“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

Sir Arthur C. Clarke passed away yesterday, aged 90. As well as being one of the leading science fiction writers of the twentieth century, was a passionate believer in using technology to advance mankind. He famously proposed using geostationary satellites - satellites that remained in a fixed point above a spot on the Earth - to relay radio signals - which today is one of the most important components in global communications.

The quote at the top, one of his most famous (the third of his three laws) certainly rings true if you compare the world as it was when Sir Arthur was born. A visitor from 1917 would be astounded to see the amazing leaps mankind has made, from television to space travel to the Internet, we enjoy today. Just think where we’ll be in 90 years hence, at the same rate of advancement; what holds for us then will be as comparatively magical as the present day is to 1917. It’s just a matter of getting there, and as Sir Arthur’s second law states, there’s only one way of getting there:

“The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.”