Growing up as an only child, the two largest influences on my life were my parents, and my books. And my LEGO’s, but those were more expressional than educational (though they were that occasionally as well). Regardless, I read with a voracious appetite when I was younger, and still do when I have the time and the space… However, one thing has remained constant – my interest in the science fiction genre.
Robert Heinlein was really my first introduction to scifi, and I have always regretted that he went and died before I really got into his writings.
Well, unfortunately, I have not moved quickly enough on the guy who probably counts as my second look at scifi, and Arthur C. Clark went and died today. If Heinlein was my introduction, Clark solidified my interest, especially after reading through the entire series of 2001
On top of getting some gangly, underweight child/teenager hooked on science fiction, Mr. Clark went and predicted satellites before the first one was ever considered, did more for Sri Lanka than most people do for their own towns, helped create the idea of a global village (“internet”, anyone?), and developed his own Three Laws (not to be confused with Asimov’s):
1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. Corollary: When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
2. The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to venture beyond them into the impossible.
3. Any significantly advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Sadly, he did not live long enough to realize his dream of having extraterrestrials (in whom he firmly believed) contact us (so far as we know), but E.T. or not, he will be greatly missed by a great number of little Earthlings.
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Being a big fan of the sci-fi genre myself I am a bit ashamed to admit that until recently I had not seen any of the Firefly series. Through glowing reviews from people like you and Kevin Baker I developed the interest, then requested and received it for Christmas last year. As of last weekend I am halfway through the third disk, and already am saddened that the series is coming to an end. It’s been no less great than you and others said it would be. I will take the same perspective when going about reading Clark’s works. Thanks.
Very shiny that you got interested in the Firefly series, and then went and watched it… It is definitely worth the cost of purchasing, and the time to watch it (repeatedly, in my case). The funny thing is that every single person I have introduced to the show (and at this point, there are a few) echoed the same sentiments you have – it came to an end far too quickly. As always (at least in relation to Firefly), blame Fox – their atrocious handling of it when it was on television is the root cause of its eventual downfall.
As for Clark, he is definitely worth the read, especially when you try to contextually place his writing in a time where “outer space” was a new phrase, and we were literally breaking the envelope on a monthly basis.