Sir Arthur's Odyssey Around the Orbit: A Friendship with an Exceptional Carbon BiPed

SUNTEC Solar Powered Sinclair C5

Sir Arthur C. Clarke, visionary, science fiction writer, inventor and a good human being passed away on 19^th March 2008 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, his adopted home.   In many ways, Arthur was responsible for us to stay in Sri Lanka to establish a solar power business in the late 1980s.  

He was always there to encourage and help us even when we would get discouraged by the various obstacles that were in the way.  He was a good friend and we will miss him and so will the world of a great visionary.

Arthur's Barnes Place home 

1977

It was the summer of 1977 - my cousin Viren Perera and I were on a holiday in Sri Lanka from Canada.  We had stumbled into the table tennis room of the Otters Sports Club in Colombo and saw this European playing a hard game of TT banishing his young opponents away.  As we stood there, he challenged us for a game and sent us away in no time too.   

After the game when we asked him whether he was on holiday here, he said - “Oh no, I live here, write a few books and do a bit of diving” only to realize he was Arthur C Clarke, the legendary science fiction writer made famous recently by the Stanley Kubrick movie - “2001, A Space Odyssey”.

At the SUNTEC solar plant

We struck up a great friendship with him over the years and he supported and inspired us as we established the pioneering solar energy venture in the late 1980s.   His endorsement opened many doors for us.

He was a humble human being, almost childlike and witty, always with a new joke up his sleeve every time we met.   His simplicity was in contrast to the contribution he made to our world.   

London premier of 2010 Space Odyssey - 1982

Imagine living without TV or mobile phones.  In 1948, his concept of the geo-synchronous satellite orbiting earth has enabled every corner of our planet to be connected.   Fittingly, this path is called the “Clarke Orbit”.  Yet he never took himself seriously. 

He was generous too.  I remember a day when we were traveling in the hill country, coming across a family with children walking up a mountain road.  He got the driver to ask them where they were going, got us all out of the car and had them taken to their destination.  We all walked up the hill until the car came back for us.   He has donated his time, expertise and money to many good causes in Sri Lanka from education, science, arts and sports.

Sri Lanka was blessed to have this man from Somerset, England adopt this country.  It was fitting for the government to give him a party for his 90^th birthday on 16^th December 2006.  Hosted by the President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapakse - he paid tribute to Sir Arthur for his contribution to the world.  A special mention was made of the space elevator set in Sri Lanka’s own wonder, Sri Pada (Adams Peak) mountain in the book “Fountains of Paradise” - possibly becoming a reality with modern carbon fiber materials.

For Sri Lanka, he was always a voice of reason, whether it was the conflict we were facing and the related social issues such as human rights, media freedom, the environmental issues or the economy - he was never afraid to speak up.

The party was graced by many of his friends - most notable being Dr. Alexey Leonov, former Russian astronaut and the first human to walk in space in 1965.  There were others who represented NASA in the US, Pakistani and India’s space agencies.

Sadly, Sir Arthur was inflicted by a polio syndrome and became very frail at the end.  Yet his mind was very active and his wry humour never left him.   

In his 90th birthday speech he said;

“Of course, some things remind me that I have indeed qualified as a senior citizen. As Bob Hope once said: You know you're getting old, when the candles cost more than the cake!"

Sir Arthur ended his talk by making three wishes;

He said,

“As I complete 90 orbits, I have no regrets and no more personal ambitions. But if I may be allowed just three wishes, they would be these.”

Firstly, I would like to see some evidence of extra-terrestrial life. I have always believed that we are not alone in the universe. But we are still waiting for ETs to call us – or give us some kind of a sign. We have no way of guessing when this might happen – I hope sooner rather than later!

Secondly, I would like to see us kick our current addiction to oil, and adopt clean energy sources. For over a decade, I've been monitoring various new energy experiments, but they have yet to produce commercial scale results. Climate change has now added a new sense of urgency. Our civilization depends on energy, but we can't allow oil and coal to slowly bake our planet.

The third wish is one closer to home. I’ve been living in Sri Lanka for 50 years – and half that time, I’ve been a sad witness to the bitter conflict that divides my adopted country.

I dearly wish to see lasting peace established in Sri Lanka as soon as possible. But I’m aware that peace cannot just be wished - it requires a great deal of hard work, courage and persistence.”

Of course, Arthur had the courage to dare dream and write about things that were inconceivable then, which have come true.  So we all hope that his three wishes will be granted. 

In Arthur’s true spirit, in his last days he was able to finish his final book “The Last Theorem”.   This will indeed be his last theorem, but he has left us with the hope that technology and science will bring humanity together to live in peace and harmony.