Hello!
I admire your web page very much! I am trying to collect
articles about Stanislaw Lem, and also articles by Stanislaw Lem.
Please can you tell me why was Stanislaw Lem expelled from the SFWA
in 1976?
Many Thanks!
Jack
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The following quote from J. Madison Davis' book
on Stanislaw Lem gives an answer to your question:
Lem has always been
critical of most science fiction, which he considers ill thought
out, poorly written, and interested more in adventure that ideas
or new literary forms. (...) Those opinions provoked an
unpleasant debade in the SFWA [the "Lem affair"].
Philip José Farmer and others were incensed by Lem's comments
(...) and eventually brought about the removal of the honorary
membership(...). Other members, such as Ursula K. Le Guin,
then protested the removal (...) and the SFWA then offered Lem a
regular membership, which he, of course, refused in 1976.
Asked later about the "affair," he remarked, that his
opinions of the state of science fiction were already known
when he was offered an honorary membership (...). He also
added he harboured no ill feelings towards the SFWA or U.S.
writers in particular, "...but it would be a lie to say the
whole incident has enlarged my respect for SF
writers".
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General Theory of the Holes |
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In his "Dziury w calym" Professor Lem criticises the research done in the
West on the subject of the holes. Prof. Lem has obviously forgotten that
this is a very important subject, with a long history of research. Old-Soviet philosopher Pyetya Gorass has researched this subject
thoroughly. He has roughly divided the holes into the natural (such has
holes produced by tinea pellionella in the fabric of his clothes), artificial (similar holes, but produced by the philosopher himself,
while sitting on the rough stones during his frequent meditations), and
of mixed origin (such as holes in the Swiss cheese).
Today’s modern science allows us to see this subject from a different,
broader perspective. Firstly, holes, as ontological and epistemological
phenomenon can be either real, or imaginary. By the way, as every one knows, imaginary holes are the real holes multiplied by a square root of
minus one, i.e.
Hi = Hr * * -1
Further more, holes (in Polish dziury) have a very close relation to the
whole (in Polish calosc). It is thus easy to find the fallacy in the Prof. Lem reasoning: in his native Polish, the relation of the holes to
the whole is hidden under the several semantical, lexical and syntactical layers; only in the English language this relation is
obvious.
[more holes]
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Prof. Lem has also ignored the important role, the holes can play in the space travel. Both black holes and wormholes can be used either as a kind of a speeding device, or a shortcut through the ordinary fabric of
space. Rotating black hole can be used as a kind of `time machine.’ A space ship approaching a rotating black hole from the proper angle can also utilise the hole’s energy to boost its speed. The worm holes
(either natural or artificially created) are, most likely, the best shortcuts through the Einsteinian space-time continuum, thus allowing de facto faster-than-the-speed-of-light travel, without disturbing the
known laws of physics.
Finishing this essay, I would like to appeal to Prof. Lem to take a yet another look into the general theory of holes, a theory which opens new possibilities in such, seemingly unrelated areas as space travel and
cheese making. As every one knows, `there is nothing more practical than a good theory’. Thus general theory of holes is a subject, which deserves a full and with no reservation support from the governments,
private sector, and, above all, the scientists, such as Prof. Lem himself.
Lech Keller
Melbourne, July 2000
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