The Fountains of Paradise is a Hugo[1] and Nebula[2] Award winning 1979 novel by Arthur C. Clarke. Set in the 22nd century, it describes the construction of a space elevator. This "orbital tower" is a giant structure rising from the ground and linking with a satellite in geostationary at the height of approximately 36,000 kilometers (approx. 22,300 miles). Such a structure would be used to raise payloads to orbit without having to use rockets, making it much more cost-effective.
Themes
Clarke uses the life of the ancient king Kalidasa to foreshadow the exploits of engineer Vannevar Morgan in his determination to realise the space elevator. Subplots include human colonization of the solar system and the first contact with extraterrestrial intelligence. The story is set in the fictional equatorial island country of Taprobane, which Clarke has described it as "about ninety percent congruent with the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)", south of its real world location. The ruins of the palace at Yakkagala as described in the book very closely match the real-life ruins at Sigiriya in Sri Lanka. The mountain on which the space elevator is built is called Sri Kanda in the book, and bears a strong resemblance to the real mountain Sri Pada.
Clarke envisions a microscopically thin but strong "hyperfilament" that makes the elevator possible. Although the hyperfilament is constructed from "continuous pseudo-one-dimensional diamond crystal" [pg.45] in the novel, Clarke later expressed his belief that another type of carbon, Buckminsterfullerene, would play the role of hyperfilament in a real space elevator.
The latest developments in carbon nanotube technology bring the orbital elevator closer to possible realisation.
Plot Summary
In the 22nd century, Dr Vannevar Morgan is a famous engineer with many major projects behind him, including the Gibraltar Bridge. He hopes to develop the 'space elevator' from a theoretical concept to reality and enlists the resources of his employers to carry out experiments. But the only suitable starting point (Earth station) for the elevator lies at the summit of a mountain in Taprobane occupied by an ancient order of Buddhist monks, who implacably oppose the plan.
Morgan is approached by a consortium from Mars to develop the elevator on Mars as part of a massive terraforming project. To demonstrate the technology, Morgan tries to run a simple cable to Tabrobane. A monk at the monastery, who is a mathematical genius, tries to sabotage the attempt by creating an artificial hurricane using a hijacked weather control satellite. In an ironic twist, the hurricane blows butterflies to the peak of the mountain, fulfilling an ancient prophecy that cause the monks to leave the mountain, which means that the tower can be built on Earth after all.
Several years later, the Earth-based tower is well under construction and travel up and down is being trialled. A group of scientists are stranded between base and 'Midway' after an accident, with limited food and air supplies. Despite his rapidly failing health, Morgan asserts his right to travel up the tower in a one-man 'spider' to rescue them. He nearly fails but ultimately succeeds.
As Morgan surveys the progress of his brainchild, his heart disease claims his life.
A short epilogue envisages Earth with several space elevators leading to a giant, "circumterran", space station that encircles Earth at geostationary altitude. The analogy with a wheel is evident: the space station itself is the wheel rim, Earth is the axle, and the six equidistant space elevators the spokes.
Similarities with other works of Clarke
- In the middle of Fountains, an unmanned robotic spaceship of alien origin, called "Starglider" by Clarke, passes through our solar system. This situation is similar to Rendezvous with Rama, though the ship exterior and its interactions with humans is very different.
- The first third of 3001: The Final Odyssey describes details of the interior of the ring habitat that encloses earth, and is connected to earth's surface with 4 space elevators. At the end of Fountains, we see this ring habitat for the first time - though it has 6 space elevators rather than 4 of 3001.
- At the end of Fountains, Earth turns into an icy wasteland because the Sun has cooled. The same situation also occurs in the first story of History Lesson.
- The alien we meet near the end of Fountains is a somewhat more physical form of the Swarm - the aliens that land on primeval earth in The Possessed.
Awards and nominations
See also
References
External links
