Bigger Better Faster Foundations of Paradise by Arthur C Clarke
Man has always longed to build things, and as time goes on, man feels the need to outdo all previous achievements. Arthur C. Clarke's novel, Foundations of Paradise is a good example of this human characteristic. Vannevar Morgan is an engineer living in the twenty second century, and is known by his peers to be one of the greatest engineers in the world. The creation that gave Morgan this title was the Gibraltar Bridge, connecting Europe to Africa. This bridge is situated five kilometers above the water of the Mediterranean Sea. Dr. Morgan has in his head yet another idea that will become his final and greatest mark on the world. A new substance has been developed through years of research. It is a microcrystaline fiber that is extraordinarily strong and ten times narrower than a human hair. Morgan's idea is to use this material to build an elevator to hoist things into orbit of the Earth. This way, no rockets will be needed to blast things into orbit. Much money will be saved, along with a dramatic decrease in pollution. Morgan knows many people who have faith in his
It seems like the number of difficulties encountered when an idea is put into place is directly relative to the outcome of the completed idea. A simple idea with little benefit will typically not encounter many problems in production. A grandiose idea with earth-shaking benefits, on the other hand, will have many obstacles to overcome before completion. This rule applies very heavily to the space elevator concept. It turns out that the place on which the elevator is to be built is occupied by xenophobic monks. After a few twists of fate that hardly be called luck, the monks leave their home and construction of the tower is started. The problems aren't over yet, though. The tower is built, but not without causalities, the last of which is Dr. Morgan himself. After the tower is completed, it becomes one of the most important structures on Earth. This is not unlike many construction ventures that have been completed in the past. The construction of the Hoover Dam had a human cost in the dozens of lives, and the average north-Atlantic fisherman works in the business for only four y
Some common words found in the essay are:
Hoover Dam, Vannevar Morgan, Dr Morgan, World Bank, Arthur Clarke, , Europe Africa, Foundations Paradise, Arthur Clarke's, Gibraltar Bridge, mark world, dr morgan, foundations paradise, space elevator, vannevar morgan,
Approximate Word count = 737
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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