Today marks the passing of one of the greatest writers of science fiction, Arthur C. Clarke. In his honor, I post his "laws":

1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

I know most of those visiting this website are born readers, although not all of science fiction, and hopefully appreciate the contributions Mr. Clarke made to expanding our thoughts and the pushing out the boundaries of what we know into what might be...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke

He will be greatly missed.

2001, one of my favourite Movies/books. What a guy.

oh, I hadn't heard. what a loss.

Is he talking about Aliens? Or God? Or both?

He was a very important influence in my early life.

Sad, all too sad. I've always felt that Childhood's End would make a great film.

He was quoted today as saying (as accurately as I can remember) that UFO's tell us very little about intelligence on other planets. On the other hand they have a lot to say about its relative scarcity on Earth.
There is a certain genre of SciFi that springs from philosophical thought and scientific speculation and another that starts with "Ooh, I have a great idea for a monster..."

Clarke's philosophy for 2001-2010 was similar to Platonic gnosticism with its hope of escaping from the confines and limitations of the body. In his schema the stages are flesh to machine to pure energy, but it's essentially the same old Greek ideas recast in the guise of Science Fiction. There's nothing new under the sun.

Regarding "Childhood's End": I agree. It would make a great movie.