Vale Arthur C. Clarke
One of the greatest science fiction writers and a true visionary for space exploration and utilisation, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, passed away today in Sri Lanka aged 90. A master populariser of science and prolific writer - he wrote over 100 books on space, science and the future - his insights, influence and vision will be greatly missed. Tributes are popping up already all over the web including at the New York Times, SMH, SpaceRef.com and at Crikey - this one quite clever tribute claims that the Space Age is now dead, or at least the first one! To my shame I haven’t read enough of his work, but I have always been inspired by his ideas and amazed at how much of his science fiction has become science fact. Clarke was a man well before his time and then again at exactly the right time too. His influence was immense. The Mars Institute, of which I am on the Board of Advisors, even named the automated Mars greenhouse it has in the Canadian Arctic after him!