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The list appears in the British Airways High Life for February, to mark the beginning of Queen Elizabeth II’s golden jubilee. “We have chosen to include men and women who, in the words of biographical dictionaries, ‘flourished’ between the years 1952 and 2002”, the magazine’s editor said. “By this, we mean they came to prominence, or recorded their most notable achievements, during the present monarchy”. The list includes writers, actors, singers, sportspersons, entrepreneurs and politicians. Among the scientists are Francis Crick who co-discovered the structure of DNA, cosmologist Stephen Hawking, inventor Clive Sinclair and Tim Berners-Lee who created the World Wide Web-and credits Sir Arthur’s short story, Dial F Frankenstein for the initial idea. Other famous Britons included are Prince Charles, Princess Diana, Sean Connery, Laurence Olivier, Paul McCartney, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Anthony Burgess and J. K. Rowling, creator of Harry Potter. Listing Sir Arthur under the year 1968, the magazine writes: “Not many scientists can claim to have influenced as diverse a group as Stanley Kubrick, Rupert Murdoch and David Bowie. In 1968, the visionary film 2001, directed by Kubrick, was the brainchild of 51-year-old Arthur C. Clarke, a freethinking fantasy writer with serious scientific credentials. Clarke’s message cleverly combined anxiety (super-intelligent computers can go berserk) with comfort (super-intelligent aliens are out there watching over civilisation). The magazine goes on to say that as a RAF Officer, Clarke developed the idea of Communication Satellites in stationary orbits-now the basis of global television. Elsewhere in the same issue, High Life refers to Sir Arthur again in a discussion on the modern day Renaissance Man-one whose versatility spans several areas of human endeavour. Noting that the post-war period has been an era of the specialist, the editors single out playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard and Sir Arthur as “talented individuals in our list whose achievements are anything but narrow”. Sir Arthur’s career over 60 years has seen him excel in several fields, as amateur astronomer, science fiction author, underwater explorer, television personality and science populariser. Related Stories: Sir Arthur C. Clarke to present Oscar nominations Celebrities to fete space visionary Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur C Clarke celebrates his 83rd birthday
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Sir
Arthur C. Clarke has been included in a list of 50 outstanding
personalities of the past half century “who will go down in history as
great modern “Elizabethans”.
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