Arthur C. Clarke dies 18 Mar 2008 When I was about 8, I read in a newspaper that one of my favourite short stories, “The Sentinel”, by Arthur C. Clarke, was to be made into a movie by some film maker I never heard of. I had to wait 5 years to see 2001, A Space Odyssey. The last of the golden age science fiction writers, who thought that anything was possible, has died. Fiction General Science History
General Science Vale Wheeler, and Libet updated 14 Apr 2008 Daniel Holz at Cosmic Variance has a beautifully written obit for John Wheeler. We are grateful for the time the great thinkers spend on us students. Wired has an article on the updating of the classic experiments by Benjamin Libet on the fact that conscious choices occur after the brain… Read More
History On Grayling on the Jesuits 23 Aug 2009 A long time ago I would debate the local Jesuits over scotch, when I was still a Christian theology student. I learned two things: 1. those guys could really hold their liquor (I drank much more sparingly); and 2. Jesuits are really really smart. But as a theolog, I also… Read More
History The World According to Genesis: Language and Society 15 Jun 2007 After the Flood, the earth is repopulated, and so R and P give us a list of notable ancestors. In 10:4-5 they say “And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his… Read More
I was lucky enough to see 2001 once in the full original Cinerama format. It was the nearest thing to a transcendental religious experience I’ve ever had. Clarke may not have been the greatest writer of dialogue or character but he created worlds of the near future with a vividness and clarity that grabbed my imagination in a way that few other have equalled. It is a sad loss.
I saw the movie in 1968 at the Cinerama theater in Los Angeles and I still remember how stunned my friends and I were by the experience. While it may seem dated and ho-hum now, at the time it was fresh, sometimes beautiful, thought provoking and just a little confusing. Clark also wrote one of my favorite science fiction books, “Rendevous with Rama”.
I saw the movie in 1968 at the Cinerama theater in Los Angeles and I still remember how stunned my friends and I were by the experience. While it may seem dated and ho-hum now, at the time it was fresh, sometimes beautiful, thought provoking and just a little confusing. Clark also wrote one of my favorite science fiction books, “Rendevous with Rama”.
I saw the movie in 1968 at the Cinerama theater in Los Angeles and I still remember how stunned my friends and I were by the experience. While it may seem dated and ho-hum now, at the time it was fresh, sometimes beautiful, thought provoking and just a little confusing. Clark also wrote one of my favorite science fiction books, “Rendevous with Rama”.
I saw the movie in 1968 at the Cinerama theater in Los Angeles and I still remember how stunned my friends and I were by the experience. While it may seem dated and ho-hum now, at the time it was fresh, sometimes beautiful, thought provoking and just a little confusing. Clark also wrote one of my favorite science fiction books, “Rendevous with Rama”.
He was one of the great visionaries. The Fountains of Paradise is still one of my favourite novels. But there’s at least one Golden Age writer still kicking about… Ray Bradbury is alive.
He was one of the great visionaries. The Fountains of Paradise is still one of my favourite novels. But there’s at least one Golden Age writer still kicking about… Ray Bradbury is alive.
He was one of the great visionaries. The Fountains of Paradise is still one of my favourite novels. But there’s at least one Golden Age writer still kicking about… Ray Bradbury is alive.
I happened across The City And The Stars in a used book store last year. I had read the book when I was about fifteen, but I didn’t have any specific impression of it. Rereading it last year, I was stunned at what a moving work it was. I’ve been a big fan of Clarke ever since I read Rendezvous with Rama when I was about ten years old. His later work (the stuff with Gentry Lee comes to mind) was disappointing, but his work during his prime stands as some of the greatest achievements in Science Fiction.
I share your perspective, John. I too “met” Arthur Charles Clarke when I hadn’t run out of fingers to count my age. I came to regard him, as well as certain other authors and scientists as friends. Because they either wrote lucid accounts of the latest discoveries or they were there at their first conception. Clarke did both. I will miss him not only for his memories sake, but for the things he didn’t live to say. Now it is up to us.
I share your perspective, John. I too “met” Arthur Charles Clarke when I hadn’t run out of fingers to count my age. I came to regard him, as well as certain other authors and scientists as friends. Because they either wrote lucid accounts of the latest discoveries or they were there at their first conception. Clarke did both. I will miss him not only for his memories sake, but for the things he didn’t live to say. Now it is up to us.
I was one of the few in my crowd who read the book 2001 before seeing the movie. Consequently, I was the one who got to explain WTH was going on to all my friends. But I was a Clarke addict from then on, until at least my 20s.