I have always enjoyed reading, and I have read many, many books, but if I were to pick one book as my favorite ever, it would be 2001: A Space Odyssey, an iconic book by an iconic author, Sir Arthur C Clarke. I read it when I was about 14 years old, and it captured my imagination like no other book ever did. I am not very sure of this, but when I look back now, I think it was the first real science fiction book I ever read. It made me a huge fan of the genre, and fanned my already great ambition to be a scientist. My ambition to be a scientist died down later on, however, I am still a fan of science fiction.
I have not read too many of Clarke's books. Nearly not enough as I have wanted to. Besides 2001, I have had the pleasure of reading its three sequels, and a couple of his other novels. I am yet to read his Rama series of books, and also his newer, post-1990 books. But still, the influence of Clarke as an author on my life has been tremendous.
And it's not just my life that Clarke has influenced. So many astronauts have claimed to have been inspired by Clarke. Clarke himself was proud of his influence on so many people.
Clarke was instrumental in the idea of development of commercial satellites:-
The world was made richer by Sir Clarke, and now that he has left, the world is poorer. Fittingly, Clarke, a very non-religious person, left unambiguous written instructions that his funeral be private and secular:-
On a personal note, my favorite author died on the same day when the first woman I fell in love with received the last gift she would ever receive from me. That's the story of my life.
Clarke's Quotes:-
Clarke's Three Laws:-
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."
"Life is just one big banana. Science fiction allows us all to peel open the reality and discover the yellow truth inside."
"The truth, as always, will be far stranger."
"Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering."
"How inappropriate to call this planet Earth, when clearly it is Ocean."
Of UFOs: "They tell us absolutely nothing about intelligence elsewhere in the universe, but they do prove how rare it is on Earth."
"Somewhere in me is a curiosity sensor. I want to know what's over the next hill. You know, people can live longer without food than without information. Without information, you'd go crazy."
"We should always be prepared for future technologies, because otherwise they will come along and clobber us."
"It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value."
"Every revolutionary idea seems to evoke three stages of reaction. They may be summed up by the phrases: 1 - 'It's completely impossible.' 2 - 'It's possible, but it's not worth doing.' 3 - 'I said it was a good idea all along.'"
"Human judges can show mercy. But against the laws of nature, there is no appeal."
"I don't believe in God but I'm very interested in her."
"I don't pretend we have all the answers. But the questions are certainly worth thinking about. "
"It is not easy to see how the more extreme forms of nationalism can long survive when men have seen the Earth in its true perspective as a single small globe against the stars."
"It may be that our role on this planet is not to worship God - but to create him."
"Our lifetime may be the last that will be lived out in a technological society."
"Perhaps, as some wit remarked, the best proof that there is Intelligent Life in Outer Space is the fact it hasn't come here. Well, it can't hide forever - one day we will overhear it."
"The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion."
"There is hopeful symbolism in the fact that flags do not wave in a vacuum."
I have not read too many of Clarke's books. Nearly not enough as I have wanted to. Besides 2001, I have had the pleasure of reading its three sequels, and a couple of his other novels. I am yet to read his Rama series of books, and also his newer, post-1990 books. But still, the influence of Clarke as an author on my life has been tremendous.
And it's not just my life that Clarke has influenced. So many astronauts have claimed to have been inspired by Clarke. Clarke himself was proud of his influence on so many people.
"I'm sure we would not have had men on the Moon if it had not been for Wells and Verne and the people who write about this and made people think about it. I'm rather proud of the fact that I know several astronauts who became astronauts through reading my books."
— Arthur C. Clarke, Address to US Congress, 1975
Clarke was instrumental in the idea of development of commercial satellites:-
Clarke's most important scientific contribution may be his idea that geostationary satellites would be ideal telecommunications relays. He described this concept in a paper titled "Extra-Terrestrial Relays — Can Rocket Stations Give Worldwide Radio Coverage?", published in Wireless World in October 1945. The geostationary orbit is now sometimes known as the Clarke Orbit or the Clarke Belt in his honour.
The world was made richer by Sir Clarke, and now that he has left, the world is poorer. Fittingly, Clarke, a very non-religious person, left unambiguous written instructions that his funeral be private and secular:-
"Absolutely no religious rites of any kind, relating to any religious faith, should be associated with my funeral."
On a personal note, my favorite author died on the same day when the first woman I fell in love with received the last gift she would ever receive from me. That's the story of my life.
Clarke's Quotes:-
Clarke's Three Laws:-
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."
"Life is just one big banana. Science fiction allows us all to peel open the reality and discover the yellow truth inside."
"The truth, as always, will be far stranger."
"Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering."
"How inappropriate to call this planet Earth, when clearly it is Ocean."
Of UFOs: "They tell us absolutely nothing about intelligence elsewhere in the universe, but they do prove how rare it is on Earth."
"Somewhere in me is a curiosity sensor. I want to know what's over the next hill. You know, people can live longer without food than without information. Without information, you'd go crazy."
"We should always be prepared for future technologies, because otherwise they will come along and clobber us."
"It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value."
"Every revolutionary idea seems to evoke three stages of reaction. They may be summed up by the phrases: 1 - 'It's completely impossible.' 2 - 'It's possible, but it's not worth doing.' 3 - 'I said it was a good idea all along.'"
"Human judges can show mercy. But against the laws of nature, there is no appeal."
"I don't believe in God but I'm very interested in her."
"I don't pretend we have all the answers. But the questions are certainly worth thinking about. "
"It is not easy to see how the more extreme forms of nationalism can long survive when men have seen the Earth in its true perspective as a single small globe against the stars."
"It may be that our role on this planet is not to worship God - but to create him."
"Our lifetime may be the last that will be lived out in a technological society."
"Perhaps, as some wit remarked, the best proof that there is Intelligent Life in Outer Space is the fact it hasn't come here. Well, it can't hide forever - one day we will overhear it."
"The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion."
"There is hopeful symbolism in the fact that flags do not wave in a vacuum."
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