Inspiration

Yesterday one of the main inspirations that made me decide to study Aerospace Engineering in college died at the ripe old age of 90.

Sir Arthur C. Clarke was best known for writing 2001: A Space Oddyssey, as well as co-writing the classic movie version with Stanley Kubrick. He is also credited with the invention of the communication satellite, more than a decade before anyone had successfully launched any spacecraft at all. He wrote many books and made many predictions about technology and the future, many of which were accurate and visionary.

Plenty of others have and will write about him, but I wanted to note one particular personal influence.

His book "The Fountains of Paradise" may not have been his best known, or even in the Top Ten of his most-loved books. But when I read it in high school I knew I wanted to work on technology like that, with world changing consequences and benefit to mankind. The space elevator is now a real project, with technology gradually catching up to Clarke's vision and the physical requirements that must be met for such a device to succeed. I hope that in my lifetime I will see one in operation.

I have been reading and watching sci-fi, both realistic and fantastic, literally since I can remember. But it was this book that finally tilted the scales of my decision as to what major to study in college. Out of the various engineering disciplines and a few non-engineering ideas I had as a senior in high school, I chose Aerospace Engineering and ended up going to the University of Colorado in Boulder to get my degree. While reality never seems to follow idealistic dreams, and while I have never actually been employed as an "aerospace engineer", I am still glad that I chose that path. At the very least, I always smile when people are discussing a problem at work and someone almost always ends up saying "it's not rocket science". Too bad, I could have sorted it out for them if it was.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"
- Clarke's Third Law

posted by Tom at 9:39 AM | 1 comments |

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