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Das Katastrophenprinzip. Die kreative Zerstörung im Weltall
Das Katastrophenprinzip - Aus Lems Bibliothek des 21. Jahrhunderts - bk1508; Suhrkamp Verlag; Stanislaw Lem; pocket_book; 1983
- GenresScience Fiction
88 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
About the author
Stanisław Lem
510 books4,772 followersStanisław Lem (staˈɲiswaf lɛm) was a Polish science fiction, philosophical and satirical writer of Jewish descent. His books have been translated into 41 languages and have sold over 27 million copies. He is perhaps best known as the author of Solaris, which has twice been made into a feature film. In 1976, Theodore Sturgeon claimed that Lem was the most widely read science-fiction writer in the world.
His works explore philosophical themes; speculation on technology, the nature of intelligence, the impossibility of mutual communication and understanding, despair about human limitations and humankind's place in the universe. They are sometimes presented as fiction, but others are in the form of essays or philosophical books. Translations of his works are difficult and multiple translated versions of his works exist.
Lem became truly productive after 1956, when the de-Stalinization period led to the "Polish October", when Poland experienced an increase in freedom of speech. Between 1956 and 1968, Lem authored 17 books. His works were widely translated abroad (although mostly in the Eastern Bloc countries). In 1957 he published his first non-fiction, philosophical book, Dialogi (Dialogues), one of his two most famous philosophical texts along with Summa Technologiae (1964). The Summa is notable for being a unique analysis of prospective social, cybernetic, and biological advances. In this work, Lem discusses philosophical implications of technologies that were completely in the realm of science fiction then, but are gaining importance today—like, for instance, virtual reality and nanotechnology. Over the next few decades, he published many books, both science fiction and philosophical/futurological, although from the 1980s onwards he tended to concentrate on philosophical texts and essays.
He gained international fame for The Cyberiad, a series of humorous short stories from a mechanical universe ruled by robots, first published in English in 1974. His best-known novels include Solaris (1961), His Master's Voice (Głos pana, 1968), and the late Fiasco (Fiasko, 1987), expressing most strongly his major theme of the futility of mankind's attempts to comprehend the truly alien. Solaris was made into a film in 1972 by Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky and won a Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1972; in 2002, Steven Soderbergh directed a Hollywood remake starring George Clooney.
He was the cousin of poet Marian Hemar.
His works explore philosophical themes; speculation on technology, the nature of intelligence, the impossibility of mutual communication and understanding, despair about human limitations and humankind's place in the universe. They are sometimes presented as fiction, but others are in the form of essays or philosophical books. Translations of his works are difficult and multiple translated versions of his works exist.
Lem became truly productive after 1956, when the de-Stalinization period led to the "Polish October", when Poland experienced an increase in freedom of speech. Between 1956 and 1968, Lem authored 17 books. His works were widely translated abroad (although mostly in the Eastern Bloc countries). In 1957 he published his first non-fiction, philosophical book, Dialogi (Dialogues), one of his two most famous philosophical texts along with Summa Technologiae (1964). The Summa is notable for being a unique analysis of prospective social, cybernetic, and biological advances. In this work, Lem discusses philosophical implications of technologies that were completely in the realm of science fiction then, but are gaining importance today—like, for instance, virtual reality and nanotechnology. Over the next few decades, he published many books, both science fiction and philosophical/futurological, although from the 1980s onwards he tended to concentrate on philosophical texts and essays.
He gained international fame for The Cyberiad, a series of humorous short stories from a mechanical universe ruled by robots, first published in English in 1974. His best-known novels include Solaris (1961), His Master's Voice (Głos pana, 1968), and the late Fiasco (Fiasko, 1987), expressing most strongly his major theme of the futility of mankind's attempts to comprehend the truly alien. Solaris was made into a film in 1972 by Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky and won a Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1972; in 2002, Steven Soderbergh directed a Hollywood remake starring George Clooney.
He was the cousin of poet Marian Hemar.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 16, 2025
"Die gesamte Galaxie zählt über 150 Milliarden Sterne." Die Schätzungen reichen von 100 bis 400 Milliarden Sternen. Dies tut dem vorgetragene Argument jedoch nichts ab.
"... und das besorgten Ebbe und Flut, deren Ursache nun aber der Mond war."
Das ist nicht korrekt, ein leider nicht tot zu kriegendes Argument oder vielleicht besser "Scheinwissen". Es ist etwas komplexer. Gute Erklärung gibt's in "Was den Mond am Himmel hält von Michael Büker.
Im Allgemeinen eine tolle Lektüre wer sich um Kosmologie schert.
»Die Sterne schaffen den Menschen und die Sterne töten ihn.«
Ohne Katastrophen kein Leben. Die Entstehung unseres Sonnensystems eine Reihe unzähliger Zufälle. Irgendwie gibt's da keinen Platz für Götter oder Gott finde ich.
"... und das besorgten Ebbe und Flut, deren Ursache nun aber der Mond war."
Das ist nicht korrekt, ein leider nicht tot zu kriegendes Argument oder vielleicht besser "Scheinwissen". Es ist etwas komplexer. Gute Erklärung gibt's in "Was den Mond am Himmel hält von Michael Büker.
Im Allgemeinen eine tolle Lektüre wer sich um Kosmologie schert.
»Die Sterne schaffen den Menschen und die Sterne töten ihn.«
Ohne Katastrophen kein Leben. Die Entstehung unseres Sonnensystems eine Reihe unzähliger Zufälle. Irgendwie gibt's da keinen Platz für Götter oder Gott finde ich.
April 18, 2022
A bit dated, but its still nonfiction by Lem and as such its a short lucid tale of a weird theory which today seems a bit obvious (life is the product of the destruction of stars), but its entertaining and mind boggling, nevertheless. I love Lem.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews