Death of a visionary

COLOMBO: Renowned science fiction author, futurist and inventor of the communications satellite Sir Arthur C Clarke passed away in Colombo yesterday after a brief illness. He turned 90 on December 16 last year. Along with Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury, he was one of the three best known science fiction authors in the world. He was also a marine explorer.

Sri Lanka's most famous overseas resident, Sir Clarke died at the Apollo Hospital from respiratory complications.

Author of numerous science fiction and non-fiction books in addition to breakthrough scientific papers, he was also suffering from the Post Polio Syndrome since the early 1990s, which confined him to a wheelchair for the past decade. He was knighted in 1998. He had just finished his last book The Last Theorem, co-written with the American author Frederik Pohl, which will be published later this year.

Sir Arthur is survived by his brother Fred and sister Mary, both living in Minehead, Somerset, UK. Their youngest brother, Michael, predeceased him.

Sir Arthur's business partner Hector Ekanayake, who heads his adopted Sri Lankan family, was with him to the end, along with his office and household staff.

According to them, Sir Arthur remained alert and active throughout his recent illness. He was also in regular contact with his literary agents, publishers and officials of the non-profit Arthur C Clarke Foundation based in the United States.

Sir Arthur's wish was that his funeral be held in Sri Lanka as a private event. He has asked to be buried at the family burial plot owned by the Ekanayake family at the Kanatte General Cemetery in Colombo.

Sir Arthur has also left written instructions that his funeral be strictly secular: "Absolutely no religious rites of any kind, relating to any religious faith, should be associated with my funeral."

Many of Sir Arthur's books have been filmed, Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey being the most well-known. The book on which the film was based (The Sentinel) and the film featured a computer called HAL, infused with artificial intelligence. Sri Lanka was the setting for several of his best-selling fiction and non-fiction books.

In his 90th birthday reflections video released on YouTube in December 2007, Sir Arthur said he had 'no regrets and no more personal ambitions'. He listed three 'last wishes': some evidence of extra-terrestrial life; adoption of clean energy sources; and an end to the long-drawn war in Sri Lanka.

He added: "I've had a diverse career as a writer, underwater explorer, space promoter and science populariser. Of all these, I want to be remembered most as a writer - one who entertained readers, and, hopefully, stretched their imagination as well." He enriched the nascent science of underwater exploration through several books including the Coast of Coral (1956).

Arthur C Clarke wrote 100 books and more than 1,000 short stories and essays over 60 years. Among his best-selling novels are Childhood's End, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Rendezvous with Rama and Fountains of Paradise. Many of his books drove home the message that man's destiny lies in space. His first book, written in 1937, was published only in 1953 under the title Against the Fall of the Night. His only non-Science Fiction novel was Glide Path (1963).

Childhood's End was an exhilarating experience, even for Sir Arthur. In the novel, a race of aliens imposes peace on an Earth torn by war. But the aliens' real mission is to prepare humanity for the next stage of evolution.

In a literally earth-shattering ending, Arthur enunciates that mankind can escape its tendency to destroy itself only by ceasing to be human.

One of his short stories ('Dial F for Frankenstein', 1964) inspired British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee to invent the World Wide Web in 1989.

Trained in physics and mathematics, Sir Arthur also wrote many books and essays of non-fiction on space travel, communication technologies, underwater exploration and future studies.

In a landmark scientific paper titled "Extra-terrestrial Relays" published in the Wireless World magazine in 1945, Arthur C Clarke was the first to set out the principles of satellite communication with satellites placed in geostationary orbits.

Sir Arthur never patented the idea, and received no financial benefits from his invention.

He always maintained that the prediction was based on known facts and that satellites would have been invented anyway in due course. He was contented being acknowledged as the 'Godfather of the communication satellite', and having the geostationary orbit designated the 'Clarke Orbit'.

Born in Minehead, Somerset, England in 1917, Arthur Charles Clarke was educated at Huish's Grammar School, Taunton, and King's College, London. He worked in the British Exchequer and Audit Department and served as a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force before turning a full time author in 1950.

His interest in diving and underwater exploration led him to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where he settled down in 1956. He pioneered diving and underwater tourism in Sri Lanka through his company Underwater Safaris, and played an active role as a public intellectual and as a patron of art, science and higher education.

He served as Chancellor of Sri Lanka's technological University of Moratuwa from 1979 to 2002.

Although he became the island nation's first Resident Guest in 1975, Sir Arthur always remained a British citizen. The Sri Lankan Government presented him the Lankabhimanya ('Pride of Lanka'), the country's highest civilian honour, in 2005.

Government officials, scientists, artistes and diplomats came together to felicitate Sir Arthur on his 90th birthday on December 16, 2007.

Sir Arthur's literary achievements were recognised by Queen Elizabeth II when she honoured him with a Knighthood in 1998. He had earlier received the British Royal honour of CBE in 1989.

Sir Arthur was conferred several honorary doctorates by universities around the world, and had won all the top science fiction literary awards.

In 1996, the International Astronomical Union named asteroid No 4923 in his honour, while scientists at the University of Monash, Australia, named a newly discovered dinosaur species as Serendipaceratops arthurcclarkei in 2003.

Arthur, like many before him, fell in love with Serendip - the island of Sri Lanka - and called it home.

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Condolence messages

Sir Arthur C Clarke was pioneer of Satellite Technology - PM

The passing away of Sir Arthur C. Clarke who was a great scientist who had a glimpse of the world's future through a scientific vision is a cause of grief to the people world over including Sri Lankans said Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka in a condolence message issued yesterday.

"It is a good fortune that Sir Arthur who was born in England obtained honorary citizenship in Sri Lanka due his love for the country.

"We have gained immense strength due to his untiring services spanning over 50 years. The services he rendered towards Sri Lanka's progress in the field of communication technology is most praiseworthy.

"The predictions he made about the rapid revolution in world communication due to Satellite Technology have now come true. I believe that it is correct to describe him as the pioneer of Satellite Technology.

"He is a renowned author who has written and published more than 100 research books on Satellite Technology and allied predictions and science fiction. He was a noble man who shared his knowledge and wisdom with the community without any greed or selfishness.

"Sir Arthur who loved Sri Lanka's environment opened up our great cultural creations to the outside world through his Sigiriya Commentary.

"He had understood human life so well that he was able to make predictions about his own life and death as much as he made predictions about changes in the world.

"One of his last wishes was that there be peace in Sri Lanka. We too are dedicated to it.

May Sir Arthur C. Clarke attain the bliss of Nibbana."

Sir Arthur a versatile and multi-faceted personality - FM

Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama, in a condolence message on the death of Sir Arthur C. Clarke states, "It is with profound sadness that I have learnt of the passing away of Sir Arthur C. Clarke today, the eminent scientist".

"Sir Arthur had made Sri Lanka his home since 1956 and became the first foreigner to be granted resident guest status in 1975, while remaining a British citizen. He was truly a polymath, in every sense of the word - a versatile and multi-faceted personality of high intellect and erudition.

"He pioneered the modern Information Communications Technology Revolution, by conceptualizing the advent of the futuristic communications satellite technology as far back as 1945. Perhaps, Sir Arthur is better known internationally as a science fiction writer, having authored several books, some of which were based on Sri Lanka.

"He immortalized the island in world literature in his 1978 best seller, "The Fountains of Paradise", revolving around the equatorial island of Taprobane, a thinly veiled reference to Sri Lanka."

"Sri Lanka conferred on Sir Arthur many honours and accolades, including the highest civilian honour "Lanka Abhimanaya" (Pride of Lanka) in 2005. President J.R. Jayewardene appointed him Chancellor of the University of Moratuwa in 1979, a position he held until 2002. In acknowledgement of his yeoman service to the promotion of science education in the country, the Government in 1984 named the newly established Institute for Modern Technologies in his honour."

President Mahinda Rajapaksa in recognition of Sir Arthur's invaluable contribution and selfless service to the nation accorded state patronage to the celebration of his 90th birthday on 16 December 2007, which was graced by eminent personalities such as the Russian cosmonaut, Alexei Leonov and Dr. Michael Zolensky from NASA.

On that occasion, President Rajapaksa assured Sir Arthur that his administration would do all within its power to make a reality of one of his three birthday wishes, namely to establish lasting peace in Sri Lanka.

"Sir Arthur amply reciprocated his abiding love and sincere affection for his adopted home, in numerous ways, none more compelling than his determination to continue to reside in Sri Lanka.

The people of Sri Lanka in particular, as well as millions of fans and admirers all over the world, are poorer for the loss of this distinguished son of Planet Earth."

American Embassy mourns passing away of Sir Arthur C Clarke

The American Embassy in Colombo joins the many friends and admirers of Sir Arthur C. Clarke in Sri Lanka and around the world who mourn the passing away of one of the most original thinkers of our time, a US Embassy press release states.

Often called "the father of the communication satellite" for advancing the idea in the mid-1940's - some 15 years before technology caught up with him - of a series of artificial bodies in geostationary orbit around the Earth to facilitate communications between distant points on the planet, Sir Arthur is perhaps best known for more than 30 science fiction novels, notably 2001: a Space Odyssey, as well as a series of four books beginning with Rendezvous with Rama and a dozen collections of short stories.

"He also authored many non-fiction works, including The View From Srendip, which reflected on life in his adopted Sri Lanka, where he lived since 1956. Sir Arthur once wrote: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

The numerous Americans who lived and worked in Sri Lanka over the last 50 years and were privileged to know Sir Arthur C. Clarke will miss and long remember the magic of this world citizen.