The Art and Science of Stanislaw Lem by Peter Swirski

by Peter Swirski

The Polish science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem, whose works include Return from the Stars, The Cyberiad, A Perfect Vacuum, and Solaris, has been hailed as a "literary Einstein" and a science-fiction Bach. The Art and Science of Stanislaw Lem offers an inter-disciplinary analysis of his influence on Western culture and the creative partnering of art and science in his fiction and futorology by American and European scholars who have defined Lem scholarship. Rather than analyzing Lem solely as a science fiction writer, the contributors examine the larger themes in his work, such as social engineering and human violence, agency and consciousness, Freudianism and the creative process, evolution and the philosophy of the future, virtual reality and epistemological illusion, and science fiction and socio-cultural policy. This unique collection also includes "Smart Robots," a previously unpublished essay by Lem. Contributors include Peter Butko (Southern Mississippi), Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr (DePauw), Katherine Hayles (California at Los Angeles), Jerzy Jarzebski (Jagiellonian, University Cracow), Michael Kandel (Modern Language Association), Stanislaw Lem, Paisley Livingston (Lingnan University, Hong Kong), Krzysztof Loska (Jagiellonian University), and Peter Swirski (Hong Kong).

Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good essay on Lem's Summa Technologica and his views on information and machine evolution. Lem's essay "Smart Robots"heads up the collection and discusses the idea of machine intentionality as also perhaps to be achieved via an evolutionary process rather than by explicit design.

[Savannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was recommended by the famous host LEUNG Man-tao, he talked about lem's novel Solaris and said that professor swirski is the well-known Lem scholar, he recommended this book to anyone who is interested in Lem's idea and works, because it's easy to understand but with profound content.

[Wucaixia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leading scholars examine the social and cultural significance of technology and science in the work of Stanislaw Lem, the author of Solaris.

[Hans · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very leading scholar on Lem is providing his unique view and understanding about Lem's work. Why not join and to see what you can find there? Highly recommend you have a try in no time!

[Richie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collections of essays on Lem's work. The first essay, which was most interesting, was actually written by Lem. The others were so, so. The essay on movies based on Lem's books helped me find an old Czech movie based "Magellan Nebula" - that I recall seeing back when I was little (the movie title is "Ikarie XB-1").