Science Fiction movies that follow the original story are difficult to understand unless you have read the book. In 2001: A Space Odyssey, the author, Arthur C Clarke, acts more like a visionary, predicting how the first contact will be. Instead of using a biological figure that is easy to link with, he uses a stone based monolith as a marker that the aliens have left on the moon. He then creates a series of monoliths and links them all back to the very birth of earth and the evolution of the human race. The message? - that our evolution itself was guided by a very advanced civilisation.
Arthur C Clarke, though he died earning a bad reputation, had predicted a large number of things some of which have come true. Literally every idea of his has been used in some movie or the other. Some of his predictions include the following:
- Multi Stage rocketry
- Geostationary satellites as primary communication carriers. They are actually called Clarke Orbiters.
- Mission to the moon, and man's landing on the moon.
- Space probes going beyond the moon to Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn
- Power generation using nuclear reactors
- Replacement of IC engine with a new energy source
- Human clone
- Closure of coal mines
- Small quantum generators doing away with EBs and power carrying pylons.
- Monitoring of criminals and the wiping out of crime, literally predicting a crime before it happens (remember the movie?)
- Commercialisation of space travel
- Space based hotels (another movie?)
- The control and use of matter and anti matter
- The crashing on earth of a major meteor (another major movie?)
- The maturing of artificial intelligence (yet another movie?)
- Human landing on Mars
- The detection of communication signals from aliens (one more movie?)
- The cloning of dinosaurs from DNA samples (3 or four movies?)
- Advancement of neurological research allowing human brains to become more advanced and sensitive.
- The Universal Replicator
- The return of Halley's comet
- The development of a space drive allowing humans to go beyond the Solar System (Movies and TV serials?)
Clarke has written so many superb books. Some of his best books are:
Rendezvous With Rama
2001: A Space Odyssey
Childhood's End
A Fall of Moondust
The Fountains of Paradise
Against the Fall of Night
Cheers
Thanks for that. I will definitely try to read 2001: A Space Odyssey the book and look out for other of his stuff.