Science fiction author and visionary Arthur C Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey and countless other works, died this morning in a Sri Lankan hospital, aged 90. He was one of the gods of speculative fiction, and he will be sorely missed.I first encountered his work through 2001, the film, which I saw as I wide-eyed eight year old. I didn't understand it, but I loved the cavemen prologue, fell asleep during the middle of the film, and woke up just in time to meet the Star Child. I was hooked.
In high school my favourite work of Clarke's was the short story collection, Tales from the White Hart. Today I'd be hard-pressed to name a favourite, as I haven't read his work for some years; a situation I intend to rectify as soon as possible; but I think I shall perhaps remember Clarke best for his 'Three Laws', which display his characteristic dry humour and his vision in equal measure:
- 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.
- The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
- Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
I wonder what his dying words were? Perhaps he said nothing, but slipped into a quiet, peaceful death. But maybe, just maybe, he said, "My god. It's full of stars."
