Editor's
note: SPACE.com
received an overwhelming response to the passing of Arthur C. Clarke; below are more reactions from scientists, writers and other luminaries.
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Jack
McDevitt, author of
"Cauldron":
"Those
of us who started reading [science fiction] in the fifties remember Arthur
Clarke for the sense of wonder that lent a special perspective to his
narratives. His passion for the majesty of the universe put us on the bridge of
a starship which most of us have never left. He possessed an unrelenting
optimism in the future, a conviction that the human race would ultimately do
fine. And perhaps even more important, that we were worth saving. We had him
with us for 90 years. It's about as much as we could ask."
Kim
Stanley Robinson,
author of the Mars trilogy:
"He
was one of the great ones, a kind of founder of modern science fiction. The
thing that really I love about Clarke is that his vision was positive, of humanity
spreading out into space, being egalitarian and justice progressing. Technology
was just one part of the picture, but compassion and justice were as well. He also
had a beautiful writing style that was formulated out of the King James Bible,
and it gave his prose a sense of majesty that is not all that common in modern
fiction. He made the future seem positive and exciting, he made space seem
accessible — that there was a bigger world than just our petty concerns of the
moment."
"What
I think is exceptional about Clarke as a person is that he really enjoyed his
life. He called me on my birthday once and we talked a lot about Mars, and this
was a beautiful birthday present for me. He was a really cheery guy, and he
enjoyed what he did."
Margaret
Turnbull,
astrobiologist at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, MD:
"I'm
sitting here in my office and I have one shelf dedicated to science fiction,
and Arthur C. Clarke fills up most of that shelf. My favorite of his books is 'Childhood's
End.' To me that story brings out the idea that we are still in the process of
evolution ourselves, we haven't reached the end stage, we are continuing to
develop and evolve mentally as well as physically and that path of evolution will
play a huge part in the way we interact with the rest of the universe. His
works really highlight the importance of keeping an open mind to all the
different forms life in the universe could take.
"What
I appreciated about him was that he really delved into the mind. For him it
seems that the particular form of life takes a back seat to the intelligence of
life, and the creativity of life, and the many ways in which it might be
expressed throughout the universe. I think that what reading works like his
have done for me is just to continually remind me to keep my thoughts open and
ready for unexpected possibilities. Not to be too quick to throw away an idea
that seems outlandish. I think we will [achieve his goal of finding other life
in the universe]. It's just a matter of dedication on our part to that goal."
Allen
Steele, author of "Galaxy
Blues":
"Arthur
C. Clarke was not only a principal literary influence of mine, but I'm also
proud to say that he was my friend. During the 90s, he and I were pen-pals for
awhile, the result of my having named a fictional space colony after him. He
was extraordinarily gracious to a young writer at the beginning of his career. His
letters were filled with cartoons he'd clipped from newspapers, photos from
NASA space probes for which he'd written funny captions, and warm praise for
the novels and stories I'd sent him. Our relationship was necessarily
long-distance, and conducted before e-mail became widely available, but I
always looked forward to finding something in my mail box that was postmarked Sri Lanka.
"The
world has lost one of its great visionaries ... and I've lost a friend who
encouraged me when I needed it the most. Neither the world nor I will ever
forget him."
Raymond
Kurzweil, inventor and
futurist:
"In
2001 Arthur C. Clarke not only envisioned the future of artificial
intelligence, but he also foresaw the 'uncanny valley' in which [artificial
intelligence] becomes creepy — and dangerous — when it is oh-so-close to human
intelligence, but not fully there. Hal [9000] realized he had made a mistake
and then imagining that he must be perfect felt that he would be disconnected
for having made a mistake, and reasoned that he had better turn off his crew
mates first. That was perfectly logical but demented ... so we should take
Clarke's warning seriously.
"I had
the pleasure and honor of discussing this with him using a 'teleportec' virtual
reality system from Sri Lanka and I will always treasure my dialogue with
him."
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