Clarke's legacy

So farewell to Sir Arthur C. Clarke, who has died at the age of 90. Born in Somerset, and the son of a postal worker, he was probably best known for his work as a science fiction writer, with books such as 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968 - pictured) and Rendevous with Rama (1972). I enjoyed reading his books as a lad, and still recall the abstract beauty and surreality of the Stanley Kubrick film that was made based on his novel. I particularly recall the psychopathic supercomputer HAL, which reminds me a little of someone else...

But Arthur C. Clarke leaves a legacy of a different kind. Not everyone has read his books or seen the films, but everyone in the Western Industrialised world, and many more in the emerging nations make use of one of his ideas every day. Geosynchronous satellites. It was his idea originally - that's why communication satellites are now placed above the equator at around 23,000 miles high, in the 'Clarke Belt'.

We have a lot to thank him for, and I still keep a link to a facsimile of his 1945 Wireless World article about 'rocket ships' and 'extra terrestrial relays' on the satellite technology pages of my e-learning website. Take a read. It's well worth it just to see how far we have come, and to acknowledge the great man's prescience....