Editing The Fountains of Paradise (section)

==Themes==
The main theme of the novel is preceded by, and to some extent juxtaposed with, the story of the life and death of King [[Kashyapa I]] of [[Sri Lanka]] (fictionalized as King Kalidasa). It foreshadows the exploits of Vannevar Morgan in his determination to realize the space elevator.

Other subplots include human colonization of the [[Solar System]] and the [[First contact (science fiction)|first contact]] with [[extraterrestrial life|extraterrestrial intelligence]].

Clarke envisions a microscopically thin (in his demonstrator sample) but strong "hyperfilament" that makes the elevator possible. Although the hyperfilament is constructed from "continuous pseudo-one-dimensional [[diamond]] crystal", Clarke later expressed his belief that another type of carbon, [[fullerene|buckminsterfullerene]], would play the role of hyperfilament in a real space elevator. The [[Timeline of carbon nanotubes|latest developments]]{{which|date=November 2024}} in [[carbon nanotube]] technology bring the orbital elevator closer to possible realisation.