Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 1917 - 19 March 2008) was one of the best-known human science fiction writers of the 20th and 21st centuries. Born in Minehead, Somerset, England, Clarke went on to become the author of such classic novels as Childhood's End, Rendezvous with Rama and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Clarke also originated the idea of the communications satellite in a scientific paper published in 1945. He lived in Sri Lanka for many years.
Jake Sisko had read Clarke's novels by 2370. Missy, a Sri Lankan who attended the Starfleet Junior Academy in that year, had also read Clarke's novels and had been inspired to join Starfleet by them. (DS9 novel: Space Camp)
In 2258, in an alternate reality, Commander Spock quoted Clarke's famous dictum (often referred to as "Clarke's Third Law"), "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic", while discussing the possibility that Nero was from the future with the Enterprise bridge crew. Spock referred to Clarke on this occasion as "Saint Clarke". (TOS novelization: Star Trek)
In another alternate timeline, Shaun Geoffrey Christopher and Shannon O'Donnell cited Clarke's Third Law after witnessing the effect of a 24th century transporter. (ST - Myriad Universes novel: Seeds of Dissent)
- The 2011 novel Indistinguishable from Magic likewise takes its title from this Clarke quote. The "Third Law", as well as "Clarke's Second Law," were cited in The Delta Anomaly.
External link
- Arthur C. Clarke article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
