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AC was the guy who came up with the idea for the geosynchronous sattelite.
Brilliant man.
IIRC, he was involved in the development of radar systems during WWII. Not just a distinguished sci fi writer, but a sci fact doer, as O’Brain has noted. Recently reread “Childhood’s End” after about 30 yrs. Damn near left me in tears. Guess I really need to revisit his works now. Don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone…
Awwww.
*sads*
Terribly sad. Cut own in his prime, an all.
Not really unexpected at ninety and not in good health, but — just damn.
Clarke was a member in good standing of a pretty good-sized cohort of people who turned to what they were famous for from something else; I know the science fiction ones best. He was a real scientist, just as Heinlein was a real engineer, Jenkins was a real inventor, and Vance was a real world traveler. There were others of that generation. Their successors studied them and their works, not the things that inspired their writings, and the output is the worse for it.
Regards,
Ric
Nit pick, Ric.
Heinlein (and Mrs. H) were world travelers, having visted IIRC over 100 countries.
Did you ever read his piece about visiting the Soviet Union, just when Gary Powers was shot down?
Classic.
One of my favorite SF authors. At one time I had nearly a complete collection of his works, but my interest in SF declined before his output.
If you really want to read an out-of-the-way work, find A Fall of Moondust. A genuinely clever, thought-provoking and entirely plausible work.
So end the Clarke-Asimov golden era of SF. I tip my monolith to M. Clarke.
“Comment by N. O’Brain on 3/18 @ 4:34 pm #
AC was the guy who came up with the idea for the geosynchronous sattelite.”
That was Newton, not Clarke :(.
Arthur C. Clarke wrote food for my growing brain. I devoured his short stories during high-school.
Very sad news.
He also knit together several generations from all over the Anglo-sphere. Kids in New Delhi, India were just as likely to have read Clarke’s imaginings as were kids from Sydney, Australia. And Singapore.
Sad, sad news.
– OT – Dan….FireFox fixed the original problem but now in the thread following this one its even worse if thats possible. There is some fundamental page formatting bug in whatever blog engine you’re using thats more than the IE kink.
N. O’Brain,
I’m aware that Robert and Virginia Heinlein were world travelers — but that was after he became a science fiction writer. I remember the essay you mention, but the one I have most in mind was the one about New Zealand. It’s all very well to predict communications satellites, but predicting PIATOR has to be considered pure prophecy.
BTW Crimso, it wasn’t radar so much as it was “blind landing” systems. Modern Instrument Landing Systems still use many of the concepts Clarke’s team came up with.
Regards,
Ric
…but he leaves a monolith…
…
So the last of the Triumvirate is gone. Heinlein, Asimov, and now Clarke. He certainly held on for a good long time, though. I do not think we shall see their like again.
Just to be pick a nit or two, Sir Arthur worked on the “GCA” or Ground-Controlled Approach” radar landing system during World War II. Basically, you had two radar systems; one scanning for range, the other for elevation (altitude). Each radar had an operator who kept what amounted to a cursor on the target showing on their screen. This information was translated to two gauges in front of a third operator, who had a two way radio with which he talked to the pilot of the approaching plane, providing him with course and altitude adjustments as read off the gauges, to get the plane on the glide path to the runway. The Brits especially were losing a lot of planes due to landing accidents, given that they did most of their operations at night and/or in bad weather, so the GCA system was something they really needed. The same basic system is still in use today, although it is automated now, so that the “talk down” part is no longer required.
As for Clarke’s legacy of communications satellites, he didn’t just “predict” them, he worked out the basic engineering of how the system would work. Indeed, he joked years later that he was concerned about his paper getting past the RAF censors, because some of the technical data he had in it came perilously close to violating the Brit’s Official Secrets Act (involving the satellite up- and down-links).
Rest in peace, Sir Arthur…
As an eleven year old boy in the late sixties five books opened a new world of possibilities and generated a life long interest:
Clark’s “Childhood’s End”
Asimov’s “I Robot” and the robot series
Alfred Bester’s “The Stars My Destination”
Heinlein’s “Stranger in a Strange Land”
Frank Herbert’s “Dune”
I then had the distinct joy to pass along these classics to my 12 year old son and watch with joy as he discovered the wonder. I know he keeps several of the above books as part of his permanant reading cycle. A few years ago he returned the favor and introduced me to the wonderful “Ender’s Game” series.
Crimso, I agree with you about “Childhood’s End” which is still one of my all time favorites. I remember having tears in my eyes as a 12 year old and still get chills at its majestic triumph/tragedy. Clarke was and is a giant and, like Asimov and Heinlein, I imagine his passing sending a ripple through the space/time continuum.
I recently ressurected “The Demolished Man” by Bester, which is still an extraordinarily written story. I’m about to revisit an oft overlooked but astonishing favorite called “Babel-17.” Naturally, I’ll pass it on to my son when I’m through.
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