The Nine Billion Names Of God By Arthur C. Clarke

The Nine Billion Names of God, written by popular science fiction artist Arthur C. Clarke, was an important step for the science fiction genre, one that influenced its very bright and popular future. The Nine Billion Names of God is a game-changing and timeless Science Fiction classic. It is a game-changing story in its approach to writing a science fiction piece, using Clark’s method of proposing a problem, then using hard science to find a solution. It’s twist ending, that entailed a bit of fantasy elements, was unique for the genre. It is also timeless, with a new ‘doomsday’ theories appearing every single day in modern society. Also, with the advancement of computers, we could be facing the same fate as portrayed in the story, even if through
The author behind this story, Arthur C. Clarke, wrote many of his science fiction stories using the same method he used with this one, in that he proposes a problem, then answers it using hard science. With a background in both physics and mathematics, Clarke used these skills to add more credibility and realism to his works, with The Nine Billion Names of God being no exception. This approach to a science fiction story was game-changing, in that most of what went on in his stories was grounded in very real science and math. But it wasn’t just his realistic math and science, it was using them to solve a problem that was proposed in his stories. (Card, 110) In the begging of The Nine Billion Names of God, the Lama approaches Dr. Wagner and gives the reader their first problem to be answered in this story. The Lama states “It is really quite simple. We have been compiling a list which shall contain all the possible names of god,” then goes on to explain “all such names can be written with not more than nine letters in the alphabet we have devised.” (111) As well as a few other stipulations presented by the lama, such as having no more than three letters ever occur in a row, the
Towards the end of Clarke’s classic, two of the main characters find out that the monks believed the world would end as soon as all possible names of god had been written. The protagonist, Clark, recalls their beliefs, stating “when they have listed all His names---and they reckon that there are about nine billon of them---God’s purpose will be achieved. The Human race will have finished what it was created to do, and there won’t be any point in carrying on.” (113) The characters immediately assume it is ridiculous and believe it to be false. Their worries then shift to the monks, and how they will react when the end doesn’t happen, completely ignoring the small possibility of the prophecy being real. This still holds relevance today, with a new popular doomsday theory seemingly appearing overnight. But this isn’t something just relevant today; new doomsday theories have been sprouted long before, and ever since this stories conception. Sometime in the mid-to-late 1900’s, a theory suggested that a massive swarm of killer bees was migrating from Africa. Due to the lack ease of knowledge, like the internet, the rumor spread out of control and everyone was fearful until the story was debunked. Nearly a decade ago, in 2000, doomsday theorists concocted the idea that on midnight of the new