Professor Tarantoga

Professor Tarantoga (full name: Astral Sternu Tarantoga), xenozoologist, traveller, and inventor, is a fictional character from science fiction works by 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 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]

Curriculum vitae

Tarantoga is professor of xenozoology at the University at Fomalhaut, chairman of the editorial committee for Ijon Tichy Opera Omnia ("Działa 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]

Inventions and other achievements
  • Peregrinator (Polish: peregrynator), a device for space travel, the traveler does not move from a spot, but rather bends the space in 4th dimension (Wyprawa profesora Tarantogi)
  • A device to accelerate and slow down the time (The Twelfth Voyage)
  • A liquid for erasing bad memories (The Twelfth Voyage)
  • A banknote with the infinity symbol ∞ denoting the infinite value (The Twelfth Voyage)
  • An apparatus for utilization of the wasteful energy of kids: a system of levers, dials, knobs, buttons, pulleys, etc., which are pushed/pulled/turned by children during their frolicking to produce electricity (The Twelfth Voyage)
  • Nonflammable matches for kids to play with
  • Using dynosaurs to produce emergency messages on the surface of a planet seen from the outer space: one has to bother the herd to make them chase you across the forest so that they trample out an inscription. :
  • Tarantoga's opus magnum was the founding of the human civilization (Czarna komnata profesora Tarantogi [The Black Room of Professor Tarantoga]) – After studying the biographies of the leading scientists and artists, Tarantoga found out that without exceptions all of them were drunkards and lazy. Therefore started sending smart young people into various epochs for them to invent differential calculus, to paint La Gioconda, etc. [2]

Appearances
  • 1954: The Star Diaries, "The Twenty Sixth Voyage, the Last One", in the collection Sezam i inne opowiadania.
  • 1957: The Star Diaries, in "The Twelfth Voyage", in which Ijon Tichy employs Prof. Tarantoga's new invention of time acceleration on the planet of Microcephalics.
  • 1963: Wyprawa profesora Tarantogi, scenario, first print: collection Noc księżycowa
    • 1978: Die setlsamen Begenungen des Professor Tarantoga, 99 min., West Germany, director: Chuck Kerremans [4][5]
    • 1992: TV play, Poland, first aired September 5, 1992, director Maciej Wojtyszko, Tarantoga: Tadeusz Huk [6]
  • 1963: Czarna komnata profesora Tarantogi, scenario, first print: collection Noc księżycowa
  • Ijon Tichy: Raumpilot, TV serial season 2, Tarantoga played by Peter Princz[7]
  • 1963: Dziwny gość profesora Tarantogi, scenario, first print: collection Noc księżycowa
    • 1979: Professor Tarantoga und sein seltsamer Gast, TV film, 21 April 1979, East Germany[8]
  • 1975: Godzina przyjęć profesora Tarantogi, radio play
    • 1977: Professor Tarantogas Sprechstunde(de) ,[9] radio play by Bayerischer Rundfunk, West Germany, director Dieter Hasselblatt. It was produced two more times, in 1978 and 1979 by Österreichischer Rundfunk, Austria
    • 1979: First time printed in collection Powtórka, 1979
  • The Futurological Congress
  • Observation on the Spot
  • Peace on Earth

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. [10]

References
  1. Wojciech Orliński, "Co to są sepulki? Wszystko o Lemie". Kraków: Znak, 2007, Section "Tarantoga", pp. 226–227. ISBN 978-83-240-0798-1.
  2. "Astral Stern Tarantoga", wyborcza.pl
  3. Роман Арбитман, 'Поединок крысы с мечтой, p. 300
  4. The Art and Science of Stanizlaw Lem, ed. Peter Swirski, p. 169
  5. Die seltsamen Begegnungen des Prof. Taratonga on IMDb
  6. Wyprawa profesora Tarantogi
  7. "Tribute To... Ijon Tichy Raumpilot - Staffel 2"
  8. Professor Tarantoga und sein seltsamer Gast on IMDb
  9. Erik Zyber, Homo utopicus: die Utopie im Lichte der philosophischen Anthropologie, pp.85-86
  10. y Наум Виленкин, Рассказы о множествах, 2017 print, ISBN 5457931315, pp. 42-44


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