Science Fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke passed away last week at the age of 90. He was perhaps best know for his work, 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Being the lightweight sci-fi fan that I am and having not read anything without panel lines or word balloons, I was surprised to learn that Clarke theorized sending satellites into geostationary orbit for a stable telecommunications array back in 1945 in a paper entitled Extra-Terrestrial Relays — Can Rocket Stations Give Worldwide Radio Coverage?. He also helped popularize the theory of orbital space elevators that could connect with a geostationary space station that encircles the Earth like a wheel rim with his novel Fountains of Paradise.

Every good sci-fi author needs his own set of laws and Clarke was no different. He created his three laws of prediction which state:

1. 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.
2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Sounds reasonable to me.

Clarke will be missed but his influence on modern science and science fiction will be felt for years to come.

Thanks to reader Devin Wolfe for the news.

[Via The Register]

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