Sir Arthur C Clarke a scientist par excellence - Minister Vitharana

Manjari Peiris

Science and Technology Minister Prof. Tissa Vitharana said Sir Arthur C Clarke was an exceptional person who pioneered to establish the Sir Arthur C Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies (ACCIMT), and gave something worthy to this world before anybody else.

Minister Prof. Vitharana was speaking at the 91st birth anniversary of Sir Arthur C Clarke at the ACCIMT on Monday. The Minister said Sir Arthur always wanted to do something beyond research.

"He gave a guideline for research with a picture drawn about it in his mind."

Before he invented Geostationary Satellite System, he thought about it in a scientific manner and predicted about it.

"That technology was then planned and implemented. He did enormous service towards developing information technology in the entire world. He could predict many things before anybody else", he said.

Sir Arthur planned to build steps from Sigiriya to planets and in one of his books he mentioned that strong diamonds would have to be used in that regard. "I too thought at that time this to be a dream." But NASA is now prepared to do it by using Nano-technology to manufacture carbon nano-tubes as strong as diamonds.

"Owing to the existing economic recession, 60 per cent of the world's vehicle manufacturing has been reduced. This would certainly affect our tyre industry. Economic recessions do stay for at least 2-3 years," the Minister said.