Mar

20

Among The Stars.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

March 20, 2008 |

Sir Arthur C. Clarke, born December 16, 1917, died March 19, 2008. Reading through news articles about Clarke, I found this brilliant quote: “I don’t believe in astrology; I’m a Sagittarian and we’re skeptical.”

I have to admit I’ve never really been a fan of Clarke. I’ve read four of his books–2001, 2010, Childhood’s End, and Tales From The White Hart. The only one I really liked was Tales From The White Hart, which is a collection of hilarious short stories told in a pub called The White Hart. It was the sort of pub I’d like to have in my neighborhood–the place where everybody knows your name, but, in the case of The White Hart, most of the drinkers also happen to be scientists and at least one really good storyteller. Reading that quote, though, I realized Clarke and I had at least one thing in common: we’re both Sagittarians.

There’s more, too. Clarke lived in Sri Lanka since 1956. When I first heard that–I was twelve at the time–I thought, “What a cool place to live!” I didn’t know a single thing about Sri Lanka, and couldn’t have found it on a map, but the name was so exotic, so strange and remote, it seemed to have an aura of science fiction about it. Someday I hope to visit Sri Lanka, especially since I’ve learned so much more about what a beautiful and extraordinarily historical place it is. Clarke apparently discovered Sri Lanka while working on a non-fiction book about Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, The Coast Of Coral. I’ve also heard that he once gave “forty English winters” as an explanation for his decision to move to a place so close to the Equator.

Beyond that, though, Clarke and I share an optimism about the future. Clarke was perhaps as aware as anyone about the dangers of nuclear war. In fact humanity’s potential for self-destruction figures prominently in Childhood’s End, in which we’re rescued from destroying ourselves by aliens. While in his fiction he seemed to think salvation for the human race would come in a sort of alien ex machina, in fact he believed in the human race’s ability to accomplish great things. He predicted satellites in his first ever published paper (although he said in it that many would consider the idea “far-fetched”). And while human colonies on the Moon and computers as powerful as HAL 9000 haven’t come to pass yet, we do have hand-held devices that can download electronic newspapers, and many scientists have said that his idea of a space elevator–eliminating the need for rockets to carry materials into orbit–is not only plausible but a real possibility. Clarke, though, would argue with the idea that he predicted anything. In a 1997 interview for Discover, he said, “Actually, I very seldom predict, but I extrapolate, and there are many things I extrapolate that I would hate to be accurate predictions.”

Clarke was a humanist as well as a technophile. He was strongly opposed to the Cold War, even from its beginning. One of his first publications was an essay titled “The Rocket and the Future of Warfare” which won first prize in a contest and was published in the March 1946 issue of The Royal Air Force Quarterly. Perhaps the first person to state the principle of mutually assured destruction in nuclear war, Clarke argued that the combination of nuclear weapons and rockets could mean the end of human existence, saying, “The problem that now confronts us is not one of defense but of survival.”

And yet he never gave up on his belief that technology could improve human life, and that we would continue to advance and discover. Maybe it’s just another trait of Sagittarians–although I’m skeptical about that sort of thing–but he and I are both optimists. When asked in 1999 if he was disappointed in the lack of progress in space exploration, he said, “Good heavens no! I’ve seen far more than I ever imagined would happen. I mean, I never dreamed we would have explored the solar system as we have. It’s the most exciting time.” Like Clarke, I get excited about new technology and new discoveries. In spite of his concerns, Clarke looked forward to the future. I do too. One of Clarke’s most famous statements is, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” I don’t want to sound presumptuous by rewriting his words, but I think a better way of saying that is that there is something magical about technology. There’s magic in our ability to extend ourselves beyond our small, frail bodies and to reach out even into the stars. And there’s also magic in the natural world . When we look to the stars we’re actually looking back into time. Even when we look at our closest stellar neighbors we’re seeing them as they were years ago, and in most cases the starlight that reaches us is hundreds or even thousands of years old. It can be humbling, but thinking about what lies out there, what we can’t see yet can also be tremendously exciting. Arthur C. Clarke looked forward to a time when we’d bridge that gap, when we’d reach out and touch the stars, or, possibly, when visitors from other stars would touch us. He set an example. I think that feeling anything but that same hope, doing anything but looking forward to the future isn’t a defense. It’s necessary for our survival.

Hail and farewell, Sir Arthur C. Clarke.


Comments

1 Comment so far

  1. James on March 20, 2008 9:53 am

    Fantastic!

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