The Garin Death Ray, also known as The Death Box and The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin (Russian: Гиперболоид инженера Гарина), is a science fiction novel by the noted Russian author Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy written in 1926–1927. Vladimir Nabokov, who included parodic elements in his tragicomedy The Waltz Invention (1938),[1] considered it Tolstoy's finest fictional work.
The "hyperboloid" in its title is not a geometrical surface (though it is utilized in the device design) but a "death ray"-laser-like device (thought up by the author many decades before lasers were invented) that the protagonist, engineer Garin, used to fight his enemies and try to become the dictator of the world. The idea of a "death ray" (popularized in The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells, among others) was commonplace in science fiction of the time, but Tolstoy's version is unique for its level of technical details. "Hyperboloids" of different power capability differ in their effect. The device uses two hyperbolic mirrors (in contrast to Wells's Heat-Ray, which uses a parabolic mirror) to concentrate light rays in a parallel beam. Larger "hyperboloids" can destroy military ships on the horizon, and those of less power can only injure people and cut electric cables on walls of rooms.
Book cover of the 1927 first Russian edition
Influenceedit
Charles H. Townes, the inventor of laser, said that his invention had been inspired by this novel.[2]
The Soviet rock band Kino was originally known as Garin i giperboloydy (Russian: Гарин и Гиперболоиды, Garin and the hyperboloids).
The Estonian punk band Vennaskond has a song "Insener Garini hüperboloid" (1993) (The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin in Estonian).
The Russian band Piknik has a song "Гиперболоид" (Hyperboloid) (2008).
Referencesedit
^Frank, Siggy; Frank, Sigrun (2012-01-12). Nabokov's Theatrical Imagination. Cambridge University Press. p. 113. ISBN978-1-107-01545-6.
^Jacobsen, Annie (2015). The Pentagon's Brain: An Uncensored History of DARPA, America's Top-Secret Military Research Agency. UK: Hachette. pp. 207, 347. ISBN9780316371650. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
garin, death, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, 2020, learn, . This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources The Garin Death Ray news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Garin Death Ray also known as The Death Box and The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin Russian Giperboloid inzhenera Garina is a science fiction novel by the noted Russian author Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy written in 1926 1927 Vladimir Nabokov who included parodic elements in his tragicomedy The Waltz Invention 1938 1 considered it Tolstoy s finest fictional work The Garin Death RayCover of the 1955 English revised editionAuthorAleksey TolstoyOriginal titleGiperboloid inzhenera GarinaTranslatorBernard Guilbert Guerney 1st edition George Hanna revised ed CountrySoviet UnionLanguageRussianGenreScience fiction novelPublisherMethuen 1st edition Foreign Language revised edition Publication date1927Published in English1936 1st edition and 1955 revised edition The hyperboloid in its title is not a geometrical surface though it is utilized in the device design but a death ray laser like device thought up by the author many decades before lasers were invented that the protagonist engineer Garin used to fight his enemies and try to become the dictator of the world The idea of a death ray popularized in The War of the Worlds by H G Wells among others was commonplace in science fiction of the time but Tolstoy s version is unique for its level of technical details Hyperboloids of different power capability differ in their effect The device uses two hyperbolic mirrors in contrast to Wells s Heat Ray which uses a parabolic mirror to concentrate light rays in a parallel beam Larger hyperboloids can destroy military ships on the horizon and those of less power can only injure people and cut electric cables on walls of rooms Book cover of the 1927 first Russian editionInfluence editCharles H Townes the inventor of laser said that his invention had been inspired by this novel 2 The film adaptations of the novel were released in the Soviet Union in 1965 The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin and 1973 Failure of Engineer Garin The Soviet rock band Kino was originally known as Garin i giperboloydy Russian Garin i Giperboloidy Garin and the hyperboloids The Estonian punk band Vennaskond has a song Insener Garini huperboloid 1993 The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin in Estonian The Russian band Piknik has a song Giperboloid Hyperboloid 2008 References edit Frank Siggy Frank Sigrun 2012 01 12 Nabokov s Theatrical Imagination Cambridge University Press p 113 ISBN 978 1 107 01545 6 Jacobsen Annie 2015 The Pentagon s Brain An Uncensored History of DARPA America s Top Secret Military Research Agency UK Hachette pp 207 347 ISBN 9780316371650 Retrieved 10 November 2015 External links editThe Garin Death Ray at IMDb nbsp 1965 movie Failure of Engineer Garin at IMDb nbsp 1973 movie Brief movie info page in Russian with pictures 2006 DVD release RUSCICO Offers Russian and English subtitles and various features nbsp This article about a 1920s science fiction novel is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it See guidelines for writing about novels Further suggestions might be found on the article s talk page vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Garin Death Ray amp oldid 1186814996, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
