The novel “2001: A Space Odyssey” by Arthur C. Clarke was published for the first time in 1968.

Moon-Watcher and his group of hominids barely survive in the veldt eating the few roots and berries they can find. The presence of other hominids in the area makes their situation even more difficult until one day the appearance of a monolith changes everything. Moon-Watcher and the other hominids of his group learn new things that allow them to dominate the territory.

On the Moon a secret research is investigating a mysterious monolith. Dr. Heywood Floyd goes there on the pretext of a possible epidemic in the human outpost and he’s explained that the object is for sure of alien origin. When it’s brought to the surface and at dawn is hit by sunlight, it sends a signal. The spaceship “Discovery” is sent in the Saturn system, officially on a scientific mission.