Bücher von Paul Gsell

In The Man Who Could Read Minds (1928), Jean Pilgrim manufactures strange spectacles that permit the observation of what is happening in the minds of others. Paul Gsell's novel begins as a Voltairean satire, but soon changes both tone and direction as it progresses from relatively amiable exploration of the hypocrisies of art and science to scathing accounts of contemporary science and politics, before the comedy turns jet black in its account of modern warfare.The book combines a striking philosophical vision with a unique love story and a brief but graphic utopian fantasy. The sum of that multiple endeavor makes it one of the most remarkable examples of twentieth-century roman scientifique.

The Incredible Adventure (1902) by Louis Forest is about the inventor of a material vehicle capable of carrying passengers anywhere in the universe, and devotes considerable attention to hypothetical physical and psychological effects of the experience of approaching and transcending the velocity of light. The Triumph of Humankind (1911) by Francois Leonard sees the Earth moved out of its orbit and become an interstellar vehicle itself, eventually reaching the star Vega; it describes the adventure of our planet in its interstellar journey, and the future of humankind as a result of that displacement. Wireless Communication with the Stars (1930) by Paul Gsell features the development of a system of interstellar television, which provides its protagonist with a means of investigating life on twelve different planets scattered throughout the galaxy, in search of a possible key to human happiness.Three amazing tales of interstellar explorations written in the early years of the 20th century by French pioneers of science fiction, edited and introduced by Brian Stableford.