See Anybody Special??

[Cthulhu]

Flew the c-47?

Nope.

Hint:  He postulated about the feasibility of telecommunications satellites long before they became real.

[glock89]

Nope.

Hint:  He postulated about the feasibility of telecommunications satellites long before they became real.

Is he smart?

[Cthulhu]

Is he smart?

No, he's a complete moron. Most people who are nominated for Nobel prizes are.

[Rollins]

No, he's a complete moron. Most people who are nominated for Nobel prizes are.

 

[glock89]

No, he's a complete moron. Most people who are nominated for Nobel prizes are.

[Baggy]

Arthur C Clarke

[Cthulhu]

Arthur C Clarke

Thank you Baggy



During the Second World War he served in the Royal Air Force as a radar specialist and was involved in the early warning radar defence system, which contributed to the RAF's success during the Battle of Britain. Clarke spent most of his wartime service working on Ground Controlled Approach (GCA) radar as documented in the semi-autobiographical Glide Path, his only non-science-fiction novel. Although GCA did not see much practical use in the war, it proved vital to the Berlin Airlift of 1948–1949 after several years of development. Clarke initially served in the ranks, and was a Corporal instructor on radar at No 9 Radio School, RAF Yatesbury. He was commissioned as a Pilot Officer (Technical Branch) on 27 May 1943. He was promoted Flying Officer on 27 November 1943. He was appointed chief training instructor at RAF Honiley and was demobilised with the rank of Flight Lieutenant. After the war he earned a first-class degree in mathematics and physics at King's College London.

In the postwar years, Clarke became the chairman of the British Interplanetary Society from 1947-1950 and again in 1953. Although he was not the originator of the concept of geostationary satellites, one of his most important contributions may be his idea that they would be ideal telecommunications relays. He advanced this idea in a paper privately circulated among the core technical members of the BIS in 1945. The concept was published in Wireless World in October of that year. Clarke also wrote a number of non-fiction books describing the technical details and societal implications of rocketry and space flight. The most notable of these may be The Exploration of Space (1951) and The Promise of Space (1968). In recognition of these contributions the geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometres (22,000 mi) above the equator is officially recognized by the International Astronomical Union as a Clarke Orbit.

Of course most of us know him as the guy who teamed up with Stanley Kubrick to give us the HAL 9000 & "2001: A Space Odyssey".


Quick Trivia Question:

Anybody know where the name HAL came from?

[007Rusty]

WTFG Sir I could not find that pic. errr      

Arthur C Clarke

[007Rusty]

Although it is often conjectured that the name HAL was based on a one letter shift from the name IBM, this has been denied by both Clarke and 2001 director Stanley Kubrick. In 2010: Odyssey Two, Clarke speaks through the character of Dr. Chandra, who characterized this idea as: "tter nonsense! [...] I thought that by now every intelligent person knew that H-A-L is derived from Heuristic ALgorithmic".[2][3]

Clarke more directly addressed this issue in his book The Lost Worlds of 2001:[4]

As is clearly stated in the novel (Chapter 16), HAL stands for Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer. However, about once a week some character spots the fact that HAL is one letter ahead of IBM, and promptly assumes that Stanley and I were taking a crack at the estimable institution ... As it happened, IBM had given us a good deal of help, so we were quite embarrassed by this, and would have changed the name had we spotted the coincidence.

[Cthulhu]

WTFG Sir I could not find that pic. errr      

The annoying part is finding a great candidate only to hit a brick wall when you can't find an old picture.

[Cthulhu]

Although it is often conjectured that the name HAL was based on a one letter shift from the name IBM, this has been denied by both Clarke and 2001 director Stanley Kubrick. In 2010: Odyssey Two, Clarke speaks through the character of Dr. Chandra, who characterized this idea as: "tter nonsense! [...] I thought that by now every intelligent person knew that H-A-L is derived from Heuristic ALgorithmic".[2][3]

Clarke more directly addressed this issue in his book The Lost Worlds of 2001:[4]

As is clearly stated in the novel (Chapter 16), HAL stands for Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer. However, about once a week some character spots the fact that HAL is one letter ahead of IBM, and promptly assumes that Stanley and I were taking a crack at the estimable institution ... As it happened, IBM had given us a good deal of help, so we were quite embarrassed by this, and would have changed the name had we spotted the coincidence.

Alas, nobody fell into that trap...

[007Rusty]

rgr that sir ...that was a tuff one without the hints.    

The annoying part is finding a great candidate only to hit a brick wall when you can't find an old picture.

[Cthulhu]

Next one: (easy)

[007Rusty]

Robert Strauss ?

[1Boner]

Was he in the wizard of Oz?

Nope--but almost.

Did he have one of the hottest daughters on tv?

You bet.