The sketches in Summa Technologiae constitute a compendium of scientific and, at the same time, humanistic knowledge. Knowledge that is useful for every reasonably educated mortal, with an emphasis on avid readers of Stanisław Lem's novels.
Anyone reading Summa Technologiae or any of his other works will find that the source of Lem’s literary inspirations is firmly rooted in science. The author drew from this on an ongoing basis, whenever it was useful to his novels. His comprehensive knowledge of all possible theories and technologies in the world of science, confirmed by more and more discoveries, made his fiction firmly rooted in what is real and – which is particularly important – explainable. His literary creations thus became free of technological improbabilities, which also means that his books never grow old (even if he mentions the possibility of a lung transplant only in terms of the near future, which is already standard in the medical world today).
In Stanisław Lem's novels, the main characters appear as modern nomads and romantics, trying to penetrate the eternal mystery of existence. However, before these explorers, discoverers of interstellar space, take off into the unknown, they must have the appropriate technical background: full logistical equipment ensuring their safe flight and return, together with equipment to help in unforeseen accidents – from mechanical service to medical tools.
Before a pilot boards a spacecraft, he must have at his disposal a reserve of energy needed to complete the flight, often lasting many years, as well as adequate reserves of food to meet the multiple needs of his body. Therefore, the launch of an astronaut is preceded by the work of hundreds and thousands of people, from inventors, discoverers and scientists, through technologists, constructors, subcontractors and countless experts from the ground service staff. This requires the painstaking work of a gigantic number of people, which usually escapes the attention of lovers of science fiction, which is a pity (because the preparation for the flight is not usually mentioned in these books either).
The collective, creative effort of the human mind finds its rightful place in Summa Technologiae. It contains Stanisław Lem's reflections on the power of thought directed towards the development of our planet. At the same time, the writer points out the benefits, but also the dangers, of human interference with nature in the broad sense of the term.
Despite the noticeable development of civilisation, which especially in the 19th and 20th centuries has accelerated almost exponentially, not every step of man on the technological path can be considered a success. It is hard not to notice that, in the pursuit of convenience, people gain as much as they lose. The simplest examples in recent decades include problems with rubbish disposal, industrial pollution of the environment and global pandemics.
The thing is that people create devices more intelligent than themselves, which makes them lose control over them. Meanwhile, nature, as Lem proves, ‘does not know what it’s doing’, realising only ‘what spontaneously arises from given material conditions’. The paradox and depth of this situation is explained by Lem as follows:
‘We have seen,’ I say to the engineer, ‘a diagram of a device made up of eight trillion elements. This device has its own energy centre, locomotive systems, a hierarchy of regulators and a central processor, made up of fifteen billion parts. This device can perform so many functions that we would not be able to list them all in a lifetime. However, the schematic which not only made it possible to build this device but also created it, all fit into a volume of eight-thousandths of a cubic millimetre.’ The engineer replies that this is impossible. He is wrong, because this device is the human spermatozoon, containing, as we know, all the information needed to produce a copy of the Homo sapiens species.