Arthur C. Clarke passed away earlier today. Sir Arthur is most widely known as the science fiction author behind the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. The ideas he put to paper found their way into the fertile minds of generations of scientists and explorers, eventually leading to geostationary satellites and, one can only hope, one day will yield space elevators and such.
Link: BBC Obituary
That is like the second big “geek” celebrity to pass this month… or maybe it is because Geeks have entered the mainstream that we actually lose one of the people we admire.
Sad as it is to lose one of the great science fiction authors, he had already beaten the odds by reaching 90 in the first place.