Respect for Sir Arthur

By Rebecca Hernandez

‘Here lies Arthur C Clarke. He never grew up and did not stop growing.’

An appropriate epitaph for this science fiction author, inventor, space enthusiast and visionary. Arthur C. Clarke died March 19th from respiratory complications in Sri Lanka, where he had lived since 1956. He had suffered from post-polio syndrome for over a decade.

My first introduction to Arthur C. Clarke was as a kid watching public television in my hometown of Seattle. ‘Arthur C. Clarke’s World of Strange Powers’ was a 13-part television series which examined paranormal phenomena. My sister and I would watch this show every Friday night and be sufficiently creeped-out for the rest of the week. Despite scaring the hell out of me, Sir Clarke occupied a special place in my heart.

Clarke, born in Minehead, England in 1917, was probably best known for his novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, written in collaboration with Stanley Kubrick and later made into the classic movie by the same name in 1968. It is considered by many to be one of the best films of all time. He also wrote such famous books as Childhood’s End and Rendezvous with Rama - just a few of the 100 novels and 1,000 short stories and essays written by Clarke during his prolific writing career.

In addition to his writing career, Clarke is credited with inventing the idea of communications satellites, in a paper he wrote in 1945 entitled ‘Extra-terrestrial Relays.’ It is also said that Clarke’s fiction inspired the first walk on the Moon and later the invention of the internet. His other ‘prophesies’ included the invention of space elevators, atomic travel and human cryogenic freezing. If communications satellites are any indication, we should be riding space elevators any day now.

Clarke had a special talent for fusing science and literature into stories which inspired true technological development. His ideas instilled imagination and drive into those who read them.

On his 90th birthday, just a few months ago, Clarke made three wishes. They were ' to kick our current addiction to oil and adopt clean energy resources,’ ‘to see a lasting peace being established in Sri Lanka,’ and to see evidence of extraterrestrial beings.

Of all Sir Arthur’s famous quotes, his three ‘laws’ of prediction stand out the most to me. These are taken from various essays that he wrote in the 1960s and 1970s and can be applied to whatever subject you fancy:

1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.

2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.

3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

You can listen to Rebecca performing at Geek Pop '08 as part of Tales from the Birdbath or find out about other science greats at the links below: