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[igotthisguitar]

Arthur C. Clarke at 90 (Where's ET?)
Dec 16, 2007 01:55 PM
Krishan Francis
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka � Science fiction writer Arthur Clarke listed three wishes on his 90th birthday Sunday: for the world to embrace cleaner energy resources, for a lasting peace in his adopted home, Sri Lanka, and for evidence of extraterrestrial beings.

"I have always believed that we are not alone in this universe," Clarke said in a speech to a small gathering of scientists, astronauts and government officials at a ceremony in his honour in Colombo where he lives.

Humans are waiting until extraterrestrial beings "call us or give us a sign," he said. "We have no way of guessing when this might happen. I hope sooner rather than later."



The British-born author has written more than 100 sci-fi books, including "2001: A Space Odyssey." His fiction predicted space travel before rockets were even test fired and envisioned computers dominating ordinary lives.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Clarke

On a different note, and just a day after delegates at a United Nations conference in Indonesia agreed to a blueprint for fighting global warming by 2009, he urged the world to consider switching to environment-friendly fuels.

"I would like to see us kicking our current addiction to oil and adopt clean energy resources," Clarke said.

Clarke moved to Sri Lanka in 1954 and became a resident guest � meaning he can stay permanently without a resident visa � in 1975. Since then, an ethnic conflict has flared and continues to rage between government forces and Tamil Tiger separatists on the tropical island.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in the fighting.

"I have been living in Sri Lanka for 50 years and half that time I have been a sad witness to the bitter conflict that divides my adopted country," Clarke said. "I dearly wish to see a lasting peace being established in Sri Lanka. Peace just cannot be wished, it requires a great deal of hard work, courage and persistence."

Clarke, who suffers from post-polio syndrome and is confined to a wheelchair, cut a cake with "Happy Birthday Sir Arthur" written on it, as Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse, visiting astronauts and scientists sang "Happy Birthday." He was knighted in 1998.

Russian Alexei Leonov, who took the first walk in space in March 1965 and was a guest at Clarke's birthday tea party Sunday, gave him a medal from the Federation of Cosmonauts of Russia.

"Sometimes I am asked how I would like to be remembered," Clarke 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."

http://www.thestar.com/article/286101

[sojourner1]

Yes, one of the 3 greats in science fiction. I thought this was interesting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sands_of_Mars

The original 1951 dust jacket of the book art shows a fairly accurate rendition of what Mars looks like in images taken by spacecraft not to be sent for a few decades to come. How did they know this much to paint an accurate image of what Mars looks like?

Arthur C. Clarke wrote many fascinating books that would make great movies as did the other 2 great science fiction writers; Robert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov.

It would be a joy to see new science fiction movies based on the books of all 3 writers, because it is really good material. I believe the science fiction genre is lacking today, not because of a lack of interest, but because it is the most expensive to produce and does not command higher movie prices any more than a movie just showing people talking and walking in normal everyday environments.

[mithridates]

Not sure about extraterrestrial beings but if he stays around for the next few years he'll definitely be able to see news of extrasolar planets similar to our own. We're almost to the point where we can detect Earth-sized planets now.

[cbclark4]

I've heard the ABCs of Sci-fi as Asimov, Bradbury and Clarke but I thought the Trinity was Asimov, Bradbury and Heinlein?

[mindmetoo]