The Fountains of Paradise is a science fiction novel written by noted author Arthur C. Clarke. First published in 1979, the Fountains of Paradise follows ace engineer Vannevar Morgan as he constructs a space elevator. For those not familiar with the space elevator/cable/tower concept, think of it as a tower that goes up to a point outside of the Earth's atmosphere. Then, instead of mucking about with polluting, expensive and noisy rockets, you could simply take an elevator to orbit. In fact, it has been shown that, since the downward moving elevator cars could power the upward moving cars, one kilogram of mass could be taken into orbit for the equivalent of $10 worth of electricity!
The elevator is to be constructed on Sri Kanda, a mountain on the fictional island of Taprobane. Taprobane is basically Sri Lanka moved north so that it straddles the equator. However, there is one problem: the elevator site is a sacred mountain jealously guarded by Buddhist monks...
I found this book to be typical Arthur C. Clarke, well-written and with a good scientific basis. There are moments of genuine excitement and wonder, as well as suspense and tension. Unusually for Arthur C. Clarke, running concurrently with the main storyline is a subplot involving Kalidasa, an 11th Century king of Taprobane. It is also the inspiration for the title of the novel; Kalidasa's most famous accomplishment was the construction of acres of beautiful gardens with fountains a hundred feet high. This adds a lot of depth and character to the island kingdom, and gives an insight into why a group of monks wish to stop Mankind from reaching the stars...
One part of the novel which I did find interesting yet pointless were the 'conversations with Starglider'. The premise is that at some point during the next century, an alien robotic probe enters the Solar System and initiates conversation with Earth. This section has a tacked-on feel, and seems to be put in for the sake of saying, "Look, this novel also deals with events on a galactic scale!". I have the same feelings towards the epilogue of the story: epic yet pointless.
That said, this is a very good book. Anyone who even remotely enjoys Arthur C. Clarke's work should like this novel.
Addendum: Today (May 8, 2001), I received a New Scientist with an article on the viability of a space elevator. The cost per kilogram could be reduced to $1.48 (compared with $22,000 for current rockets). There was also an interesting final paragraph to the article...
So if all goes well, when can we expect such a structure to be built? Arthur C. Clarke was once asked this question and came up with the answer: "The space elevator will be built about 50 years after everyone stops laughing." They just stopped.