Tribute to Sri Lanka's honorary citizen Sir Arthur C. Clarke

Pioneering science fiction writer and visionary Sir Arthur C. Clarke's vision of future space travel and computing captured the po Pioneering science fiction writer and visionary Sir Arthur C. Clarke's vision of future space travel and computing captured the popular imagination.

Sir Arthur was born in England on 16th December 1917 and moved to Sri Lanka in 1950. Born as a farmer's son, he was educated at Huish's Grammar School in Taunton before joining the civil service. Thereafter he served as a Radar Specialist in the Royal Air Force during the World War II. He was one of the first to suggest the use of satellites orbiting the earth for communication and in the 1940s forecast that man would reach the moon by the year 2000 - an idea experts at first dismissed as rubbish. When Neil Armstrong landed in 1969, the United States said Sir Arthur provided the essential intellectual drive that led them to the moon. He wrote around 100 books and hundreds of short stories and articles and wanted to be remembered foremost as a Writer.

Trained as a scientist, he was renowned for basing his work on scientific fact and thereby rather than pure fiction and for keeping humanity at the heart of his technological visions. In 1964, he started to work with the film maker Stanley Kubrick on the script of a groundbreaking film which was to win audiences and accolades far wider than those previous science fiction ---- "2001: A Space Odyssey". He was one of the most prolific authors of his genre and was the last surviving member of a group of science fiction writers known as the "Big Three". The thing about Sir Arthur is he had his footprint lasting 60 years with a constant stream of publications. He finished reviewing the final manuscript of his latest novel "The Last Therem" just days ago. He had also been working on the idea of a "space elevator". Sir Arthur forecast that the golden age of space is only just beginning. Sir Arthur celebrated his 90th birthday on 16th December last year when a special commemoration ceremony was organised at the Presidential Secretariat under the patronage of President Rajapakse. Expressing his sentiments on this occasion, Sir Arthur said his desire was to see Sri Lanka achieving peace.

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• Arthur
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• Clarke
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• 2001
• Space
• Odyssey

[DNesij]

1 like 1 dislike

but who shall stand victorious at the end of the universe? :)