Remembering Arthur C. Clarke

Yesterday, one of the stars went out.

Sir Arthur C. Clarke wasn't just a \"futurist\" who wrote about possibilities. He was an integral part of the community which made our global society possible. His first novel, Glide Path, was based on his WWII experiences using radar for the first time as a means to help aircraft land. And most appropriately, he was the first person to realize the potential power of planting a satellite at 35,780km and using it for communications.

But Clarke's fiction wasn't about science and technology. Like the best science fiction authors, he merely used those to talk about what it meant to human. His focus was on communities, on the importance of understanding our own planet, and on reaching our greatest potential as human beings without forgetting that we have a responsibility to all life on this planet.

The best obituary you can offer him is to go and read one of his books. Or better yet, give one to a child to read.

I find it fascinating (and appropriate) to watch the remembrances as they wend their way through the time zones. Here is a sampling (via Tweet Scan).

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• vinta : Arthur C. Clarke 死掉了啊 << (2008-03-19 12:46:05)
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• carloshotta : 2a. lei de #Clarke: \"A única maneira de descobrir os limites do possível é passá-los um pouco na direção do impossível.\" << (2008-03-19 12:38:40)
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• jaysolo : Still haven't posted even a small bit about Clarke, but the whole world did that for me and little to add. << (2008-03-19 12:38:33)
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• djgotga : Los grandes artistas y literatos se van siempre en triadas: Gary Gygax - Anthony Minghella - Arthur C. Clarke. << (2008-03-19 12:33:02)
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• conniecrosby : Sir Arthur C. Clarke passed away today. Here is the Mars Society's tribute: http://www.marssociety.org.... << (2008-03-19 12:25:10)
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• niklasgv : \"Aún tiene que probarse que la inteligencia tenga algún valor para la supervivencia.\" (Arthur C. Clarke 1917-2008) << (2008-03-19 12:21:48)
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• ourfounder : March is taking community thought leaders. Gygax and A.C. Clarke. Sigh. An obit for A.C. would require much wordsmithing. Or be a limerick. << (2008-03-19 12:17:05)
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• yurusuke : \"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.\" by Arthur C. Clarke << (2008-03-19 12:14:08)
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• argent_bury : Another one of my memetic ancestors has passed away. Rest in peace, Mr. Clarke. Without you, I would not be here. << (2008-03-19 11:47:20)
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• PragueBob : Arthur C. Clarke has died. I mourn his passing as one of the most inspiring authors of my youth. Another satellite is in the heavens tonight << (2008-03-19 11:44:47)
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• brandonw : Arthur C. Clarke died yesterday. His \"Childhood's End\" was the first real novel I ever read. << (2008-03-19 11:45:41)
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• LPI_Library : In library catalogs Clarke, Arthur Charles, 1917- is now Clarke, Arthur C. (Arthur Charles), 1917-2008. http://tinyurl.com/ypz6wt << (2008-03-19 11:46:41)
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• Merras : Arthur C. Clarke blogkörkép: http://tinyurl.com/29be29 - ha valaki tud még ide ajánlani postokat, dobjon nekem mailt: merras@sfportal.hu << (2008-03-19 11:29:29)
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• nickellis : @spiceee Comentários de Arthur C. Clarke sobre religião. http://tinyurl.com/393rqb << (2008-03-19 11:24:44)
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• teledyn : The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible. (Arthur C Clarke) << (2008-03-19 11:17:51)
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• titanas : Πέθανε ο Arthur C. Clarke << (2008-03-19 10:43:28)
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• oliver : Folllowing @adrianh call: today is Arthur C Clarke avatar day. << (2008-03-19 10:40:35)
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• monkchips : @Blag no i love my red avatar. but arthur c clarke died, and we're giving him a shout out. avatars need not be static, any more than we are. << (2008-03-19 10:42:00)
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• widgetapps : Thank you Arthur C Clarke, you will be missed! << (2008-03-19 10:12:58)
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• elinwang : Arthur C. Clarke (1917 -2008, English Physicist & Science Fiction Author) formulated three \"laws\" of prediction: << (2008-03-19 10:11:07)
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• elinwang : Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008, English physicist Science fiction author) << (2008-03-19 10:06:01)
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• greenideas : gary gygax, and now arthur c. clarke. it's a rough month for geek heroes. << (2008-03-19 10:01:21)
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• awerner : A.C. Clarke once denigrated religion as \"a necessary evil in the childhood of our particular species.\" R.I.P. << (2008-03-19 09:58:15)
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• niklasgv : Obituarios en The Guardian: sobre el director de cine Minghella y sobre el escritor Clarke << (2008-03-19 09:57:28)
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• pipperl : Retweeting @tmas68: Watching: BBC NEWS | UK | Writer Arthur C Clarke dies at 90。2001太空漫遊的原作者Arthur C Clarke 逝世。 http://tinyurl.com/2qbwgo << (2008-03-19 09:54:20)
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• steppek : Don' t know if you guys saw this. A Video Message from Arthur Clarke just before his 90th http://www.aintitcool.com/n... << (2008-03-19 09:47:57)
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• burning_chrome : Arthur C. Clarke: RIP \"Open the Pearly Gates, HAL\" << (2008-03-19 09:46:10)
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• Urwings : 阿瑟克拉克(Arthur C.Clarke)于2008年3月18日在斯里兰卡的家中去世，享年90岁。他一共写过100多本科幻小说，其中包括《2001太空漫游》系列等。向克拉克致敬!他前瞻性地向我们描述了未来。 << (2008-03-19 09:34:11)
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• Technoir : so I told a group of coworkers last night that Arthur C. Clarke had died. They asked me who that was. Almost made me want to cry. << (2008-03-19 08:58:22)
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• TeeMonster : @steppek: Yeah....pretty freakin' creepy moment...I love my tech, but Clarke is always present, you know? << (2008-03-19 08:50:31)
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• Daranifer : Anscheinend ist Arthur C. Clarke ex gegangen. Die Blogs quellen über. << (2008-03-19 08:46:42)
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• lawboop : Arthur C. Clarke had his Rendevous With Rama today. Greg Boop << (2008-03-19 08:43:57)
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• avyuro : Thank you Sir Clarke for so many wonderful dreams. << (2008-03-19 08:42:15)
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• TeeMonster : @RapidEye: \"I'm sorry. I can't do that.\" (RIP Sir Arthur C. Clarke. http://tinyurl.com/236pbx) << (2008-03-19 08:33:38)
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• oedenfield : “A Short Pre-History of Comsats, Or: How I Lost a Billion Dollars in My Spare Time”. Sadly, Arthur C. Clarke died. NYT has a good sto ... << (2008-03-19 08:26:48)
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• aliengirlbr : Arthur C. Clarke, descanse em paz!! << (2008-03-19 08:24:16)
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• TRBlogs : Dave? What are you doing, Dave? The legacy of Arthur C. Clarke - http://tinyurl.com/24ry85 << (2008-03-19 07:59:17)
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• SmarkYou : Arthur C. Clarke has been absorbed by the monolith. RIP. << (2008-03-19 07:58:59)
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• sam33r : Childhood's end. R.I.P., Sir Arthur C. Clarke. << (2008-03-19 07:59:02)
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• tachyondecay : Rest in peace, Arthur C Clarke. It's your turn to find the nine billion names of God. :) << (2008-03-19 07:56:01)
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• izlmichael : Arthur Clark逝世了？！http://tinyurl.com/2s4cmb << (2008-03-19 07:54:26)
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• randomquotes : \"He was a rigorous extrapolator of what we know to what we don't know.\" Unknown tribute to Sir Arthur C. Clarke. << (2008-03-19 07:53:27)
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• skyadv : painful day, today we lost the big one, the Master, a thinker interested in the future of the humanity Arthur C. Clarke we will miss you =(( << (2008-03-19 07:53:43)
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• cadusimoes : Um minuto de silêncio para Arthur C. Clarke: http://www1.folha.uol.com.b... << (2008-03-19 07:51:48)
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• simplyarun : \"How inappropriate to call this planet Earth, when clearly it is Ocean.\" - Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917 - 19 March 2008) << (2008-03-19 07:42:00)
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• markiddon : I'm so upset that Arthur C Clarke is dead. One of my biggest heroes and an inspiration throughout my childhood. Very sad news. << (2008-03-19 07:22:49)
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• asesino : \"Sir Arthur Charles Clarke\" かぁ。今後は Wikipedia にあった「ナイトの称号」という言葉が気になる。Japones には関係ないか... << (2008-03-19 07:21:52)
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• deantenea : addio Arthur Clarke... che moria 'sto mese. << (2008-03-19 07:17:28)
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• madd0 : RIP Arthur C. Clarke. how cool is it however that Wikipedia is already up to date? http://is.gd/2mI not long ago this would've been sci-fi! << (2008-03-19 07:11:28)
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• melissa_bxl : Ai-je dis que j'étais triste de la mort d'Arthur C. Clarke? Un de mes auteurs de S-F préféré! << (2008-03-19 07:09:26)
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• JJFlash : Nel frattempo tramite @Bander apprendo della morte di Arthur C. Clarke. Molto molto dispiaciuto. << (2008-03-19 07:05:41)
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• kirdan : saluta Arthur C. Clarke, uno di quelli che ha fatto crescere @kirdan. http://tinyurl.com/yp959s << (2008-03-19 07:02:03)
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• spitsnet : Sciencefictionschrijver Arthur C. Clarke overleden http://spitsnet.nl/nieuws.p... << (2008-03-19 06:52:42)
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• aribadler : RIP Arthur C. Clarke - you've begun your final odyssey... << (2008-03-19 06:48:14)
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• weas : Arthur C. Clarke la ha palmado. Tenía ochocientos años o así, pero aún era un grande... << (2008-03-19 06:08:24)
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• SuperErnie : Rob wilde nog vragen of ze Clarke had ontmoet (want dat had ze) maar er was geen tijd meer, zonde << (2008-03-19 05:56:56)
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• Cryolite : Clarke 大先生なら「お疲れ様でした」って笑顔で送り出せるよね．今，仮に ( あくまでもしもの話ね！ ) 某 K 大先生がくたばったりでもしたら「テメー！ The Art of ナントカ書き終わるまでは絶対逝かせねーぞ！」っていってあっちから全力で連れ戻してく ... << (2008-03-19 05:42:25)
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• pauloflaherty : R.I.P. Arthur C. Clarke begiins his final odyssey: http://snurl.com/22370 << (2008-03-19 05:14:59)
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