Colombo, Sri Lanka, 3/28/05 Sir Arthur C. Clarke at his home in Sri Lanka. A visionary who predicted artificial intelligence and communications satellites that orbit the earth in fixed positions, Clarke characterizes the slow rebuilding process in the tsunami zone as "survival of the fittest." He enjoys listening to a media file of the wind of Titan, contemplates a future with "more people living off earth than on," who travel the "future homes of mankind" via space elevators. "Good wishes" he said this week, "to aspiring astronauts and cosmonauts" who will "go into space and look at the home planet." photo by Amy Marash

from the NY Times -

Arthur C. Clarke, Premier Science Fiction Writer, Dies at 90

By GERALD JONAS Published: March 18, 2008

Arthur C. Clarke, a writer whose seamless blend of scientific expertise and poetic imagination helped usher in the space age, died early Wednesday in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where he had lived since 1956. He was 90.

Rohan de Silva, an aide to Mr. Clarke, said the author died after experiencing breathing problems, The Associated Press reported. Mr. Clarke had post-polio syndrome for the last two decades and used a wheelchair.

From his detailed forecast of telecommunications satellites in 1945, more than a decade before the first orbital rocket flight, to his co-creation, with the director Stanley Kubrick, of the classic science fiction film "2001: A Space Odyssey," Mr. Clarke was both prophet and promoter of the idea that humanity's destiny lay beyond the confines of Earth.

Other early advocates of a space program argued that it would pay for itself by jump-starting new technology. Mr. Clarke set his sights higher. Paraphrasing William James, he suggested that exploring the solar system could serve as the "moral equivalent" of war, giving an outlet to energies that might otherwise lead to nuclear holocaust.

Mr. Clarke's influence on public attitudes toward space was acknowledged by American astronauts and Russian cosmonauts, by scientists like the astronomer Carl Sagan and by movie and television producers. Gene Roddenberry credited Mr. Clarke's writings with giving him courage to pursue his "Star Trek" project in the face of indifference, even ridicule, from television executives.

In his later years, after settling in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Mr. Clarke continued to bask in worldwide acclaim as both a scientific sage and the pre-eminent science fiction writer of the 20th century. In 1998, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.