Sir Arthur C. Clarke had always been ahead of his time. His vision of putting geostationary satellites in orbit totally changed our lives. It was Clarke who floated the idea of using geosynchronous satellites for communications long before such technology changed our world. Clarke's most important contribution to science may be in propagating the idea that geostationary satellites would be ideal telecommunications relays. He described this concept in an aricle titled Extra-Terrestrial Relays: Can Rocket Stations Give World-wide Radio Coverage?, published in Wireless World in October 1945.
There are discussions over whether the article was actually the inspiration for the modern telecommunications satellite. Nevertheless, Clarke described the idea so thoroughly that his article has been cited as prior art in judgments denying patents on the concept.
Clarke also pushed the idea of towers erected in the sky which would then form a ring around the earth. These towers, according to the visionary, would act as a telecommunications station, thus getting rid of satellites which are populating the earth atmosphere. These towers could also work as space stations -- eliminating the need of shootings rockets in the sky thus saving the ozone layer. These towers could become an ideal place for setting up telescopes as the air would be much more cleaner there. Clarke even proposed these towers could be used as ideal residences handling the issue of lack of residential area on the earth due to population burst.
Clarke was born in Minehead, Somerset, England on 16 December 1917. |
Some are born under the stars
