On the sage advice of Seppo from Comeks I just finished reading Arthur C. Clarke's The Fountains of Paradise. Clarke is one of the big four sci-fi authors (along with Asimov, Heinlein and Dick) and to my own discredit I had only ever read Rendezvous with Rama before starting this book. Wikipedia describes the book as follows:

The Fountains of Paradise is a 1979 novel by Arthur C. Clarke. Set in the 22nd century, it describes the construction of a space elevator. This "orbital tower" is a giant structure rising from the ground and linking with a satellite in geostationary at the height of approximately 36,000 kilometers (approx. 22,300 miles). Such a structure would be used to raise payloads to orbit without having to use rockets, making it much more cost-effective.

The story itself is great but it was the vignettes and interludes which really sold me on the book. Clarke is often referred to as a futurist and in this book the powers of his prescience really shine through. I constantly had to remind myself that the book had been written in the 1970's and not a few years ago. Verdict: Well worth a read.