Died: 27 March, 2006

Born: 12 September, 1921

Cause of death : Heart failure

Who was : Polish satirical and philosophical science fiction writer




Stanislaw Lem (September 12, 1921 – March 27, 2006) was a Polish science fiction, philosophical and satirical writer. His books have been translated into 41 languages and have sold over 27 million copies. At one point, he was the most widely read non-English-language science fiction author 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, to avoid both trappings of academic life and limitations of readership and scientific style, but others are in the form of essays or philosophical books. Translations of his works are difficult; Michael Kandel's translations into English have generally been praised as capturing the spirit of the original.

Matter of Life and Death

"Matter of Life and Death" was the second episode of the first series of Space: 1999. The episode was written by Johnny Byrne (based on the script "Siren Planet" by Art Wallace) and directed by Charles Crichton.

"Matter Of Life and Death" strongly echos Stanisław Lem's 1961 book Solaris (English translation 1970, filmed by Andrei Tarkovsky in 1972; the 1997 film Event Horizon also borrows elements).

Terra Nova is like Solaris, a remote planet able to recreate spirits from the past. In both, a facsimile of the main character's dead spouse is created (in the filmed episode he is the real husband of Helena, but in the Siren Planet script, like Solaris, he is merely an image). Like the Siren Planet script, the book's end includes a reunion with an estranged father (here Koenig's father). The themes are similar; the difficulty of communication with a truly alien form, the limits of human comprehension. "We're a long way from home. And we're going to have to start thinking differently if we're to come to terms with space."

"A dream will always triumph over reality, once it is given the chance."
Stanislaw Lem

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org