It’s tempting to call The Fountains of Paradise Arthur C.
Clarke’s magnum opus. Containing bits and pieces of nearly
everything the author was involved with, personally and fictionally. The book has it all, from his beloved Sri
Lanka to the immense possibilities of science, alien phenomena to his belief humanity
will improve itself, the realistic presentation of science to “knowledge” as
the hero, not to mention being produced in the latter stages of his career. Part historical overview, part thriller, and
all hard sci-fi, whether or not The
Fountains of Paradise is the best of Clarke’s oeuvre is up to the reader to
decide. That the novel is at its heart
is undeniable.
The
Fountains of Paradise
is the story of the Vannevar Morgan.
Fresh off the successful construction of the three-kilometer high
Gibraltar Bridge, the engineer is ready to start on his next vision: to design
and build an orbital tower—an elevator to space. The time late 21 st century, mankind has begun
inhabiting the nearer planets in the solar system. Development ongoing apace, many needed
resources must still be brought from Earth, something an orbital tower, with its
capacity to deliver vast payloads into the atmosphere without the need to
launch fuel-guzzling, noisesome rockets, would greatly improve. Morgan past middle age and having a heart
problem, the time needed for the project’s conception and implementation,
however, may just exceed the number of years he has remaining.
