Professor Tarantoga (full name: Astral Sternu Tarantoga), an eccentric xenozoologist, traveller, and inventor, is a fictional character from science fiction works, mostly humorous, by Polish writer Stanislaw Lem. [1] [2]
Originally he appeared in The Star Diaries as a friend of the space traveler Ijon Tichy and later appeared in some other works of Lem. [1] Russian literary critic Roman Arbitman describes Tarantoga as "a hybrid of mini- Sabaoth and mini- Frankenstein with good-heardedness of Doctor Aybolit and absent-mindedness of Paganel", who exploited Ijon Tichy to test his crazy ideas: what will happen if the time will be slowed down or will be made into a closed loop, etc. [3]
In addition to secondary appearances, Tarantoga is the main character of four plays (published and broadcast by radio; some adapted for TV). [1]
Tarantoga is professor of xenozoology at the University at Fomalhaut, chairman of the editorial committee for Ijon Tichy Opera Omnia ("Dzieła Wszystkie Ijona Tichego"), member of the Scientific Committee of the Institute of Tichology, inventor and creator of various fascinating devices (most of which being parodies of common science fiction tropes). [1]
In the printed stories Tarantoga appears to be a humanoid. In the 1986 Azerbaijanfilm Russian-language animated TV film Из дневников Йона Тихого. Путешествие на Интеропию [From the Diaries of Ijon Tichy. A Voyage to Interopia] based on "The Fourteenth Voyage" [4] he is a Fomalgautian, a nearly-humanoidal creature with antennae on the head, four upper arms and some lower ones hidden under the robe. [5] In German TV series Ijon Tichy: Space Pilot he is a three-eyed and two-nosed humanoid who lost his arm during experiments with teleportation.
Naum Vilenkin in his 1968 popular math book Рассказы о множествах [Stories About Sets] invented a story in which Tarantoga debunks a tall tale of Ijon Tichy using concepts from combinatorics and set theory, such as Venn diagrams and the inclusion–exclusion principle. [17]
The novel Monday Begins on Saturday by Soviet science fiction writers Boris and Arkady Strugatsky mentions "Tarantoga phenomenon" as a synonym for instant teleportation.
Professor Tarantoga (full name: Astral Sternu Tarantoga), an eccentric xenozoologist, traveller, and inventor, is a fictional character from science fiction works, mostly humorous, by Polish writer Stanislaw Lem. [1] [2]
Originally he appeared in The Star Diaries as a friend of the space traveler Ijon Tichy and later appeared in some other works of Lem. [1] Russian literary critic Roman Arbitman describes Tarantoga as "a hybrid of mini- Sabaoth and mini- Frankenstein with good-heardedness of Doctor Aybolit and absent-mindedness of Paganel", who exploited Ijon Tichy to test his crazy ideas: what will happen if the time will be slowed down or will be made into a closed loop, etc. [3]
In addition to secondary appearances, Tarantoga is the main character of four plays (published and broadcast by radio; some adapted for TV). [1]
Tarantoga is professor of xenozoology at the University at Fomalhaut, chairman of the editorial committee for Ijon Tichy Opera Omnia ("Dzieła Wszystkie Ijona Tichego"), member of the Scientific Committee of the Institute of Tichology, inventor and creator of various fascinating devices (most of which being parodies of common science fiction tropes). [1]
In the printed stories Tarantoga appears to be a humanoid. In the 1986 Azerbaijanfilm Russian-language animated TV film Из дневников Йона Тихого. Путешествие на Интеропию [From the Diaries of Ijon Tichy. A Voyage to Interopia] based on "The Fourteenth Voyage" [4] he is a Fomalgautian, a nearly-humanoidal creature with antennae on the head, four upper arms and some lower ones hidden under the robe. [5] In German TV series Ijon Tichy: Space Pilot he is a three-eyed and two-nosed humanoid who lost his arm during experiments with teleportation.
Naum Vilenkin in his 1968 popular math book Рассказы о множествах [Stories About Sets] invented a story in which Tarantoga debunks a tall tale of Ijon Tichy using concepts from combinatorics and set theory, such as Venn diagrams and the inclusion–exclusion principle. [17]
The novel Monday Begins on Saturday by Soviet science fiction writers Boris and Arkady Strugatsky mentions "Tarantoga phenomenon" as a synonym for instant teleportation.