by Laura Clout and Gary Cleland
The Daily Telegraph

Colombo, Mar 19: The visionary science fiction writer Arthur C Clarke, author of more than 100 books, has died in Colombo at the age of 90.

Mr Clarke, who shared an Oscar nomination with Stanley Kubrick for the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, suffered breathing problems, his friend Rohan De Silva said. The prolific writer, also a lecturer and presenter of several television series, had lived in Sri Lanka since the 1950s.

A central theme of his fiction was the "spiritual" rebirth and the search for man's place in the universe but he has also been credited with predicting and contributing to technological advances in his writing.

The son of a farmer from Minehead, Somerset, his achievements were rewarded with a knighthood in 1998, formally conferred by Prince Charles in his adopted home in Colombo two years later.

Born in the coastal town of Minehead, Mr Clarke became interested in science in early age, and constructed his first telescope at thirteen.

Inspired by the works of H.G Wells and Jules Verne, he started to write "fantastic" stories while still at school, later pursuing his interest in space sciences by joining the British Interplanetary Society.

After a stint in the RAF during the Second World War, he returned to London and continued writing, and was later awarded a Fellowship at King's College, London where he obtained first class honours in Physics and Mathematics in 1948.

He was credited with the concept of communications satellites in 1945, decades before they became a reality. Geosynchronous orbits, which keep satellites in a fixed position relative to the ground, are called Clarke orbits.

The first story he sold professionally was Rescue Party, which appeared in Astounding Science in May 1946.

He went on to become a prolific writer of science fiction, renowned worldwide and included The Sentinel, a short story which was made into the film 2001: A Space Odyssey by director Stanley Kubrick.

He also made the television series Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World and Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers also contributing to other series about space.

Mr Clarke first visited Colombo, Sri Lanka in December 1954 and has lived there since 1956 pursuing his love of underwater exploration along the coast there.

In recent years, he has been largely confined to a wheelchair due to post-polio syndrome, but has continued to write.

Astronomer Patrick Moore said: "I'm desperately sorry about this. Arthur Clarke was a very, very close friend of mine - we knew each other since we were boys.

"I know he was 90 and it wasn't unexpected but I'm very sad to hear the news that he has gone.

"He was a great pioneer and a prophet - most of the things that he said, he got right.

"He was a great science fiction writer, a very good scientist and a very good friend."

George Whitesides, executive director of the National Space Society, said: "It's a sad day for everyone.

"Sir Arthur really had a tremendous impact on our world and on our century. It is very hard to encapsulate his impact."