Sir Arthur C Clarke Dies at 90

Sir Arthur C Clarke passed away today at Colombo's Apollo Hospital in his beloved Sri Lanka after a brief illness. He was 90 years old.

Born in Minehead, England as the eldest of four children, Clarke became interested in science at a young age, and constructed his first telescope at thirteen. He wrote science fiction stories while in school and became the chairman of the British Interplanetary Society in 1949. In 1945, he wrote a technical paper that many people considered the forerunner of communication satellites.

Arthur Clarke was a prolific writer, but is perhaps best known for the novel and film 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, for which Clarke co-wrote the script with Stanley Kubrick. He continued to produce an incredible body of work, including his latest novel, "The Last Theorem," co-authored with Frederik Pohl and scheduled to be published later this year.

Sir Arthur is survived by his brother Fred and sister Mary, both living Minehead, Somerset, UK. Their youngest brother, Michael, predeceased him.

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