Interpretations of 2001: A Space Odyssey the myriad mysteries of cosmic intelligence anathema. The film has been seen by many people not only as a literal story about evolution and space adventures, but as an allegorical representation of aspects of philosophical, religious or literary concepts. Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical tract "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", about the potential of mankind, is directly referred to by the use of Richard Strauss's musical piece of the same name. Nietzsche writes that man is a bridge between the ape and the Übermensch. In an interview in the "New York Times", Kubrick gave credence to interpretations of 2001 based on "Zarathustra" when he
A Time Odyssey Clarke's previous "Space Odyssey" novel series. In the introduction to the "Time's Eye", Clarke describes the premise as "neither a prequel nor a sequel" to "Space Odyssey", but an "orthoquel" (a neologism coined by Clarke for this purpose, combining the word "sequel" with "ortho-", the Greek prefix meaning "straight" or "perpendicular", and alluding to the fact that time is orthogonal to space in relativity theory). In "Space Odyssey", a race of benevolent godlike aliens with highly advanced technology decides to use machines called "monoliths" to travel across the galaxy with the intention to ensure the survival chances of intelligent life