Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Arthur C Clarke Has Died
Legendary scientist and science-fiction writer Arthur C Clarke died today, aged 90 years. Clarke was one of my absolute favorite writers, and had an immense influence on my becoming a scientist myself."Childhood's End" is my favorite of his novels, and since to pick favorites amongst his short works is essentially impossible, I'll name "The Star" and "The Nine Billion Names of God" as the two which, without fail and upon every single reading, kick my ass six ways from Sunday.
Two of my favorite Clarke quotes, which form a solid portion of how I try to live:
"The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible." (Clarke's Second Law)
"There is hopeful symbolism in the fact that flags do not wave in a vacuum."
Labels: Clarke, death, hero, literature, obituary, sad, science
