Rab’s World

Sci-Fi Writer and scientist/visionary Arthur C. Clarke passed away in Sri Lanka today. He is most famously know for 2001: A Space Odyssey brought to film by Kubrick and vision for communication satellites.The British-born author came to fame in 1968 when short story ‘The Sentinel’ which was written in 1948 was made into the film 2001: A Space Odyssey by director Stanley Kubrick.His visions of space travel and computing sparked the imagination of readers and scientists alike.Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse paid tribute, hailing the writer as a “great visionary”.Since 1995, the author had been largely confined to a wheelchair by post-polio syndrome.He died at 0130 local time, Colombo (2000 GMT) of respiratory complications and heart failure, according to his aide, Rohan De Silva.”Sir Arthur has left written instructions that his funeral be strictly secular,” his secretary, Nalaka Gunawardene, was quoted as saying by news agency AFP.She said the author had requested “absolutely no religious rites of any kind”.A farmer’s son, Sir Arthur was educated at Huish’s Grammar School in Taunton before joining the civil service.He served in the UK Royal Air Force during World War II, and foresaw the concept of communication satellites. He was a Radar specialist.Sir Arthur’s detailed descriptions of space shuttles, super-computers and rapid communications systems inspired millions of readers. He strongly held on to the belief that ‘Space Elevators’ will be the big thing to give him credit for.At a 90th birthday party thrown for Clarke in December, the author said he had three wishes: for Sri Lanka’s raging civil war to end, for the world to embrace cleaner sources of energy and for evidence of extraterrestrial beings to be discovered. When asked why he never patented his idea for communication satellites, he said: “I did not get a patent because I never thought it will happen in my lifetime.”…He was the author of more than 100 fiction and non-fiction books, and his writings are credited by many observers with giving science fiction a human and practical face….British astronomer Sir Patrick Moore had known Sir Arthur since they met as teenagers at the British Interplanetary Society.Sir Patrick paid tribute to his friend, remembering him as “a very sincere person” with “a strong sense of humour and a great scientist”.Tributes have also come from George Whitesides, the executive director of the National Space Society, where Sir Arthur served on the board of governors, and fellow science fiction writer Terry Pratchett….There, he pursued his interest in scuba diving, even setting up a diving school at Hikkaduwa, near the capital, Colombo….A statement from Sir Arthur’s office said he had recently reviewed the final manuscript of his latest novel.The Last Theorem, co-written with Frederik Pohl, will be published later this year, it said.In the 1980s Clarke became well known to many for his television programmes Arthur C. Clarke’s Mysterious World and Arthur C. Clarke’s World of Strange Powers. This is how I was introduced to him in the United States in my adolescent years.The man has good taste! How could you not notice the Apple iMac in the background.