“That requires as much power as a small radio transmitter--and rather similar skills to operate. For it's the application of the power, not its amount, that matters. How long do you think Hitler's career as a dictator of Germany would have lasted, if wherever he went a voice was talking quietly in his ear? Or if a steady musical note, loud enough to drown all other sounds and to prevent sleep, filled his brain night and day? Nothing brutal, you appreciate. Yet, in the final analysis, just as irresistible as a tritium bomb.”

English science fiction writer, inventor, undersea explorer and TV series host

Arthur C. Clarke was an English science fiction writer, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. He became especially well known for writing fiction that imagined the future with unusual clarity and for taking part in popular science broadcasting. Clarke’s work brought together science, technology, and speculation about what humans might build and discover. Beyond his writing, he was also active as an inventor and explored the sea, interests that fit the practical curiosity that runs through his public life and work.