Arthur C. Clarke wrote a 1953 science fiction short story about the names of God. How many names?

In the story, an order of Tibetan lamas has determined that God has nine billion names and humanity's purpose is to list them all. They believe that when they have listed all the names, the universe will end.

For the previous 300 years, they labored to identify God’s names and write them in books. With the advent of the electronic computer, they decided to shorten their work—by about 15 millennia—by renting a computer system and programming it with their search algorithm and unique alphabet. They would print out the names and paste them into the books.

The computer company sends two technicians on an arduous journey to the lamasery to install and program the machine. They reason that the lamas are insane and that when they realize their life’s work is for nothing, they will blame the computer and its installers. Fearing for their lives, they finish the job and beat a hasty retreat down the mountain.

Night falls. They look up and see that, “overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out."

Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (12/16/17 – 3/19/08) was born in Minehead, Somerset, England. He was not only a science fiction writer but also an inventor, science writer, futurist, and television personality. His passion for scuba diving led him to move to Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, in 1956. He remained there until his death at age 90, in Colombo, the country’s largest city and commercial capital.