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Arthur C. Clarke Is Dead At 90

Many readers are sending in word that Arthur C. Clarke has died in Sri Lanka. He wrote over 100 books including 2001: A Space Odyssey and Rendezvous With Rama, and popularized the ideas of geosynchronous communications satellites and space elevators.

7 of 538 comments (clear)

  1. Coverage from several news sources by Doofus · · Score: 5, Informative
    Coverage from several sources

    AP/Washington Post

    BBC

    LA Times

    Bloomberg

    National Post

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  2. From TFA by techno-vampire · · Score: 4, Informative
    "Clarke's best-known novel, "2001: A Space Odyssey," became the basis of the 1968 film of the same name, directed by Stanley Kubrick."


    It's such a shame, isn't it, that they can't get things right in these articles, even when the slightest research would have shown the writer that the novel Space Odyssey was written as a novelization of the classic movie. The movie itself was based mostly on Clark's short story, The Sentinel. Furrfu!

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  3. 90th Birthday Reflections by _bug_ · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here is a video from ACC made in December 2007 in which he reflects upon his life and how he will be remembered.

    His Kipling quote at the end should help bring closure to all his fans.

  4. Huh. by jd · · Score: 4, Informative

    My understanding was that he wrote sections of the book alongside the movie, making the script/book a joint effort, although the book was actually finished and polished later. Well, the only two people who know for certain are now working on a prequel (not available on Earth), from the Monolith's perspective.

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  5. Pedantry, I know. But if you want to use Latin... by ChameleonDave · · Score: 4, Informative

    Requiem im pace, Sir Arthur.

    It's requiescat, if you want to say "[may he] rest in peace", i.e. the traditional RIP.

    If you mean it as a command (as you phrased it), it would be requiesce.

    Requiem is a noun. You could say something like Requiem ei donetur (Rest be granted unto him).

    And of course, it's in, not im.

  6. Re:Mortality by compro01 · · Score: 5, Informative

    no. 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.

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  7. Re:Not Just the Fiction by gsslay · · Score: 4, Informative

    God speed, Mr. Clarke. As an atheist, I'm not sure he'd appreciate your wishes.

    He was a imaginative and intelligent man. He contributed a lot. He's gone, but he's not going anywhere.