Arthur C.Clarke R.I.P

[DJ Andy]

Just found out that Arthur C. Clarke has died aged 90.
He was a giant of the golden age of science-fiction, and I read his work avidly when I was young.
He was still co-writing sf (with Stephen Baxter) until very recently.

[Nigel Toast]

Originally Posted by DJ Andy

Just found out that Arthur C. Clarke has died aged 90.
He was a giant of the golden age of science-fiction, and I read his work avidly when I was young.
He was still co-writing sf (with Stephen Baxter) until very recently.

He lived in Sri Lanka, didn't he? Was he still there when he died?

[StokeBloke]

Sad loss

He wrote about orbital satellites years before the first one was launched, such was his vision and technical knowledge.

[Trousers]

Originally Posted by StokeBloke

Sad loss

He wrote about orbital satellites years before the first one was launched, such was his vision and technical knowledge.

He actually patented the Geostationary Orbit, made him a few bob.

[Twirly]

Originally Posted by Nigel Toast

He lived in Sri Lanka, didn't he? Was he still there when he died?

Yes he was. From the BBC. Very sad, loved his books when I was younger.

[DJ Andy]

Originally Posted by Trousers

He actually patented the Geostationary Orbit, made him a few bob.

I don't think he did. I've read that he wished he had patented the idea of communication satellites in Geostationary orbit in order to rake in millions, but there were others who'd also suggested similar ideas, around the same time, so patenting the idea wasn't possible.

[Barry Shnikov]

You can't patent ideas. You can only patent the practical application of an idea.

Otherwise any fool can walk into a patent office with 10,000 completely barking ideas and just wait for some genius to invent a practical application for one of them and have to pay a humungous licence fee.

"I have this idea for a computer display screen which you can roll up like a blueprint and stick in your pocket." "Wow, how's that work then?" "No idea, but it ought to make me a few bob when someone figures it out."

Clarke was a great s-f thinker but not really a great writer. Bit like Heinlein - you read their stuff to boggle your mind as much as anything.

Rendezvous with Rama was brilliant; but I've always thought he should have resisted the request to write a sequel. Let alone two.

Compare Gateway by Frederik Pohl, which touched on similar themes but also had a more-than-ordinary story about people and relationships which was integral to the novel.