British science fiction legend and inventor of the idea of communications satellites Sir Arthur Charles Clarke has passed away in his adopted home of Sri Lanka. He was 90 years old. According to Sir Arthur C Clarke Foundation, he died at Colombo's Apollo Hospital in the early hours of March 19 (Sri Lanka time) from respiratory complications. Sir Clarke was also suffering from the post polio syndrome since the early 1990s, which confined him to a wheelchair for the past decade.

Only a few days ago, Sir Clarke reviewed the final manuscript of his latest science fiction novel, The Last Theorem, co-written with the American author Frederik Pohl. The book is to be published later this year, according to the Foundation’s web site.

He said, "I’ve had a diverse career as a writer, underwater explorer, space promoter and science populariser. Of all these, I want to be remembered most as a writer – one who entertained readers, and, hopefully, stretched their imagination as well."

Arthur C Clarke wrote 100 books and more than 1,000 short stories and essays over 60 years. Among his best-selling novels are Childhood's End, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Rendezvous with Rama and Fountains of Paradise. One of his short stories ('Dial F for Frankenstein', 1964) inspired British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee to invent the world wide web in 1989. Another short story ('The Sentinel', 1948) was expanded to make the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, which he co-wrote with director Stanley Kubrick. They shared an Oscar nomination for the best screenplay in 1969.

A farmer’s son, Sir Clarke was born in Minehead, Somerset, England. And was educated at Huish's Grammar School, Taunton, and King's College, London. He worked in the British Exchequer and Audit Department and served as a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force before turning a full time author in 1950.

His interest in diving and underwater exploration led him to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where he settled down in 1956. He pioneered diving and underwater tourism in Sri Lanka through his company Underwater Safaris, and played an active role as a public intellectual and as a patron of art, science and higher education. He served as Chancellor of Sri Lanka's technological University of Moratuwa from 1979 to 2002.

www.clarkefoundation.org

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