Thanks! I wasn't too sure of that -- some Arthur C Clarke books are masterpieces -- like Rendezvous with Rama, but some others are real duds. I'm a big Asimov fan -- you>?
I recently picked up a copy of Clarke's "Fountains of Paradise" just to read his description of a space elevator. What's funny and encouraging about the recent news on the development of a real space elevator is that Clarke has us in the mid 21st Century and already back on the Moon and established on Mars before a substance strong enough and light enough to support a space elevator is discovered.