Goodbye Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur C. Clarke passed away today at 90 years of age. Clarke has done much to popularize science, including for the author of this blog. His fiction, particularly 2001: A Space Oddessy, will always be among my favorite literature.
Photo: Clarke's tool-using apeman as seen in Kubrick's 2001: A Space Oddessy. Under the influence of the mysterious black monolith, an apeman discovers the club-like qualities of a bone, and later uses it to defend his tribe's waterhole from other apemen. In what may be one of the finest shots in film history, the victorious apeman flings the bone/weapon tumbling skyward, at which point the film jumps to the future, and the bone turns into an orbiting satellite. I believe this is the first instance where I considered the evolutionary history of man, and even at that young age (8-9?), I thought "That makes sense."
Posts
Yes I am also saddened by Clark's passing. Some interesting comments about Clark's 2001 are found on the reference page of the Church of the Bovine Scatology located at www.theborg.info.
ReplyDeleteA very recommended Youtube video in which A. Clarke makes a speech can be watched in
ReplyDeletehttp://uamblogger.blogspot.com/2008/03/tres-deseos-de-arthur-c-clarke-con-90.html