Summa Technologiae

Blurb

Summa Technologiae is a 1964 book by Polish author Stanisław Lem. Summa is one of the first collections of philosophical essays by Lem. The book exhibits depth of insight and irony usual for Lem's creations. The name is an allusion to Summa Theologiae by Thomas Aquinas and to Summa Theologiae by Albertus Magnus.
Paraphrasing the author, the book tries to "examine the thorns of roses that have not flowered yet" - in other words, to deal with problems of the remote future. The primary question Lem treats in the book is that of civilization in the absence of limitations, both technological and material. He also looks at moral-ethical and philosophical consequences of future technologies.
Despite its age and a number of inaccuracies in specific domains, the book has lost no momentum in the past years. Surprising as it can be, some issues discussed in the book sound more contemporary nowadays than 40 years ago. Among the themes that Lem discusses in the book and that were completely in the realm of science fiction then, but are gaining importance today, are virtual reality, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence and technological singularity.