[Genus]

Well some say the man was a scientific philospher first, and an author second. Considering he invented the geo-stationary orbit and that a lot of his theories have been used in first contact directives, they may well be right.

If you liked Clarke, read somes Stephen Baxter and Ben Bova, two people he rated very highly. Personally, I think Baxter is a better writer than Clarke, but that's going out on a very big limb on a very big tree...