|
A Stanislaw Lem Reader
''A Stanislaw Lem Reader'' is a collection of writings by and about Polish science fiction writer Stanisław Lem, one of the world's most widely read science-fiction writers. The book comprises an introduction by Canadian literary scholar Peter Swirski, two interviews by Swirski with Lem, and Swirski's translation of Lem's essay, "30 Years Later". Contents The book is described as an "eclectic collection" on its back cover. It begins with Swirski's introduction titled "Stanislaw Lem: A Stranger in a Strange Land", an overview of Lem's literary work. The title is an allusion to Robert Heinlein's ''Stranger in a Strange Land'', stressing the uniqueness of Lem's original perceptions of the contemporary civilization, his aesthetics and philosophy. Peter Butko described this overview as "condensed and insightful". The second item is "Reflections on Literature, Philosophy, and Science", a personal interview of Swirski with Lem carried out in 1992, mostly focused on Lem's views o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Swirski
Peter Swirski is a Canadian scholar and literary critic featured in '' Canadian Who's Who''. As a specialist in American literature and American Studies, he is the author of many books, including the prize-winning ''Ars Americana, Ars Politica'' (2010) and the staple of American popular culture studies '' From Lowbrow to Nobrow'' (2005). His other studies include ''American Utopia and Social Engineering'' (2011), ''American Political Fictions'' (2015), ''American Utopia: Literature, Society, and the Human Use of Human Beings'' (2020, Routledge textbook), and the digital-futurological bestseller ''From Literature to Biterature'' (2013). He is also the leading scholar on the late writer and philosopher Stanisław Lem. Life and career Peter Swirski is distinguished visiting professor and honorary professor at Jinan University in Guangzhou, China. Formerly he was a professor and research director at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies in Finland, Distinguished Professor of Am ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Summa Technologiae
''Summa Technologiae'' (the title is in Latin, meaning "Summa (Compendium) of Technology" in English) is a 1964 book by Polish author Stanisław Lem. ''Summa'' is one of the first collections of philosophical essays by Lem. The book exhibits depth of insight and irony usual for Lem's creations. The name is an allusion to ''Summa Theologiae'' by Thomas Aquinas.Joanna Zylinska, translator's introduction, in: ''Summa Technologiae'', University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis-London, 2013, . Description Paraphrasing the author, the book tries to "examine the thorns of roses that have not flowered yet" - in other words, to deal with problems of the remote (and in some cases, not so remote) future. The primary question Lem treats in the book is that of civilization in the absence of limitations, both technological and material. He also looks at moral-ethical and philosophical consequences of future technologies. Despite its age and a number of inaccuracies in specific domains (e.g., ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1997 Non-fiction Books
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of the most observed comets of the 20th century; Golden Bauhinia Square, where sovereignty of Hong Kong is handed over from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China; the 1997 Central European flood kills 114 people in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Germany; Korean Air Flight 801 crashes during heavy rain on Guam, killing 229; Mars Pathfinder and Sojourner land on Mars; flowers left outside Kensington Palace following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in a car crash in Paris., 300x300px, thumb rect 0 0 200 200 Titanic (1997 film) rect 200 0 400 200 Harry Potter rect 400 0 600 200 Comet Hale-Bopp rect 0 200 300 400 Death of Diana, Princess of Wales rect 300 200 600 400 Handover of Hong Kong rect 0 400 200 600 Mars Pathfinder r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bibliography Of Stanisław Lem
:''This is a list of works about Lem. For a list of works of Lem, see List of works by Stanisław Lem and their adaptations'' This bibliography of Stanisław Lem is a list of works about Stanisław Lem, a Polish science fiction writer and essayist. In addition to books and numerous academic articles, Lem's works and ideas have been a subject of a number of Ph.D. and master theses. Books about Lem * 2021: Lech Keller, ''Stanisław Lem w PRL-u czyli niewygodna prawda w zwiększonej objętości - Stanisław Lem in the People's Republic of Poland, or the Inconvenient Truth in an Enlarged Volume)'' - Acta Polonica Monashiensis (Monash University: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) Volume 5 Number 1 - The inconvenient truth that Stanisław Lem was for a long time the 'pet' of the communist regime * 2021: Lech Keller, ''Lem Little Known '' - Acta Polonica Monashiensis (Monash University: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) Volume 4 Number 1 - Biography of Lem in EnglisLEM LITTLE KNOWN*2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rozmowy Ze Stanisławem Lemem
''Rozmowy ze Stanisławem Lemem'' (literal translation: ''Conversations with Stanisław Lem'') is a book-length interview of Polish science fiction writer Stanisław Lem conducted by literary critic and historian Stanisław Bereś in 1981–1982 and published in book format in 1987. The second, more comprehensive edition was published in 2002 under the title ''Tako rzecze... Lem'' (''Thus Spoke... Lem'')."Thus Spoke Lem" at Lem's official website. The German-language, uncensored version, ''Also sprach Lem'', was published earlier, in 1986.The title is an allusion to ''''. Lem's 1981 book '' |
Leszek Kołakowski
Leszek Kołakowski (; ; 23 October 1927 – 17 July 2009) was a Polish philosopher and historian of ideas. He is best known for his critical analyses of Marxist thought, especially his three-volume history, '' Main Currents of Marxism'' (1976). In his later work, Kołakowski increasingly focused on religious questions. In his 1986 Jefferson Lecture, he asserted that " learn history not in order to know how to behave or how to succeed, but to know who we are".Leszek Kołakowski, "The Idolatry of Politics," reprinted in ''Modernity on Endless Trial'' (University of Chicago Press, 1990, paperback edition 1997), , , , p. 158. Due to his criticism of Marxism and of the Communist state system, Kołakowski was effectively exiled from Poland in 1968. He spent most of the remainder of his career at All Souls College, Oxford. Despite being in exile, Kołakowski was a major inspiration for the Solidarity movement that flourished in Poland in the 1980s and helped bring about the collapse o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virtual Reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), education (such as medical or military training) and business (such as virtual meetings). Other distinct types of VR-style technology include augmented reality and mixed reality, sometimes referred to as extended reality or XR, although definitions are currently changing due to the nascence of the industry. Currently, standard virtual reality systems use either virtual reality headsets or multi-projected environments to generate realistic images, sounds and other sensations that simulate a user's physical presence in a virtual environment. A person using virtual reality equipment is able to look around the artificial world, move around in it, and interact with virtual features or items. The effect is commonly created by VR headsets consisting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Futurology
Futures studies, futures research, futurism or futurology is the systematic, interdisciplinary and holistic study of social and technological advancement, and other environmental trends, often for the purpose of exploring how people will live and work in the future. Predictive techniques, such as forecasting, can be applied, but contemporary futures studies scholars emphasize the importance of systematically exploring alternatives. In general, it can be considered as a branch of the social sciences and an extension to the field of history. Futures studies (colloquially called "futures" by many of the field's practitioners) seeks to understand what is likely to continue and what could plausibly change. Part of the discipline thus seeks a systematic and pattern-based understanding of past and present, and to explore the possibility of future events and trends. Unlike the physical sciences where a narrower, more specified system is studied, futurology concerns a much bigger and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stranger In A Strange Land
''Stranger in a Strange Land'' is a 1961 science fiction novel by American author Robert A. Heinlein. It tells the story of Valentine Michael Smith, a human who comes to Earth in early adulthood after being born on the planet Mars and raised by Martians, and explores his interaction with and eventual transformation of Terran culture. The title "Stranger in a Strange Land" is a direct quotation from the King James Bible (taken from Exodus 2:22). The working title for the book was "A Martian Named Smith", which was also the name of the screenplay started by a character at the end of the novel. Heinlein's widow Virginia arranged to have the original unedited manuscript published in 1991, three years after Heinlein's death. Critics disagree about which version is superior. ''Stranger in a Strange Land'' won the 1962 Hugo Award for Best Novel and became the first science fiction novel to enter ''The New York Times Book Review'''s best-seller list. In 2012, the Library of Congress n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stanisław Lem
Stanisław Herman Lem (; 12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006) was a Polish writer of science fiction and essays on various subjects, including philosophy, futurology, and literary criticism. Many of his science fiction stories are of satirical and humorous character. Lem's books have been translated into more than 50 languages and have sold more than 45 million copies. Worldwide, he is best known as the author of the 1961 novel ''Solaris (novel), Solaris''. In 1976 Theodore Sturgeon wrote that Lem was the most widely read science fiction writer in the world. Lem is the author of the fundamental philosophical work "Summa Technologiae", in which he anticipated the creation of virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and also developed the ideas of human autoevolution, the creation of Simulacrum, artificial worlds, and many others. Lem's science fiction works explore philosophical themes through speculations on technology, the nature of intelligence, the impossibility of com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accuracy in his fiction, and was thus a pioneer of the subgenre of hard science fiction. His published works, both fiction and non-fiction, express admiration for competence and emphasize the value of critical thinking. His plots often posed provocative situations which challenged conventional social mores. His work continues to have an influence on the science-fiction genre, and on modern culture more generally. Heinlein became one of the first American science-fiction writers to break into mainstream magazines such as ''The Saturday Evening Post'' in the late 1940s. He was one of the best-selling science-fiction novelists for many decades, and he, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke are often considered the "Big Three" of English-language sci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Fiction In Poland
Science fiction and fantasy in Poland dates to the late 18th century. During the latter years of the People's Republic of Poland, a very popular genre of science fiction was social science fiction. Later, many other genres gained prominence. Poland has many science-fiction writers. Internationally, the best known Polish science-fiction writer is the late Stanisław Lem. As elsewhere, Polish science fiction is closely related to the genres of fantasy, horror and others. While many English-language writers have been translated into Polish, relatively little Polish-language science fiction (or fantasy) has been translated into English. History Science fiction in Poland started in the late 18th century during the Polish Enlightenment, when Michał Dymitr Krajewski wrote a novel about the adventures of a Pole on the Moon. In the mid-19th century, during the age of romanticism in Poland, Adam Mickiewicz, reckoned by many to be Poland's top poet, also worked on a Verne-like ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Stanisław Lem")
