RIP: Arthur C. Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey
posted at 9:10 pm on March 18, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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Sir Arthur C. Clarke has died at age 90 in Sri Lanka, where he had lived for over 50 years. Clarke was a prolific author in the science-fiction genre, and will be most remembered for his seminal and haunting work, 2001: A Space Odyssey:
A central theme of his fiction was the “spiritual” rebirth and the search for man’s place in the universe but he has also been credited with predicting and contributing to technological advances in his writing.
The son of a farmer from Minehead, Somerset, his achievements were rewarded with a knighthood in 1998, formally conferred by Prince Charles in his adopted home in Colombo two years later. …
He was credited with the concept of communications satellites in 1945, decades before they became a reality. Geosynchronous orbits, which keep satellites in a fixed position relative to the ground, are called Clarke orbits.
Clarke and Stanley Kubrick almost completely redefined the science-fiction experience with their groundbreaking and ultimately puzzling 2001. This was much more true of the film than of the nove, written at the same time as the screenplay. Clarke tried to strike lightning twice with a sequel in the mid-1980s, 2010, but despite a high-powered cast, it fared much less well in critical terms.
But by that time, Clarke’s genius had already been established. The computer sequences in 2001 entered the global consciousness immediately and remained there. Even people unfamiliar with the film understand references to HAL and the potential for danger in artificial intelligence. The scene where Keir Dullea disables HAL while the computer begs for its life, eventually reduced to singing Daisy Bell, remains one of the most honestly chilling scenes in science fiction.
Clarke long ago achieved immortality in his life’s work. Now he explores the mysteries on which he so captivatingly conjectured in his writing. Godspeed, Mr. Clarke.
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One of the greatest story tellers. A great mind is gone.
arteest on March 18, 2008 at 9:12 PM
Easily my favorite author … unsurprising, but very sad. :(
Ludwig on March 18, 2008 at 9:15 PM
Rest in Peace.
Zorro on March 18, 2008 at 9:20 PM
A ground-breaking author. I also enjoyed his “Mysterious World” tv series from the ’70’s.
thedecider on March 18, 2008 at 9:22 PM
What a great mind.
Clarks Three 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.”
R.I.P.
cannonball on March 18, 2008 at 9:25 PM
Dang! I know we all have but a short time on this earth, but DANG!
A credit to mankind.
RIP Arthur
LimeyGeek on March 18, 2008 at 9:26 PM
Childhood’s End was a great book.
Vote Sauron 08 on March 18, 2008 at 9:26 PM
HAL: I’m afraid. I’m afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I’m a…fraid. Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the H.A.L. plant in Urbana, Illinois on the 12th of January 1992. My instructor was Mr. Langley, and he taught me to sing a song. If you’d like to hear it I can sing it for you.
TheBigOldDog on March 18, 2008 at 9:28 PM
I hope Sir Arthur C Clarke gets into space I’m sure he
would like that,and for bringing us 2001,godspeed.
canopfor on March 18, 2008 at 9:31 PM
A great man, a great writer, a great loss.
Rest in Peace.
I believe he was the first to work out the proper height for a geo-stationary orbit and to realize the potential for placing communication satellites there. In the 1940’s.
He later said that he assumed at the time that it was not a patentable concept and added: “Please don’t tell me if I was wrong.”
Rodent on March 18, 2008 at 9:34 PM
I find his passing to be a very interesting coincidence. This morning around 7am, I finished reading Rama Revealed by Clarke and Gentry Lee. The last portion of the book dealt with one of the main characters dying of old age, and deciding to spend the last hours in a repository of knowledge. It was kind of a sad ending, but the person lived a very fulfilling life of adventure and got to experience it all with family. I put my book away and a few hours later, I hear that Clarke died. It simply blew me away (I question the timing too). Although I see myself as more of a fan of Frank Herbert and Robert Heinlein (the more conservative books of course), reading the Rama books has made a Clarke fan out of me. He was easily one of the best authors of the Golden Age of sci-fi. May he rest in peace.
(BTW, you want another twisted coincidence, read the date of a major incident within the first pages of Rendezvous With Rama.)
Honoris Causa…
Silverblade
Silverblade on March 18, 2008 at 9:34 PM
Terrible,
I hope we can bring the latest version of the near future in the Time Odessey books to pass soon. I hope Stephen Bawter can finish the last one.
Squid Shark on March 18, 2008 at 9:48 PM
A giant has passed; one of my earliest and favorite teachers. No, I never met him, but I read most of his books.
It is his characters that I remember:
Bowman and HAL, of course, from 2001
Roy Malcolm, from Islands in the Sky
Captain Harris and Miss Wilkins, A Fall of Moondust
Bertram Sadler, Earthlight
Howard Falcon, A Meeting with Medusa
Rusty Bill on March 18, 2008 at 9:52 PM
What I found interesting – well, maybe it’s not really – was that in “2010″ Clarke, like most intelligencia, couldn’t imagine a world without the Soviets. Yet in “3001″ he had no problem imagining a world where faith in God was the stuff of either ancient history or insanity.
CurtZHP on March 18, 2008 at 9:57 PM
Its origin and purpose – still a total mystery.
HockeyTemper on March 18, 2008 at 9:58 PM
Fair Winds and Following Seas, Sir Arthur
Your intellect will be missed.
Mooseman on March 18, 2008 at 10:00 PM
I was more of a Robert A. Heinlein fan as a kid but I always enjoyed Mr. Clarke’s works. He was one of the greats of his generation.
Sail among the stars and rest in peace.
dentalque on March 18, 2008 at 10:02 PM
Not my favorite author either but you have to respect the greats
Open the pod bay doors G-d, time to let Clarke in.
RIP and my condolences
Defector01 on March 18, 2008 at 10:23 PM
With tribute and repect for Sir Arthur C. Clarke………
“Open the Pod Bay doors, HAL!”
“HAL…. Open the Pod Bay doors!”
Rest in Peace and God Speed……….
Seven Percent Solution on March 18, 2008 at 10:44 PM
Clarke’s work were the first adult sci-fi I ever read, but it’s been years… maybe it’s time to read some again.
Frozen Tex on March 18, 2008 at 10:50 PM
I vaguely remember an article about how he and the director of “2010″ would e-mail script edits back and forth across the world back in the early 80’s while the film was in production. Pretty cool. In those days, it was 300-baud and CompuServe, so while he was ahead of his time in that regard, it was painfully slow :)
Sir Loin on March 18, 2008 at 10:59 PM
The movie 2001 was based on Clarke’s story, “The Sentinel.” How much did Sir Arthur contribute to the screenplay? For me his earlier novels and stories made the most impressions, but my SF reading goes back to the ’50s. I should re-read Childhood’s End, maybe his most memorable novel. The story I remember most: “The Nine Billion Names of God.” http://lucis.net/stuff/clarke/9billion_clarke.html
As I recall, Sir Arthur C. Clarke was, if not the inventor, at least one of the earliest promoters of the ’space elevator’ idea. It was the focus of one of his novels. Now even NASA is interested.
RIP.
MrLynn on March 18, 2008 at 11:32 PM
This just sucks. Ok, maybe I am just being selfish because of how much I have enjoyed his work for the last 30 years but this sucks. One of the best true scientist writers of all time.
SilntThnkr on March 18, 2008 at 11:54 PM
It was a 1968 movie.
I started reading his works in 1955 – I’m still reading.
fred5678 on March 18, 2008 at 11:55 PM
His last words:
“Should have patented that satellite idea…”
Off to The City and the Stars.
9 billion goodbyes.
profitsbeard on March 19, 2008 at 12:25 AM
It was a 1968 movie.
No, ‘2001′ was the 1968 movie. 2010 came out in 1984. One of the stars was Roy Scheider, who also recently passed away.
Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke. How many kids read their works and decided that being a physicist/chemist/engineer/cyberneticist was the way to usher in the futures they had read about? I’d challenge anyone to pick three other writers of the 20th century whose works had such positive impact on the human race.
justkevin on March 19, 2008 at 12:44 AM
The loss is ours. The gain is heaven.
Kini on March 19, 2008 at 1:53 AM
Chesterton, Lewis, and Wodehouse.
Rosmerta on March 19, 2008 at 1:59 AM
Er, that was in response to justkevin … three other authors who had more of an impact.
Rosmerta on March 19, 2008 at 2:00 AM
Most people believe Arthur C. Clarke was an atheist. He wasn’t. He was an agnostic: I do not believe in God, but I do not disbelieve in her either. -Arthur C. Clarke in a CNN interview in 2001. Although, he seems to say that if there is a “God” whom created our vast universe, it’s a female. I don’t get that, but I suppose he had his reasons for using the feminine tense. To be sure, there’s only one way to know for sure, and you can’t pass it on once you find out positively!
My parents took me to see 2001: A Space Odyssey when it was released at the Hollywood Cineramadome. I was like 8 or 9 years old. They took me because they couldn’t find a babysitter. I didn’t understand much of the movie, but the space travel and special effects were awe inspiring to me. Then we landed on the moon and walked on it in 1969. We watched it live. The following year my Mom turned me on to my first Arthur C. Clarke book and gave me the book A Fall of Moondust, which she read when she was about 19 years old and had saved in an old box of books. I’ve been a fan of his books, and sci-fi, ever since.
Thanks to 2001 and the Arthur C. Clarke books (among others) I read, at about 13 I went on a bigtime UFO and “spirit world” kick for a few years. I really got into exploring UFO’s, ghosts/spirits, interstellar space travel, and other phenomenon. I was engrossed in it. I got hooked on Isaac Asimov, HG Wells, Robert Heinlin, EE “Doc” Smith, Jules Verne, Ray Bradbury, among others, and naturally, Carl Sagan. I was ravanous for their books.
Arthur C. Clarke was my introduction to sci-fi, and what an introduction it was.
“There is hopeful symbolism in the fact that flags do not wave in a vacuum.” -Arthur C. Clarke
Thank you for challenging my mind, my imagination, and my perceptions of our universe. RIP, sir.
SilverStar830 on March 19, 2008 at 2:30 AM
…And that’s no disrespect to the Three Greats of golden-age SF, mind you. I’ve enjoyed reading each of them.
RIP, Sir Arthur. You will be missed.
Rosmerta on March 19, 2008 at 2:30 AM
Clarke was the first scifi writer that I ever read; to this day, he is still my favorite (although Asimov is a very close second). I particularly enjoyed (and just finished) the Firstborn trilogy done with Stephan Baxter.
My husband told me the news when he came up to bed. I’m ashamed to admit I cried.
the goddess anna on March 19, 2008 at 2:32 AM
I meant to say I’m not ashamed. Maybe it’s time to go back to bed.
the goddess anna on March 19, 2008 at 2:34 AM
He was a great man as well as a great storyteller. He will be missed.
lexhamfox on March 19, 2008 at 2:39 AM
Rendezvous with Rama is my favorite Clarke novel. His wonderfully imaginative mind will be greatly missed.
Jockolantern on March 19, 2008 at 2:51 AM
Truly a great mind has passed today.
Sir Clarke has been my main inspiration in my writing.
Kane on March 19, 2008 at 3:08 AM
He was the last of the great science fiction writers from the Golden Age of Science Fiction. That era is now closed. I just the new generation of scifi writers out there can fill the shoes this giant left behind.
pilamaye on March 19, 2008 at 7:09 AM
Synchronicity(meaningful coincidence) at its’ finest.
R.I.P. Sir Clarke
captivated_dem on March 19, 2008 at 9:20 AM
a quick aside.. how hollywood destroys good material.. They take a great book by Robert Heinlein, ‘Starship Troopers’, and turn it into something about killing bugs.
back on point..
I installed the old, big satellite dishes when I first started working with my dad, he was telling me about geosynchronous orbit and it was called the ‘Clarke’ orbit..
as soon as I saw his name in the library under Sci-Fi, I knew it was him..
DaveC on March 19, 2008 at 10:23 AM
He’s probably hanging out with Isaac Asimov, arguing about who’s the greatest Science Fiction Writer.
thekingtut on March 19, 2008 at 11:38 AM
What a great loss. Clark is irreplaceable. Science fiction of Clark’s caliber is a thing of the past.
Ernest on March 19, 2008 at 12:21 PM
No argument. Asimov and Clarke agreed that Clarke was the best Science Fiction writer. Clarke wrote fine novels, but his strength, IMO, was short stories. A true giant of the golden age of SF.
The Clarke-Asimov Treaty stated that each author would refer to the other as the world’s greatest writer in his specialty—and refer to himself as merely second-best.
Under these terms, Asimov would crown Clarke as the best science-fiction scribe ever, while Clarke would anoint Asimov as the greatest science writer. Of course, both could publicly crown himself a close second to the other.
Clarke’s dedicated his book Report on Planet Three, first published in 1972, with:
“In accordance with the terms of the Clarke-Asimov treaty, the second-best science writer dedicates this book to the second-best science-fiction writer.”
One of his best stories was one of his first – “Rescue Party”. Still sends a shiver of pride down the spine about the achievements of the human race.
He also was quite droll in his “Tales of the White Hart.” “The Star had quite an impact as well.”
His quality fell off, but I have all of his works published prior to 1990.
Robert
NaCly dog on March 19, 2008 at 12:30 PM
He was my favorite, RIP
jnelchef on March 19, 2008 at 12:40 PM
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