We're missing one of our most brilliant and inventive minds today. Arthur C. Clarke died at 1:30 am local time yesterday in his adopted home of Sri Lanka. He is perhaps best known for his science fiction novels, chiefly the Space Odyssey series which included 2001: A Space Odyssey, a novel and screenplay which he simultaneously penned with the film's eventual director, Stanley Kubrick.
He is also labeled the Godfather of the telecommunications satellite, developing the idea for information bouncers that orbit Earth in the mid 40s. He worked extensively underwater as well, exploring the Indian Ocean and Great Barrier Reef.
He once said, “I have had a diverse career as a writer, underwater explorer and space promoter. Of all these, I would like to be remembered as a writer.” He also had a long-standing quiet battle with organized religion, saying that it is “a necessary evil in the childhood of our particular species.”
If you haven't read 2001, you really should. The movie is slow and kind of dated, even while still being as great as the book. And we can look forward to a forthcoming release, Clarke's final work, entitled The Last Theorem, co-written with Frederik Pohl, which will be published later this year.
msnbc.msn.com: Sci-fi guru Arthur C. Clarke dies at 90
