the geostationary communications satellite. Sir Arthur contributed greatly to making the concept space travel acceptable in the pioneering years of the 30's, 40's and 50's.</p><p>He will be missed but his work endures.</p><p>Jon</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em> Arthur Clarke</p> </div>
<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Just got home and saw this, sad day for all us scifi fans. Let me check but the last book of his that I remember reading was "Light of Other Days" Edited for dumd**s mistakes. <br />Posted by summoner</DIV></p><p> </p><p>He wrote a couple with Stephen Baxter. </p><p> ACC was my first favourite Sci-Fi writer and although with time my tastes have changed I've always thought on his work Ilike a first love.<br /></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#800080">"All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring" - <strong>Chuck Palahniuk</strong>.</font> </div>
<p>He sure made his mark in the world.</p><p>http://www.clarkefoundation.org/</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#3366ff"><strong><font color="#008080">Mental Health Hotline</font><br /></strong></font></p> </div>
<p>I'm 42 years old and have been reading Arthur's books for about 35 years -- Arthur Clarke has been a big part of my life for most of that life. My wife went all the way to Sri-Lanka to meet him in 1996 (<em>years before we were married</em>), to get him to record an audio message for her convention -- <em>OdysseyCon</em>!!</p><p>It will be hard to imagine a world without him: it seemed to me he was perrenial, eternal. But even great men have to die one day. Arthur was a seeker and a questioner of this world and all others. Now, I reckon he'll be plugged into the greatest database the Universe has to offer and <strong><em>all</em></strong> answers will be supplied...</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p>One Percent of Federal Funding For Space: America <strong><em><u>CAN</u></em></strong> Afford it!! LEO is a <strong><em>Prison</em></strong> -- It's time for a <em><strong>JAILBREAK</strong></em>!!</p> </div>
<p>I remember when i was 10, the first time i read his book about human colonialization outside solar system, starship powered by photon thrust at 10% C, it was the book which amazed me and made me interested in space exploration. I dont remember the title and i lost the book, since then i cannot find any of his book in my poor country 
<br />May his body rest in peace and his soul explore the universe.</p><p> </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
<br />May his body rest in peace and his soul explore the universe.</p><p> </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>His last public interview <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis: </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>
<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>His last public interview <br />Posted by yevaud</DIV></p><p><font size="5">Thanks, that was very nice to hear from him one last time.</font></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br /></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>It does not require many words to speak the truth. Chief Joseph</p> </div>
<p><span><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Merely The Childhoods End – Sir Arthur</font></font></span></p><span><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"></font></font></span><span><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Rest In Space</font></font></span><span><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></span> <p style="margin:0cm0cm0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span><font size="3"></font></span></p><p style="margin:0cm0cm0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><span><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Sir Arthur C Clarke: 90th Birthday Reflections</font></font></span></font></font></span></p><p style="margin:0cm0cm0pt" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
Dude, that's the same video I already posted a link to. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis: </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>
<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>That Sir Arthur's contibution went well beyond SF. <br /> Posted by jonclarke</DIV></p><p>Oh absolutely. In addition to the other things, he was also an avid diving enthusiast. He gave two reasons: #1, it was the closest he was likely to get to weightlessness, and #2, underwater his physical limitations (due to polio) were not so bothersome. His photographs of the Great Barrier Reef have been credited partly with popularizing the spot with amateur divers.</p><p>He was also active in amateur rocketry and did a great deal for popularization of science. On the flip side, he also tended to get a little too much into pseudoscience. For this, one could compare him to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who was also a little too credulous on certain topics. Clarke was particularly a bit of a Hoagland, lambasting NASA for not taking seriously his opinion of the Europan linea or Martian lava tubes. (He believed both to be artificial.) </p><p>But when asked how he wanted to be remembered, he said that he would prefer to be remembered as a writer. And I think that's a good choice; he had his biggest influence in that field, and it was clearly his biggest passion.</p><p>It would be remiss if I didn't bring up one of his most quoted passages, Clarke's Law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em> -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>
<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Oh absolutely. In addition to the other things, he was also an avid diving enthusiast. He gave two reasons: #1, it was the closest he was likely to get to weightlessness, and #2, underwater his physical limitations (due to polio) were not so bothersome. His photographs of the Great Barrier Reef have been credited partly with popularizing the spot with amateur divers.He was also active in amateur rocketry and did a great deal for popularization of science. </DIV></p><p>Don't foeget he also was involved with the first marine archaeological disovery in the Indian Ocean, a wreck dating from the time of the Great Mogul, carrying more than a tonne of silver coin. </p><p>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>On the flip side, he also tended to get a little too much into pseudoscience. For this, one could compare him to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who was also a little too credulous on certain topics. Clarke was particularly a bit of a Hoagland, lambasting NASA for not taking seriously his opinion of the Europan linea or Martian lava tubes. (He believed both to be artificial.)<br />Posted by CalliArcale</DIV></p><p>I don't think this is entirely fair. He was friends with Hoagland back when Hogaland was a sensible human being. But Sir Arthur did distance himself from Hoagland's wilder statments, although he did like the "glass worms" and contributed his own far out ideas (banyan trees"). But then Sir Arthur often wrote slightly tongue in cheek and never took himself too seriously. Unlike some others.</p><p>Saying that he lambasted NASA for not taking these ideas seriously is too strong. Nor, to my knowledge did he ever think that lines on Eurpoaa were artifical in real life, although he did write fiction about intelligent life there.</p><p>Lastly, in addition to his writings and comsats there is one other major impact that Sir Arthur made in daily life. In is RAF days he was involved with the development of radar controlled landing systems, along side such greats as Luis Alverez.</p><p> </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em> Arthur Clarke</p> </div>
<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>A towering figure in science fiction is with us no more. One of the biggest influences on modern SF, Arthur C Clarke was a brilliant man. Eccentric, and sometimes a bit full of himself, he was nevertheless a fine writer. He will be missed. <br /> Posted by CalliArcale</DIV></p><p>What a bummer. Still, he made it to 90, which was better than Isaac Asimov or Robert Heinlein...</p><p>One of the first science-fiction "juvenile" novels I ever read was Clarke's <span style="font-style:italic" class="Apple-style-span">Islands in the Sky</span>, but it was his <span style="font-style:italic" class="Apple-style-span">Against the Fall of Night</span> that really captured my interest and imagination. He will be greatly missed.</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
<p>The first book I read of his was "The Promise of Space. That, and "profiles of the Future" would rate among the 1 most influential books I have read. I still use "Interplanetary flight" as a ready reference for average orbital velocities and other technical matters.</p><p>The first novel of his I read was "Sands of mars", followed by "Childhood's End" (his best novel, I think), then "The City and the Stars" and "A fall of Moondust" Still one of the most gripping SF novels written. I have most of my original copies still, more than 40 years later.</p><p>Jon</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em> Arthur Clarke</p> </div>
<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Saying that he lambasted NASA for not taking these ideas seriously is too strong. Nor, to my knowledge did he ever think that lines on Eurpoaa were artifical in real life, although he did write fiction about intelligent life there.<br /> Posted by jonclarke</DIV></p><p> <br />I remember it going around that he felt the linea were artificial, going so far as to describe them as resembling divided motorways. But you may be right about his opinion of NASA; he definitely was not as strong on the subject as Hoagland.</p><p> </p><p>Still, did you ever see "Arthur C Clarke's World of Mysterious Powers"? I think the comparison to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is apt. Another excellent writer, who made brilliant and revolutionary contributions to a particular genre of prose fiction, but who was a little too credulous at times. Don't get me wrong; I admire both Sir Arthurs. It's just part of the richness of their personalities. </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em> -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>
<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Dude, that's the same video I already posted a link to. <br />Posted by yevaud</DIV></p><span><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Ups.</font></font></span><span><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Well, such good reflections can be linked more than twice. </font></font></span><span><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></span> <p style="margin:0cm0cm0pt" class="MsoNormal"><span><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">However, under the circumstances, I think his 3 wishes for the future should be considered part of his last will. </font></font></span></p><span><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Taking Arthur seriously, I think this forum should honour him by seriously explore and debate how to embrace cleaner energy resources, for a lasting peace in his adopted home, Sri Lanka, and for evidence of extraterrestrial beings.</font></font></span> <p> </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
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