Imperial Earth

Imperial Earth is a 1975 book by the well-known science fiction author Arthur c. Clarke. Is this book not by many critics considered his best work. The book was released just in time for the celebration of the bicentenary of the UNITED STATES (1976).

He describes a colony on Titan, a moon of Saturn, where hydrogen gas is extracted for the benefit of the merger-drive of the interplanetary missiles.

The leaders of the underground colony are formed from the Makenziefamily, a dynasty which consists of clones because they have no more children can get through their damaged genes. Duncan Makenzie, scientific administrator, go to Earth for the first time on diplomatic mission and also to create a new clone . It is actually a kind of travelogue in 2276 from someone who travels to Earth from Titan and among other things get to the big difference in gravity. His trip also falls along with the 500-year anniversary of the United States, where Duncan Makenzie should keep a speech on this celebration.

It is essential the story of a man who looks at the Earth through the eyes of an outsider. By this cultural shock he finds all kinds of new business over the Earth, humanity, racism and himself.

This book is packed with ideas on culture, social problems, politics and technology. The visionary Clarke wrote all this before the era of PCs, the Intel chips and internet. However, the reality has already outpaced his vision. The current palmtops in 2005 are already much more powerful than his minisecs from 2276.