Greetings, carbon-based bipeds!

The most visionary and versatile thinker of his age gathers together in a single volume his most significant and prophetic non-fiction writings to present a personal view of the twentieth century. Each essay has a new introduction by Clarke. Witness the awesome workings of Clarke's intellect as he predicts the role of geosynchronous satellites decades before they existed; anticipates the internet decades before it happened; reports from Kennedy Space Centre; scripts the best movies ever made; discusses Star Wars, giant squid, and numerous other fascinating topics. Clarke has been both a technological prophet and a cultural conscience for many decades of his century, celebrating the great scientific power of man - an d simultaneously warning of the perils of a world where power and greed reign unchecked. Clarke can provide a unique coda for the last century of the second millennium.