Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke (Born 1917/ Died 2008) is considered to be one of the grand masters of the science fiction genre, and his works tend to focus around space travel itself, now thought to be standard to any science fiction work, but during his time, not very well known or understood. His works often presented different ways of interstellar travel from deep long "cold sleep" voyages to faster-than-light speed systems. He also dipped into concepts of computing and bioengineering. One of his most direct contributions to society was the idea of a geostationary satellite, something that the NSA is certainly thankful for amirite?