Arthur C. Clarke dies, aged 90

Science fiction legend Arthur C. Clarke has died, aged 90.

Clarke, who wrote the book and film 2001: A Space Odyssey, passed away yesterday at a hospital in Sri Lanka, where he had lived since 1956.

He died of a cardio-respiratory attack stemming from post-polio syndrome, which had kept him wheelchair-bound since 1995.

His aide Rohan de Silva said he had been in hospital for the last four days and had been experiencing breathing difficulties for several weeks.

Clarke had recorded a message to his friends on his 90th birthday in December, saying he would have liked to have seen evidence of extraterrestrial life during his lifetime.

He was born in Somerset and worked on the development of radar in the Royal Air Force during World War II. He is widely credited with introducing the idea of the communications satellite and predicted in the '40s that man would reach the moon by the year 2000.

Clarke, who wrote more than 100 books, shared an Academy Award nomination with director Stanley Kubrick for the script for 1968 movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. He was knighted in 1998.

Astronomer Patrick Moore described his death as a "great loss", telling the BBC: "He was ahead of his time in so many ways. Quite apart from artificial satellites there were other things too. A great science fiction writer, a very good scientist, a great prophet and a very dear friend. I'm very, very sad that he's gone."