Arthur C. Clarke has died at age 90

I had just heard the news on a TV bulletin. We have lost a great mind. The geosyncronous sattelite was his design, way back in 1947, when he was more of a scientist that a science fiction writer.

I have read almost most of what he has written - although there are a couple of non-science fiction books of his I have yet to find. He was writing almost to the end. I have only just finished one of his latest books, co-authored as were a lot of his more recent books, first published in 2005.

A sad loss.

 

Goodbye, Arthur. We'll miss you. I've read so much of his work, and he put so much of himself into his work, that I felt like I knew him.

"Nobody has done more in the way of enlightened prediction." Isaac Asimov

"He has the kind of mind of which the world can never have enough, an array of imagination, intelligence, knowledge, and a quirkish curiousity..." Stanley Kubrick

 

When I watched 2001, I thought, "Maybe if I tried Shrooms, this would be better". I never got it. :sorry:

 

I was 7 when I first saw it, on nothing more psychedelic than popcorn, and had to explain the ending to my mother. "The baby was the astronaut, mom, reborn as a space person." She's usually intelligent most of the time, but lacks imagination. The book is great for filling in all those little details.

 

He lived less than 5 miles away from my home in Sri Lanka. I've never seen him, but once drove past his residence.

 

I met him once a long time ago. Sad that he's gone.

And here I just added the HAL 9000 screen saver at The HAL Project - HAL 9000

 

I think that the book may have been a bit more comprehensive than the movie...

I'm just sayin'

 

They usually are.

2001 had sections that just dragged on, which didn't help. It could have been a shorter film.
2010 was more enjoyable, because there was just more to it in characters and story.

On the bright side, perhaps this will put a push on a "Childhood's End" film.

 

Sir Arthur: may your pod bay doors always be open.

 

Maybe he'll say hello to Madeleine (L'Engel) too. The reading world lost her a few months ago. I had a computer at work named 'Hal' but it was named after my Grandpa, not Mr. Clarke's HAL. May he rest in peace.

 

H + one letter = I
A + one letter = B
L + one letter = M

Just a coincidence?

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Anyhow, in the story, I believe that HAL stands for heuristic, algorithmic, logarithmic.

Saw the movie in the theater in 1968 with my folks; I still have the little promotional booklet which my Dad bought on that day...he even inscribed it with the date, seeing that movie was such a big deal.

And, later, I got to read the book in sixth grade; what a cool assignment that was!!!

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One of the best cuts in modern cinematography, in my opinion: when the ape throws the bone he'd just killed the animal with into the air, and then we cut to the explosive nuclear satellites of the USSR and USA in Earth orbit. The evolution of Man's understanding of violence displayed graphically...from prehistoric times through the turn of the 21st Century. Even now, it gives me the chills just thinking about it; really. Stanley Kubrick also was instrumental in the making of the movie, and remains one of my all-time favorite directors.

 

Bye Art. You helped me get though some hard times.

It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value.

The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.

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.

Wildkow

 

According to Clarke, yes. (Documented in his book about 2001: "The Lost Worlds of 2001".) He was surprised and amused when this was first pointed out to him.

 

Clarke fans will enjoy this interview:

An Interview with Arthur C. Clarke

 

He had a character denying that it was on purpose in 2010.

 

Wow, thank you, to be honest, I'd not even heard of this book.

I think it was my 6th grade teacher who first pointed that out to me, and I guess it just 'stuck.'