''Summa Technologiae'' (the title is in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, meaning "

Summa Summa and its diminutive summula (plural ''summae'' and ''summulae'', respectively) was a medieval didactics literary genre written in Latin, born during the 12th century, and popularized in 13th century Europe. In its simplest sense, they might ...

(

Compendium A compendium (plural: compendia or compendiums) is a comprehensive collection of information and analysis pertaining to a body of knowledge. A compendium may concisely summarize a larger work. In most cases, the body of knowledge will concern a s ...

) of

Technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

" in English) is a 1964 book by Polish author

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 ...

. ''Summa'' is one of the first collections of philosophical

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

s by Lem. The book exhibits depth of insight and irony usual for Lem's creations. The name is an allusion to ''

Summa Theologiae The ''Summa Theologiae'' or ''Summa Theologica'' (), often referred to simply as the ''Summa'', is the best-known work of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), a scholastic theologian and Doctor of the Church. It is a compendium of all of the main t ...

'' by

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wi ...

.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., mathematics, biology, sociology), the book has lost no momentum in the past years. Among the themes that Lem discusses in the book and that were completely in the realm of

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

then, but are gaining importance today, are

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), educ ...

(Lem calls it "phantomatics"), theory of

search engine A search engine is a software system designed to carry out web searches. They search the World Wide Web in a systematic way for particular information specified in a textual web search query. The search results are generally presented in a ...

s ("ariadnology", after Ariadne's thread),

technological singularity The technological singularity—or simply the singularity—is a hypothetical future point in time at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable changes to human civilization. According to the m ...

, molecular

nanotechnology Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal o ...

("molectronics"),

cognitive enhancement Neuroenhancement or cognitive enhancement refers to the targeted enhancement and extension of cognitive and affective abilities based on an understanding of their underlying neurobiology in healthy persons who do not have any mental illness. As su ...

("cerebromatics"),

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...

("intellectronics"). In the preface to the first edition Lem mentions the crucial role of

Iosif Shklovsky Iosif Samuilovich Shklovsky (russian: Ио́сиф Самуи́лович Шкло́вский; sometimes transliterated ''Josif, Josif, Shklovskii, Shklovskij'') (1 July 1916 – 3 March 1985) was a Soviet astronomer and astrophysicist. He ...

's popular science monograph ''Вселенная, жизнь, разум'' ( en, Universe, Life, Intelligence, Moscow, USSR Academy of Sciences Publisher, 1962) in shaping Lem's ''Summae''. In 1996 the book received the award of the Czech Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror (Akademie science fiction, fantasy a hororu) in the category "Nonfiction titles" ("Titul mimo beletrii").

The book has 8 chapters, each dealing with far-fetched implications of a certain concept: ; 1. Dilemmas : Lem starts by presenting his views on future prognostication and motivations in writing the book. ; 2. Two Evolutions : This chapter considers similarities between several evolutions: biological, technological and social. ; 3. Space Civilizations : An overview of contemporary (to the book)

SETI The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is a collective term for scientific searches for intelligent extraterrestrial life, for example, monitoring electromagnetic radiation for signs of transmissions from civilizations on other p ...

efforts and theories is given, with their criticism. ; 4. Intellectronics : A word coined by Lem to speculate on the field that is known today as

: The day will come when machine intelligence will rival or surpass the human one. Moreover, problems facing humankind may surpass the intellectual abilities of flesh and blood researchers. What shall we expect (or fear) in this conception of the future? ; 5.

Prolegomena In an essay, Article (publishing), article, or book, an introduction (also known as a prolegomenon) is a beginning section which states the purpose and goals of the following writing. This is generally followed by the body text, body and conclus ...

to Omnipotence : Technological evolution gives us more and more abilities—in fact, sometime in the future we should be able to do everything at all! Or maybe not? ; 6. Phantomology : Another term invented by Lem for what is known now as

. Human perception is limited by biology—so maybe we can bypass the real omnipotence in favor of an imitated one? Even in this case, Lem finds many surprising problems. :Lem revisited this section in 1991 in his essay "Thirty Years Later", translated in the book ''

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 Pete ...

''. Many the predictions from this section are coming to reality. ; 7. Creation of the Worlds : May it be that instead of painstaking research we can "grow" new information from available information in an automatic way? Starting with this question Lem evolves the concept to the creation of whole new Universes, including (as a special treat) the construction of a heaven/hell/afterlife enabled one. ; 8.

Pasquinade A pasquinade or pasquil is a form of satire, usually an anonymous brief lampoon in verse or prose, and can also be seen as a form of literary caricature. The genre became popular in early modern Europe, in the 16th century, though the term had ...

on Evolution : Biological evolution did a rather lousy job designing humans and other animals. Can engineers do better? The first edition also contained: ;9 Art and Technology : ( pl, Sztuka i technologia.) After

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). ...

severely criticised the chapter, it was removed in later editions, both Polish and foreign. In 1988 Lem remarked that during the time past the subject had gained it its actuality. The 4th, expanded edition (1984) contains an additional essay: ; Afterword. 20 Years Later. In 1991 Lem wrote a yet another afterword, ''Thirty Years Later'', published separately and translated in ''

''.

Translations

The book was originally published in Polish. *Czech: Transl. Pavel Weigel. *Chinese: Transl. Yunjiang Hongmeng(云将鸿蒙), Yunjiang Hongmeng Er Hao Ji(云将鸿蒙二号机) and Mao Rui(毛蕊). *English: **, first complete English translation; translated by

Joanna Zylinska Joanna Zylinska (born Joanna Żylińska, 5 May 1971) is a United Kingdom writer, researcher and artist. She is Professor of Media Philosophy + Critical Digital Practice at King's College London. Prior to Joining King's in September 2021 she was ...

"A brilliant trip back to the technological future"
''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publishe ...

'', May 15, 2013 **Chapter I "Dilemmas" and fragments of chapters II "Two Evolutions", IV "Intellectronics" and VI "Pasquil on the Evolution" had earlier been translated by Frank Prengel."The Book No One Read"
by Lee Billings, September 10, 2015 *German: Lem, Stanisław. ''Summa Technologiae'', Transl. Friedrich Griese, Frankfurt, Insel Verlag, 1976, *Hungarian: ''Summa technologiae. Tudomány, civilizáció, jövő''; translated by Radó György; Kossuth, Budapest, 1972 (Univerzum könyvtár) *Latvian: Summa technologiae, tulk. un pēcv. aut. Juris Birzvalks, Rīga, 1987, izd. "Apvārsnis", tip. "Cīņa". *Russian: **First translation (from the 2nd Polish edition): Лем, Станислав. Сумма технологии = Summa Technologiae / пер. с польск. А. Г. Громовой, Д. И. Иорданского, Р. И. Нудельмана, Б. Н. Пановкина, Л. Р. Плинера, Р. А. Трофимова, Ю. А. Ярошевского; introduction by В. В. Парина; editing and afterword by Б. В. Бирюкова и Ф. В. Широкова. Moscow, Mir Publishers, 1968, 608 pp.

Mir ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...

br>
1968, USSR, "Сумма Технологии" (transliteration: Summa Technologii, translation: Sum of Technology). **First full translation, without censorship: in: Лем, Станислав. Собрание сочинений, 10 vols. Moscow, Tekst, 1996. Vol. 13 (extra) : Сумма технологии. *Serbo-Croatian: ; translated by Petar Vujičić *Spanish: Lem, Stanisław. ''Summa Technologiae'', Transl. Bárbara Gill, Buenos Aires, Ediciones Godot, 2017,

References

External links

*
Lem's short description of the book, in English

The rise of data and the death of politics
(2014-07-19),

Evgeny Morozov Evgeny Morozov (Russian: Eвге́ний Моро́зов; be, Яўгені Марозаў; born in 1984) is an American writer, researcher, and intellectual from Belarus who studies political and social implications of technology. He was named ...

, ''

TheGuardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. * {{Stanisław Lem 1964 non-fiction books Essay collections Futurology books Works by Stanisław Lem Polish non-fiction books

Description

Contents

Translations

See also

References

External links