# Arthur C. Clarke passes away **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 18, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clarke-passes-away/441843 "2008-03-18T21:56:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2008, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clarke-passes-away/441843/81 "2008-03-19T14:46:25Z")
Am I the only one thinking that his tombstone should be a 1x4x9 black obelisk? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2008, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clarke-passes-away/441843/82 "2008-03-19T16:35:03Z")
[QUOTE=Hypno-Toad] Am I the only one thinking that his tombstone should be a 1x4x9 black obelisk? [/QUOTE] No šŸ™‚ RIP Mr. Clarke ---
**Author:** ![Genghis\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/45deac/32.png) [@Genghis\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genghis_Bob)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clarke-passes-away/441843/83 "2008-03-19T16:39:50Z")
[QUOTE=Scuba\_Ben] Just out of curiosity, is the other sign Merlinā€™s Converse to Clarkeā€™s Equivalence Theorem? [/QUOTE] No - something attributed to Mark Twain, and \*very \* applicable to my field: ā€œTo a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail.ā€ ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clarke-passes-away/441843/84 "2008-03-19T18:03:51Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] I hope some future spacecraft is named after Clarke. I know Discovery and all but one should just be called The Clarke. [/QUOTE] From his Wikipedia article: > [@](#): > > In the postwar years Clarke became involved with the British Interplanetary Society and served for a time as its chairman. Although he was not the originator of the concept of geostationary satellites, one of his most important contributions may be his idea that they would be ideal telecommunications relays. He advanced this idea in a paper privately circulated among the core technical members of the BIS in 1945. The concept was published in Wireless World in October of that year.[6][7][8] Clarke also wrote a number of non-fiction books describing the technical details and societal implications of rocketry and space flight. The most notable of these may be The Exploration of Space (1951) and The Promise of Space (1968). **In recognition of these contributions the geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometres (22,000 mi) above the equator is officially recognized by the International Astronomical Union as a ā€œClarke Orbitā€**.[9] ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2008, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clarke-passes-away/441843/85 "2008-03-19T18:13:35Z")
Now that I think of it, his work always seemed to have a slight formal British voice, but with about as close to a universal perspective as modern humans can get. Not a bad combination for writing science fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clarke-passes-away/441843/86 "2008-03-19T19:52:00Z")
As a teenager in the '70s, I must have read everything he wrote at least once, and what I loved about him and will deeply miss was his ability to write popular scientific non-fiction as well as science fiction. I know that Asimov is better known for his non-fiction, both scientific and scholarly, but Clarke wrote at least 20 great science books. He showed that even those who deal in hard data need to have an good imagination, if only to come up with metaphors to explain reality. Humanity should collectively do something really special in his memory. How about a space colony in the asteroids? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2008, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clarke-passes-away/441843/87 "2008-03-19T21:46:09Z")
RIP Sir Arthur. His orbit has finally decayed. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clarke-passes-away/441843/88 "2008-03-20T01:17:41Z")
**The Fountains of Paradise** was the first science fiction novel that I even bought for myself. RIP Sir Arthur. ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clarke-passes-away/441843/89 "2008-03-20T02:00:03Z")
[A few words by the man himself](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qLdeEjdbWE) On his 90 years. A visionary. And a decent human being. May he rest in peace. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clarke-passes-away/441843/90 "2008-03-20T03:06:21Z")
I was excited when I saw the first seconds of the trailer for _ID4_. I thought to myself, ā€˜Someoneā€™s finally made _Childhoodā€™s End!_ā€™ Man, was I disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clarke-passes-away/441843/91 "2008-03-20T12:27:10Z")
[QUOTE=DiggitCamara] [A few words by the man himself](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qLdeEjdbWE) On his 90 years. A visionary. And a decent human being. May he rest in peace. [/QUOTE] Agreed. One of the things I like most about his writing is his eternal optimism in the future bringing a peaceful, technological utopia. Thereā€™s this undercurrent of optimism in most of his books, and that always lifts me when I read it. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clarke-passes-away/441843/92 "2008-03-20T13:22:24Z")
The collaboration I always hoped for was Henry Purvis dropping into the Anglerā€™s Rest to raise a pint and share a story with Mr. Mulliner. šŸ˜› ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clarke-passes-away/441843/93 "2008-03-20T13:28:30Z")
More seriously, The Nine Billion Names of God and The Star have to rank up there as two of the best SF short stories ever. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clarke-passes-away/441843/94 "2008-03-21T01:15:12Z")
Any one know why he choose to live in such an isolated place as Sri Lanka? Iā€™m sure he had a great computer system to communicate with the world and I understand he lived in one of the nicest neighbors in the capitol, Colombo, but stillā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clarke-passes-away/441843/95 "2008-03-21T01:57:21Z")
I have never seen this particular house that he supposedly had, but I had heard that he went diving frequently. I also heard that he had dug out a man-made bay that went straight to the bedroom in his beach house. His bed was directly beside this open water. He then ā€˜trainedā€™ local dolphins to swim right up to his bed every morning and bark at him. He would then roll out of bed and swim with them for about an hour before breakfast. Even if the story about the bedroom over the bay is not true (and itā€™s a little too good for truth, if you ask meā€¦), he did believe that we would do better at communicating with dolphins if we went to their environment and tried to understand them in that context. Also, my father was in Sri Lanka for 6 weeks on an agricultural exchange mission. The photos made me want to go immediately. Kick ass beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clarke-passes-away/441843/96 "2008-03-21T01:57:29Z")
[QUOTE=Mangosteen] Any one know why he choose to live in such an isolated place as Sri Lanka? Iā€™m sure he had a great computer system to communicate with the world and I understand he lived in one of the nicest neighbors in the capitol, Colombo, but stillā€¦ [/QUOTE] I think the stated reason was the scuba diving. And he feel in love with the place. Why Sri Lanka and not some other warm water place I donā€™t know. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clarke-passes-away/441843/97 "2008-03-22T23:26:36Z")
[An amusing tribute](http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2267284,00.html) by Michael Moorcock in todayā€™s _Guardian_. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clarke-passes-away/441843/98 "2008-03-22T23:40:29Z")
[QUOTE=Mangosteen] Any one know why he choose to live in such an isolated place as Sri Lanka? Iā€™m sure he had a great computer system to communicate with the world and I understand he lived in one of the nicest neighbors in the capitol, Colombo, but stillā€¦ [/QUOTE] Diving and taxes, basically. And sorry, but ā€œThe Nine Billion Names Of Godā€ made no sense to me. Everyone remembers the last sentence - ā€œAbove, without any fuss, the stars were going out one by oneā€ {from memory, but thatā€™s the gist} - but considering the distance and the time it takes for the light to reach Earth, they would have had to have started going out separately - and at different times - a long time before the names of God were finally listed. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clarke-passes-away/441843/99 "2008-03-23T00:17:01Z")
Well, I was sorry to hear that he had died, but Iā€™d stopped reading his works long ago, once he started the collaboration path. Somehow, that never seems to produce works as satisfying (Niven, are you LISTENING???). His works were quite enjoyable. I remember one quite well: _Glide Path_. That book proved he was a writer when he needed to be; he didnā€™t need to rely upon science fiction to support his efforts. He was one of the best at leaving you with all sorts of question marks in your head as you tried to figure out what he had really said with his novel. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clarke-passes-away/441843/100 "2008-03-23T02:19:37Z")
[QUOTE=Scissorjack] And sorry, but ā€œThe Nine Billion Names Of Godā€ made no sense to me. Everyone remembers the last sentence - ā€œAbove, without any fuss, the stars were going out one by oneā€ {from memory, but thatā€™s the gist} - but considering the distance and the time it takes for the light to reach Earth, they would have had to have started going out separately - and at different times - a long time before the names of God were finally listed. [/QUOTE] But thatā€™s exactly the point - it makes you think about the physics of the end of the universe. There are at least two possible explanations for the ending of the story: 1. God is omniscient and omnipotent. God knew exactly when humanity would fulfill its task, and arranged the universe accordingly, so it would all come to an end, in an Earth-based frame of reference, when the 9 Billioneth Name was posted in the monksā€™ big book. That means that other stars (and possibly other sentient races) came to an end billions of years ago, but thatā€™s just a sign of Godā€™s omniscience and omnipotence. 2. The End of the Universe means the end of everything, including light. Once the 9 Billioneth Name was posted, God began winding everything down, including light that was in transit from stars light-years away. The Laws of Entropy no longer applied at this point, and both energy and matter can come to an end. This approach doesnā€™t depend on Godā€™s omniscience, simply Godā€™s omnipotence, winding down everything in the Universe at once. Of these, number 2 is more satisfying to me, since number 1 is so anthro-centric an approach. Under Number 1, the various parts of the Universe have ended at different times, but all at the same time relative to Earth. Number 2, on the other hand, suggests that it doesnā€™t really matter that it happened to be on Earth that the 9 Billioneth name was posted; once that happened, everything in the known universe started winding down, even energy in transit. Either way, itā€™s great science fiction, since it makes you think about exactly what are the physical implications of the end of the Universe. Itā€™s also interesting theology. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clarke-passes-away/441843.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arthur-c-clarke-passes-away/441843.md?page=6)