« previous next »
Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: Arthur C. Clarke died today.  (Read 23723 times)

Offline Satanic Mechanic

  • The Right Stuff
  • Moonwalker
  • ****
  • Posts: 1834
Arthur C. Clarke died today.
« on: March 18, 2008, 05:05:15 PM »
I just heard on the radio of his passing.  He was a great science fiction author and he will be missed.
Logged

Offline DonPMitchell

  • The Right Stuff
  • Moonwalker
  • ****
  • Posts: 1200
  • Gender: Male
    • Mental Landscape
Re: Arthur C. Clarke died today.
« Reply #1 on: March 18, 2008, 05:41:42 PM »
Yes, I just saw that on MSNBC.com.  Sad news.  As a kid, Clarke was my favorite author.  He was actaully good at the craft of writing (wish I could say the same for many other authors I've read), and he was good for hard-core science, which he generally got right.
Logged
Never send a human to do a machine's job.
  - Agent Smith

Offline Johno

  • The Right Stuff
  • Apollo CDR
  • ****
  • Posts: 534
  • Gender: Male
  • We came in peace for ALL mankind.
Re: Arthur C. Clarke died today.
« Reply #2 on: March 18, 2008, 08:33:24 PM »
He remains one of my faves.

It's interesting - I just recently re-read an old anthology of SciFi.  Most of the stories in it seemed really dated, but Clarke's "The Sentinel" - the short story on which the first part of 2001 was based - stands out.  It seems to be written with some knowledge of what lunar exploration would be like, even though it predates even unmanned probes.
Logged

Offline Ottawan

  • Administrator
  • Moonwalker
  • *****
  • Posts: 1896
  • Gender: Male
Re: Arthur C. Clarke died today.
« Reply #3 on: March 19, 2008, 09:24:30 AM »
"The Sentinel" was one of my favourites as a teenager. In my mind Clarke was a visionary. I believe he was credited with originating the idea of communications satellites in geosynchronous orbit. Sadly, we have lost one of the giants.
Logged
Man must explore . . . and this is exploration at its greatest

Dave Scott, Apollo 15

Offline surlalune

  • Apollo LMP
  • ****
  • Posts: 257
Re: Arthur C. Clarke died today.
« Reply #4 on: March 19, 2008, 12:53:01 PM »
That's really sad, because I rather liked some of his books! :(
Logged
I really don't know what to say...

Offline jdbenner

  • The Right Stuff
  • Apollo CMP
  • ****
  • Posts: 381
  • Gender: Male
Re: Arthur C. Clarke died today.
« Reply #5 on: March 19, 2008, 02:59:02 PM »
We all morn His passing.
Logged
Joshua D. Benner Associate in Arts and Sciences in General Science

Offline DonPMitchell

  • The Right Stuff
  • Moonwalker
  • ****
  • Posts: 1200
  • Gender: Male
    • Mental Landscape
Re: Arthur C. Clarke died today.
« Reply #6 on: March 20, 2008, 04:45:35 PM »
I just finished reading the Time Odyssey trilogy that Clarke and Baxter wrote.  Not bad, although I suspect it was mostly Baxter's writing.  Clark was inspirational when I was a youth, because his sciece fiction was hard-core, and I enjoyed his non-fiction "Promise of Space".  A first edition hardcover of that book is on my shelf here.

I also enjoyed Asimov's non-fiction books on science and chemistry.  And there were amazing documentaries about science back then, like The Ascent of Man, possibly the best TV series ever made.

I wonder what is inspiring young people today to learn science?  I was infuriated by The Universe, which failed to teach anything.  It interviewed nobodies like some guy who works for www.science.com.  The chapter on Venus didn't mention a single spacecraft to visit the planet, and they kept interviewing some guy who works at a museum (David Grinspoon) who said something incorrect everytime he spoke.  Total rubbish!



Logged
Never send a human to do a machine's job.
  - Agent Smith
Pages: [1]   Go Up
« previous next »