Episode 42: It's time to stop quoting Clarke's Third Law
Clarke famously wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey, in which monoliths and giant space babies add up to one huge mystical acid trip.
We've all heard Arthur C. Clarke's third law, which states that sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic. What did Clarke mean by this, and how are people using his law to take the mystery out of fantasy stories? Plus we look at popular stories where magic is explained by science, including Star Wars and Dune.
Notes, citations, etc!
Arthur C. Clarke (author/futurist)
Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World (TV show)
Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers (TV show)
Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious Universe (TV show)
All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders (novel)
Star Trek (TV series)
Scooby Doo (TV series)
The Gods Must Be Crazy (movie)
2001: A Space Odyssey (movie)
Drew Endy (synthetic biologist)
Star Wars (space opera series)
The Force (Star Wars magic system)
Midichlorians (Star Wars science)
Dune by Frank Herbert (book series)
Harry Potter (book series)
Discworld by Terry Pratchett (book series)
The Magicians by Lev Grossman (book series)
The Bas Lag series by China Mieville (book series)
iFixit.com (website)
The Laundry Files series by Charles Stross (book series)
Lord Voldemort (Harry Potter character)
Friedrich Nietzsche (philosopher)
'Criminal' Manipulation of Nietzsche by Sister To Make Him Look Anti-Semitic (Telegraph)
Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche (Nietzsche's sister)
Nueva Germania (colony)
The Architectural and Social Dynamics of Gentrification in Roman North Africa (paper by J. Andrew Dufton)
Utica (Tunisian city)