At age 90. Not a bad innings.

Damn. There goes another one.

But, as you say, he had a good long run.

Quite a career.

Quite a life.

More than most humans get.

He was the last of the Big Three, preceded by Heinlein and Asimov. Not many of that generation left and certainly not of that stature, with the possible exception of Bradbury, who is still with us. But Bradbury was more of a fantasist and poet than a hard-science guy like the other three.

Arthur Clark was one of the few writers able to create Science Fiction Literature that survives up to date even 40 years after conception.

He was one of the "old guys" that I admired. And he remained active to the end of his days. I haven't seen that much in the media, but he was an enthusiast of the Seti project and gave several grants to the UCLA Seti@Home.

From the TV interviews I've seen over the past decade, he lived a real cool life with his telescopes, down there in Sri Lanka

I remember a great picture of him, standing on the revolving set of 2001. What else can one person hope for, but seeing what once was imagined there, lifesized, and later on the screen, worldwide.

His 'Clarkives' won't open until 50 years. Oh well.

In case you haven't already,

watch this. Reflections from the man himself.

Totus tuus.

A true visionary. A proper science fiction author (as opposed to a sci-fi author) who helped us see the future.

I'm going to find another copy of Tales from Planet Earth and re-read it sometime.

http://www.wired.com/culture/art/news/2008/03/arthur_c_clarke

Originally posted at Contrary Brin by "zorgon the malevolent":

Arthur C. Clarke quotes:

Clarke's Laws:
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."

"New ideas pass through three periods:
1 - It can't be done.
2 - It probably can be done, but it's not worth doing.
3 - I knew it was a good idea all along!"

"Human judges can show mercy. But against the laws of nature, there is no appeal."

"As our own species is in the process of proving, one cannot have superior science and inferior orals. The combination is unstable and self-destroying."

"For every expert there is an equal and opposite expert."

"Information is not knowledge, knowledge is not wisdom, and wisdom is not foresight. Each grows out of the other, and we need them all."

"Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think
we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering."

Concerning UFOs: "They tell us absolutely nothing about intelligence elsewhere in the universe, but they do prove how rare it is on Earth."

"We are just tenants on this world. We have just been given a new lease, and a warning from the landlord."

"Somewhere in me is a curiosity sensor. I want to know what's over the next hill. You know, people can live longer without food than without information. Without information, you'd go crazy."

"We should always be prepared for future technologies, because otherwise they will come along and clobber us."

"It has yet to be proven that ntelligence has any survival value."

"There is hopeful symbolism in the fact that flags do not wave in a vacuum."

"At the present rate of progress, it is almost impossible to imagine any technical feat that cannot be achieved - if it can be achieved at all - within the next few hundred years."

"I'm sure we would not have had men on the Moon if it had not been for Wells and Verne and the people who write about this and made people think about it. I'm rather proud of the fact that I know several astronauts who became astronauts through reading my books."

"It may be that the old astrologers had the truth exactly reversed, when they believed that the stars controlled the destinies of men. The time may come when men control the destinies of stars."

"The inspirational value of the space program is probably of far greater importance to education than any input of dollars... A whole generation is growing up which has been attracted to the hard disciplines of science and engineering by the romance of space."

"If we have learned one thing from the history of invention and discovery, it is that, in the long run - and often in the short one - the most daring prophecies seem laughably conservative."

When asked what he considered the one event in the 20th century he never would have predicted: "That we would have gone to the Moon and stopped."

The man was a genuine philosopher of science, not a technocratic blowhard like some SF authors whose names I will have the decency not to mention.

quote:

Originally posted by Metro Dynamics:
"As our own species is in the process of proving, one cannot have superior science and inferior orals. The combination is unstable and self-destroying."

It's nice to see a distinguished personality show support for the "if everyone got good head regularly our whole species would be much more relaxed" theory.

Too classic to omit.

The Wind Of The Sun warped my mind forever.
Thanks Mr. Clarke.

Wiki

A song about ACC!

The Aardvarks - Arthur C Clarke

"...overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out."

Ah, " The Nine Billion Names of God." First Clarke story I ever read, damn near half a century ago. That closing line has stayed with me ever since.

quote:

Originally posted by John Maddox Roberts:
Ah, " The Nine Billion Names of God." First Clarke story I ever read, damn near half a century ago. That closing line has stayed with me ever since.

Likewise. He certainly had his moments.