The End of The Odyssey

As I imagine most of you are probably already aware, Arthur C. Clarke passed away recently. Unlike many people whose exposure to Clarke was mostly through 2001: A Space Odyssey, my primary exposure was through the television series Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World and later Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers. These shows sparked an interest (or perhaps helped to kindle a just beginning interest) in understanding the world around me and realizing that there is a why behind every what. To this day, I still remember my father coming to find me to tell me that it was time for Mysterious World to start (this was in the pre-TiVo days...how did we live like that?) and then watching with him as they dealt with phenomena like ball lightning and cryptozoology.

You can agree or disagree with much of what Clarke has said, but there is no mistaking that he was an intelligent man who had a wonderful way with words. As such, I can see no better tribute than to present a few of my favorite insightful and amusing quotes.

"Every revolutionary idea — in science, politics, art, or whatever — seems to evoke three stages of reaction. They may be summed up by the phrases:
(1) 'It's completely impossible — don't waste my time'; (2) 'It's possible, but it's not worth doing'; (3) 'I said it was a good idea all along.'"

"Somewhere in me is a curiosity sensor. I want to know what's over the next hill. You know, people can live longer without food than without information. Without information, you'd go crazy."

What is often described as Clarke's First Law: "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."

"One cannot have superior science and inferior morals. The combination is unstable and self-destroying."

And probably my favorite, from the episode of Mysterious World dealing with the possibilities of as yet undiscovered ape men: "If anyone gave me 100 dollars to bet on it, I'd put 40 on the Yeti, 10 on Bigfoot and keep the 50 for myself."