Arthur C Clarke’s forgotten masterpiece of hard SF

It's Arthur C Clarke's greatest novel and a classic of "hard" science fiction. The Fountains of Paradise is a brilliantly realized story of humankind's ascent to the stars, not on rockets, but by building the first space elevator. Clarke predicted the discovery of carbon super materials with the "diamond hyperfilament" that is strong enough to stretch 36,000km from Earth to geosynchronous orbit. But it's not the science that makes Arthur C Clarke's novel so great. It's the symbolism. 00:00 The Fountains of Paradise 03:50 Science Fiction Q & A 06:49 The forgotten masterpiece of Arthur C Clarke 09:49 The three stages of Clarke's career 14:07 Was Clarke a good writer? 17:04 The competent engineer 19:30 Hyperfilament 24:50 The Clark-o-verse of Low Orbit SF 27:04 Symbolism and the poetic beauty of hard SF 37:57 Could we...and should we...build a space elevator? 43:51 The Wealth Transfer Frontier we need Follow the the Science Fiction podcast and become a member https://damiengwalter.com/podcast/ Join the discussion on the Science Fiction community https://www.facebook.com/groups/324897304599197 Read the classic of hard SF https://amzn.to/3jJNWCb Read my top science fiction to rewire your consciousness https://amzn.to/3gQqfGR