Science And Technology: The Dawn of Man
2001: An African Odyssey
— By Matt Ventimiglia, July 4, 2001

June 21, by coincidence the winter solstice in southern Africa, recently heralded the breathtaking event of a total solar eclipse. The Moon’s shadow entered the continent in Angola, before sweeping across Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique where it finally raced into the Indian Ocean crossing Madagascar. For those fortunate enough to be well situated (I was north of Lusaka, Zambia at Fringilla Farm in the small town of Chisamba), the experience was both exhilarating and humbling. Few natural events evoke a deeper sense of awe and mystery than the transient brush of the Moon’s shadow across Earth.

Dan Richter in Olduvai, "I threw the bone in honor of Arthur Clarke..."
Photo courtesy of Dan Richter.

The symbolism of a total solar eclipse occurring in Africa in the year 2001 is inescapable to the many millions of space science and science fiction enthusiasts around the world. (For some, including yours truly, it was the most compelling reason, to make the trip.) Thoughts surrounding the opening scenes of Stanley Kubrick’s classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which more than 30 years ago had transported movie audiences back to our pre-human origins, were never far from our minds. These scenes are still widely regarded as the first accurate representation of early hominid life to appear in the cinema. Before that, we had little more than absurd examples such as Raquel Welch in One Million Years BC to represent our pre-human past.

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