Arthur C. Clarke R. I. P.

[JamesM]

It has just been reported that Arthur C. Clarke has died.

[faginsgirl]

With respect, I thought he had died years ago, he must have been very old!

[rskershaw]

R.I.P.

and also with Anthony Minghella's untimely death, there should be some very interesting Obits over the next couple of days.

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by faginsgirl With respect, I thought he had died years ago, he must have been very old!

He was 90.

He was the first to propose using geostationary satellites for telecommunications. He worked on radar throughout WWII and helped develop Ground Controlled Approach radar that allows instrument landing at night or in fog.

He wrote a huge volume of top class science fiction but will probably be best known for writing 2001: A Space Odyssey

Steve

[J. J.]

.

.

“The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.”

.

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by J. J. "The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible."

That's Clarke's 2nd law. I prefer his third law, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"

Although his first law still has a lot going for it - "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."

Steve

[J. J.]

Originally Posted by Steve Crook Although his first law still has a lot going for it - "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." Steve

(He continues:
"Perhaps the adjective 'elderly' requires definition. In physics, mathematics, and astronautics it means over thirty; in the other disciplines, senile decay is sometimes postponed to the forties. There are, of course, glorious exceptions; but as every researcher just out of college knows, scientists of over fifty are good for nothing but board meetings, and should at all costs be kept out of the laboratory!"...)
.
( ! )

[smiffy]

Originally Posted by Steve Crook That's Clarke's 2nd law. I prefer his third, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"-Clarke's 3rd law Although his first law still has a lot going for it - "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." Steve

You have a knack of surprising me Mr Crook . With your love of P+P and other Brit classics , I didn't realise you had an appreciation for Sci fi too
I also prefer his third law because with retrospect it can be applied to the invention of the C R T , which helps us mere mortals to be able to see what the visionaries ,such as Arthur C Clarke are talking about R I P

[smiffy]

Originally Posted by J. J. (He continues: "Perhaps the adjective 'elderly' requires definition. In physics, mathematics, and astronautics it means over thirty; in the other disciplines, senile decay is sometimes postponed to the forties. There are, of course, glorious exceptions; but as every researcher just out of college knows, scientists of over fifty are good for nothing but board meetings, and should at all costs be kept out of the laboratory!"...) . ( ! )

And the Scientific facts to back that up are ?

[J. J.]

Originally Posted by smiffy And the Scientific facts to back that up are ?

Right!
(He was scientific, and funny!)

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by J. J. (He continues: "Perhaps the adjective 'elderly' requires definition. In physics, mathematics, and astronautics it means over thirty; in the other disciplines, senile decay is sometimes postponed to the forties. There are, of course, glorious exceptions; but as every researcher just out of college knows, scientists of over fifty are good for nothing but board meetings, and should at all costs be kept out of the laboratory!"...) . ( ! )

Scientists over fifty, and mathematicians over thirty

The vast majority of mathematicians do seem to have done their best work by the time they're 30, often much younger.

Steve

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by smiffy You have a knack of surprising me Mr Crook . With your love of P+P and other Brit classics , I didn't realise you had an appreciation for Sci fi too I also prefer his third law because with retrospect it can be applied to the invention of the C R T , which helps us mere mortals to be able to see what the visionaries ,such as Arthur C Clarke are talking about R I P

I grew up reading Science Fiction (either "Science Fiction" or just "SF" but never "Sci Fi" amongst aficionados) and almost everything else. I'm very eclectic in my tastes

Although I have always been saddened by the way that so many people are put off SF by that word "Science". It's back to the classic divide between the arts and the sciences. You'll be hard pressed to find anyone who has studied science or engineering who doesn't have a good understanding of and appreciation of many of "the arts". But people who are taught "the arts" often seem to take great pride in saying that they don't understand anything scientific or technical and they especially don't understand maths - which is odd as they use them all the time

But the best SF should really be called "Ideas Fiction" or something like that. A lot of it doesn't have any rockets or ray guns but is just a way that lets the author explore ideas and to let their readers consider ideas that don't fit into the normal genres.

Oh, and Michael Powell did make a short film based on Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea when he was teaching at Dartmouth

Steve

[smiffy]

Originally Posted by Steve Crook Scientists over fifty, and mathematicians over thirty The vast majority of mathematicians do seem to have done their best work by the time they're 30, often much younger. Steve

Quote by J.J.
There are, of course, glorious exceptions; but as every researcher just out of college knows, scientists of over fifty are good for nothing but board meetings, and should at all costs be kept out of the laboratory!"...)

what I meant was , Is a Scientist over fifty ( mathemetician over thirty ) knackered ? or have they reached a place in their career that requires board meetings ,as well as keeping an eye on the "Researchers just out of college " whose Ideas and output should be at least as prolific as the dinosaurs who themselves came out of college years earlier ?

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by smiffy Quote by J.J. There are, of course, glorious exceptions; but as every researcher just out of college knows, scientists of over fifty are good for nothing but board meetings, and should at all costs be kept out of the laboratory!"...) what I meant was , Is a Scientist over fifty ( mathemetician over thirty ) knackered ? or have they reached a place in their career that requires board meetings ,as well as keeping an eye on the "Researchers just out of college " whose Ideas and output should be at least as prolific as the dinosaurs who themselves came out of college years earlier ?

I'm not sure why, but most scientists have done all their best work by the time they're 40 or so, mathematicians by their 20s

Maybe they're not as willing to take the risks they took when they were young.
Maybe it's because they think they know more and think that they know something can't be done. Whereas the younger people, in their ignorance don't know that a thing can't be done, so they go and do it

Steve

[smiffy]

Originally Posted by Steve Crook I grew up reading Science Fiction (either "Science Fiction" or just "SF" but never "Sci Fi" amongst aficionados) and almost everything else. I'm very eclectic in my tastes Although I have always been saddened by the way that so many people are put off SF by that word "Science". It's back to the classic divide between the arts and the sciences. You'll be hard pressed to find anyone who has studied science or engineering who doesn't have a good understanding of and appreciation of many of "the arts". But people who are taught "the arts" often seem to take great pride in saying that they don't understand anything scientific or technical and they especially don't understand maths - which is odd as they use them all the time But the best SF should really be called "Ideas Fiction" or something like that. A lot of it doesn't have any rockets or ray guns but is just a way that lets the author explore ideas and to let their readers consider ideas that don't fit into the normal genres. Oh, and Michael Powell did make a short film based on Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea when he was teaching at Dartmouth Steve

And once again I can add some more nuggets of wisdom from the Crook mine .
I think I have just picked up the "Sci Fi "tag from popular abbreviation .
I was a Telecommunications engineer for 15 years (originally for the post office before the introduction of BT) at a time when technology was moving faster than the Business could keep up with. I was working on equipment that ranged from ,the old mechanical switches,the electronic new fangled (hexadecimal ) system ,and the brand new System x ( digital ) I wasn't offered training on the digital system so I took the offer of redundancy and bought a chippy ,so you see I appreciate the sciences and the arts
I shall research Earthsea , my periods of abscence from the site are usually Holidays or catching up on members reccomendations for reading (apart form the films ) I also like the term "Ideas fiction " Thanks Steve