Stanislaw Lem

Born Sept. 12, 1921, in L’vov. Polish writer. Son of a physician. Studied at the L’vov Medical Institute from 1939 to 1941; graduated from the medical faculty of the Jagellonian University in Kraków in 1948.

Since his first appearance in print in 1946, Lem has written many science fiction works examining the social consequences of the development of science and technology and attacking militarism, war hysteria, and the consumer outlook on life. Among his best works are The Astronauts (1951; Russian translation, 1957), The Magellanic Cloud (1955; Russian translation, 1960), Eden (1959; Russian translation, 1966), Invasion From Aldebaran (1959; Russian translation, 1960), Return From the Stars (1961; Russian translation, 1965, with a preface by cosmonaut G. S. Titov), Diary Found in a Bathtub (1961), Solaris (1961; Russian translation, 1963; Soviet film by the same name, 1972), and The Invincible (1964; Russian translation, 1964). His works contain much philosophical grotesquerie, satire, and parody, particularly Stellar Diaries (1957), Robots’ Tales (1964), The Cyberiad (1965), and The Hunt (1965).

Apart from science fiction Lem has written a psychological novel (Time Not Lost, 1955), a detective novel (The Investigation, 1959), and an autobiographical novel (Lofty Castle, 1966; Russian translation, 1969). Also important are his books of essays on philosophical problems relating to cybernetics (Dialogues, 1957), to space travel (Going Into Orbit, 1962), to heuristics and futurology (The Sum of Technology, 1964; Russian translation, 1968), to the study of literature (The Philosophy of Chance, 1968), and to science fiction (Absolute Vacuum, 1971).