The hyperboloid of engineer garin is the main idea. "Hyperboloid of engineer Garin" and modern innovations. TV, escalator, bank cards and club music

Alexey Tolstoy is a writer, publicist and a prominent public figure of the Soviet period. He is known for his historical, social and psychological novels. But in our article we will turn to the sci-fi genre, or rather, the novel "The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin". A summary of this work will be the main topic for us.

About the book

Alexey Tolstoy completed his science fiction work in 1927. The novel "The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin" (we will consider a brief summary below), according to the author's intention, is divided into three parts: adventurous, heroic and utopian.

The idea to write such a work arose from the writer in 1922, when he first saw the construction. Later, while already working on the novel, Tolstoy studied all the latest theories of molecular physics.

"Hyperboloid of engineer Garin": a summary

The events of the novel unfold in 192 ... year. A stabbed man is found at a long-abandoned Leningrad dacha near the Krestovka River. There are traces of torture on his body. The investigation is being carried out by Vasily Vitalievich Shelga, a criminal investigation officer. A search is carried out in the house, and equipment for conducting physical and chemical experiments is found in the basement. There is an assumption that the murdered person is Pyotr Petrovich Garin, an engineer.

From the very first lines, it becomes clear that there are detective elements in the novel. And the classic, for such works, intrigue with the discovery of a dead body is made by Alexei Tolstoy (“The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin”) as the tie-in of the entire work.

Shelga accidentally meets a living Garin, but takes him for a double. The engineer himself, realizing this, does not tell Vasily the truth, but pretends to be Pyankov-Pitkevich. The men agree on mutual assistance in a murder investigation. Shelga quickly guesses that he was deceived. But he does not have time to detain Garin - he leaves for Paris.

Paris

American billionaire Rolling, who is buying up chemical plants throughout Europe, is visiting the capital of France. He, along with his Russian mistress Zoya Monroz, has long been interested in Garin's invention. It was they who sent the assassins for the engineer to Leningrad.

Once in Paris, Garin is looking for his employee, Victor Lenoir. And he persuades him to put on his make-up, becoming a double of the engineer.

What is a hyperboloid for?

Shows himself a master of action-packed works by Tolstoy. "The hyperboloid of engineer Garin" (a summary illustrates this) appears not just a fantastic work, but a skillfully swirled detective novel.

A boy Vanya arrives in Leningrad from Siberia. On his back is written a message addressed to Garin by the scientist Nikolai Mantsev. This man went to Kamchatka before the revolution to prove Garin's theory. The guess was that there is underground which contains all existing metals in molten form. Among these metals and gold, which Garin needed to rule in the world. But to get the coveted jewels, you need a hyperboloid.

But creating a hyperboloid requires a huge mine and a large amount of money, which can be obtained from Rolling. For this Garin, posing as Pyankov-Pitkevich, goes to the billionaire. At the meeting, he proposes cooperation on behalf of engineer Garin. But Rolling does not take the offer seriously and kicks out the visitor.

Fearing for his life, Garin sends Shelga a telegram with a request to come to Paris. The investigator leaves, hoping to arouse the scientist's interest with information sent by Mantsev.

Unexpected alliances

Even a very brief content can help to understand the topicality of the work and the intensity of events. "The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin" is a novel that constantly surprises the reader. So, Zoya Monroz goes over to Garin's side after another unsuccessful attempt on the scientist's life. Rolling again attacks Garin, who has to engage in open combat. The result of the battle is the complete defeat of the billionaire, who was captured on the yacht "Arizona" by his failed victim.

On the same ship, Garin brings Shelga, with whom he concludes a temporary truce. The operative secretly hopes to bring the scientist's invention back to the Soviet Union.

Implementation of the plan

The events of the novel "The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin" continue to unfold. The chapter summary describes the beginning of Garin's idea.

To make Rolling a monopoly, Garin blows up all chemical plants in Germany with the help of a hyperboloid. An expedition to Kamchatka sent by a scientist finds Mantsev's camp. The researcher dies, but all his documents have been preserved and given to Garin.

A hyperboloid for drilling is being built on the island captured by Zoya. It begins which Garin sells for next to nothing, causing a financial crisis in the capitalist world.

In exchange for stabilizing the world economy, Garin asks for power from the most influential capitalists, and gets it. Zoe is proclaimed queen of the Golden Carcass. But the long-awaited world domination does not bring Garin joy, he is overwhelmed by boredom.

Interchange

The denouement of the novel "The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin" is approaching. The summary tells the story of the workers' uprising that broke out on the Golden Island, led by Shelga. Garin again changes places with another double, and he himself goes to the Golden Island to regain the hyperboloid.

He and Zoya sail on the yacht "Arizona", but they do not achieve their cherished goal, but fall into a typhoon. Garin and Monrose are shipwrecked and thrown onto a desert island. Months pass. All this time, lovers are forced to huddle in a hut made of palm leaves and eat fish. In a dream, wonderful memories of the life they have lost come to them.

Read. Perhaps we will want to turn over the pages of his books again and again. Just like today, when we return to the work of Alexei Tolstoy, whom we have already met in our section.

Remember his story "The Viper"? Of course, dear readers, you are well acquainted with the works of Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy. This writer can hardly be counted among the forgotten ones. What do you think, if today in a school, student, any other audience you ask a question: what works of Alexei Tolstoy you ... no, you haven't even read, but you can simply name - what will be the answer? What would you name? Right! The novel "Peter I". Those who are older, perhaps, will remember the trilogy "Walking through the agony". It is not excluded that the novel "Aelita" will also be named. Yes! Alexey Tolstoy was a brilliant science fiction writer. One of the best science fiction novels of the 20th century, a prophecy novel, a detective novel, an adventure novel is called "The Engineer Garin's Hyperboloid", and its author is Alexei Tolstoy.

There are literary works, the social order for which is dictated by the era itself. In the 20s of the last century, when the novel was being created, in reality events were no less fantastic than those described in the book. The whole world discussed the inventions and discoveries of Nikola Tesla. A hoaxer or a genius ahead of time by a millennium? And young Alexei Tolstoy was shocked by Shukhov's hyperboloid structures, his openwork towers. For fifteen years, from 1922 to 1937, Tolstoy rewrote and republished the novel. It came out in parts, under different names. The plot changed. The finals changed. A children's version was even published, from which the "adult" episodes were removed.

In the version that we know and read today, there is everything without which an adventure novel is impossible, from which one cannot tear himself away. A mysterious crime at the beginning, an investigation, a mysterious exchange of doubles, a message from the ends of the earth, written with a chemical pencil on the back of a boy who had been getting to the addressee for months. Fight for gold and slave revolt. Millionaires, liners, cruises, gangsters and assassination attempts. Scientist - adventurer, evil genius, femme fatale - beautiful Amazon, shipwreck and desert island. But the main thing is the monstrous invention of the engineer Garin: a beam, a beam of mysterious energy, a super-powerful weapon capable of destroying the world.

It must be said that Alexei Tolstoy was not the first to predict the appearance of such a ray. J. Verne and H. Wells had something. But Tolstoy is the only one, the ending of his novel does not create a feeling of completeness. An inventor and his companion on a desert island, and it seems that this is not the end, but the beginning of a new book.

The novel was filmed twice: in 1965, directed by Alexander Gintsburg at the film studio. M. Gorky and in 1973 directed by Leonid Kvinikhidze at the Lenfilm film studio. The second film is called "The collapse of engineer Garin" - so the creators decided to express their attitude to the main, in their opinion, the idea of ​​the novel. Although the film is an independent work, but whether it really is a collapse is still for the readers to decide.

"The hyperboloid of engineer Garin" by Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy is a vivid example of the writer's prediction of the appearance of new, albeit fantastic, inventions. Just as Jules Verne predicted flights to the Moon, and Ray Bradbury to Mars, Alexey Tolstoy anticipated the creation of hyperboloids, or rather paraboloids, and a laser beam. But this novel is interesting not so much from a technical point of view as from a moral and moral point of view. I would really like to take apart the main characters of "Hyperboloid" literally to pieces.

I'll start with the engineer Pyotr Garin - after all, his name is included in the title of the book by the writer. In my opinion, Garin is the most controversial hero of the novel. First, he appears to the reader as a noble lone inventor. He is not connected with anyone, acts bravely and decisively, but the goal of Pyotr Petrovich is not yet very clear. Garin amazes with his composure and prudence, with which he carries out several daring scams. It is no coincidence that Alexei Tolstoy called the first third of the novel "adventurous." But then I began to find a lot of unpleasant flaws in Garin. The writer himself notes that his protagonist is " terrible egoist, such a light has not seen". It turns out that the engineer designed an ingenious machine only for purely his own benefit: Garin dreams of subjugating the whole world (in my review of" The Invisible Man "I already mentioned that this is a common, in my opinion, desire for narrow-minded, evil or crazy characters So, with this "innocent" desire, the engineer lost a lot in my eyes. In addition, it turned out that Garin "stole" the idea of ​​a hyperboloid and drilling the Olivine belt from his former comrade Mantsev. negative. ”And, in my opinion, Garin deserved the fate to which the author doomed him.

Another interesting character is Garin's friend Zoya Monroz, or Madame Lamol. This is a very peculiar woman, and my attitude towards her also changed in the course of the work. At the beginning of the novel, she is shown as a calm, prudent companion, almost the wife of the billionaire Rolling. However, after meeting with Garin, Zoya, blinded by the perspectives unfolded in front of her, transforms: she becomes more demanding, arrogant, maybe even capricious. Such Madame Lamol is ready for anything for the sake of her brilliant future, even for murder and low robbery. Having shown her true essence, she no longer arouses either liking or pity. Pity in "Hyperboloid" is a completely different character - the "conqueror of Europe" chemical king Rolling. While he was confident in his abilities, and self-confidence he did not take, he was heading towards his goal - the subordination of the entire chemical industry of the Earth. But, having become addicted and even captured by Garin, Rolling bares his real face - the cowardly face of a bourgeois (I can't find another word).

The only main character who did not disappoint me was Vasily Vitalievich Shelga, an employee of the Leningrad Criminal Investigation Department. Only he did not lose his head, getting to know Garin better. Shelga remained true to his duty, his country, his idea of ​​socialism. And in the end he won. Perhaps, if Pyotr Petrovich was similar in character to Shelga, there would not have been any of his great successes and failures, just the Soviet Union would have received an excellent weapon suitable for both war and production. But Garin is not Shelga, and this is the beauty of their conflict.

In general, the novel "The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin" is a very wise work, although not devoid of unnecessary details. It made me understand that science fiction is not only a description of incredible inventions, but also a wonderful touchstone for different human characters.

Writer Alexey Tolstoy in his prophetic science fiction "The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin" predicted laser weapons. When lasers were invented, even then they said that the prediction of the writer came true. But in reality it can be argued that it has come true only now, when the laser can be really a weapon. As the visionary writer saw and described.

US Navy plans to experience unprecedented this year powerful laser weapon, which, being installed on American ships, will be able to destroy not only enemy drones, but cruise missiles, aircraft and even ships. This is reported by Gazeta.Ru with reference to the Warrior edition.

The laser power will be 150 kilowatts, which will be a real breakthrough compared to the previous combat laser with a power of only 30 kW AN / SEQ-3 (XN-1), which was installed in 2014 on the US Navy landing transport dock Ponce and successfully hit drones.

Leading US defense enterprises - BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman Corporation and Raytheon - are working on the creation of new weapons. Its feature is a combination of high accuracy, efficiency and incredible cheapness of a single shot, the cost of which is estimated at less than a dollar, while the price of a traditional interceptor is several hundred thousand dollars.



The only problem with a 150 kW laser weapon is the need for a power source whose power is

Must be at least 450 kW. At the moment, the only US ship on which this type of weapon could be fully used is the newest super destroyer Zumwalt, the integrated power supply system of which can generate up to 78 MW of electricity, which makes it possible to use promising laser and electromagnetic combat systems on it, including the rail gun. On other platforms, a dedicated storage device may be required - a kind of huge battery that will be recharged regularly.

According to the requirements of the Navy, the stored energy should be sufficient for sustainable use in battle against a swarm of targets for twenty minutes, and ideally, the laser will need a storage device that can charge as quickly as the laser device will consume it. This will allow the laser to be used in combat continuously until the ship runs out of fuel.

At the moment, DRS Power and Control Technologies has managed to develop an energy storage device that is sufficient for more than 100 rounds without reloading. DRS is now using a lithium-ion battery subsystem that will allow the new laser to operate at full power for about three minutes - while the laser pulses most often required to hit a target are significantly shorter in duration.

Demonstration of a 150-kilowatt laser system with a new storage ring at sea is scheduled for 2018.

In the future, the US Navy intends to equip destroyers, cruisers and, possibly, aircraft carriers or LCS-type ships with combat lasers. Northrop Grumman, which develops the combat laser itself, says it will depend on the impression the combat laser prototype has on senior management.

A previous experimental combat laser system, tested in the Persian Gulf in 2014, has successfully dealt with the destruction of drones. The new weapons will have variable effects: from blinding to the complete physical destruction of an aircraft or warship.

Those cases when artistic thought was much ahead of its time

One of the most famous and beloved Soviet science fiction writers was born on October 18 Kir Bulychev... All of us in childhood were read by his works and could not imagine that the things he described could appear in real life. On the eve of the birthday Igor Vsevolodovich Mozheiko(Bulychev's real name) the site finds out which predictions of him and other famous science fiction writers have become part of our reality.

Electronic books and devices with snacks

Kir Bulychev told in his fascinating stories about compact devices, somewhat reminiscent of a cigarette case, with which people of the future read books and newspapers. He also described large transparent balls that are used as transport. These balls are very reminiscent of zorbing - an extreme attraction.

In Adventure Alice"The science fiction writer told how in the future teenagers move with the help of springs attached to their legs. Today, one of the most popular outdoor exercise equipment is considered to be jumpers - special devices that increase jumping ability that are worn on the legs.


Orbital station and transplantology

Alexandra Belyaeva considered the founder of Soviet science fiction, many of whose predictions came true.

In the novel "The Head of a Professor Dowell»The writer considers the possibility of resurrecting a person, as well as the engraftment of individual parts to the body, surgical treatment of the eye.

Of course, it is impossible to revive everyone, but the conclusion from clinical death is now quite common. And modern surgery has long been using the methods of transplantation and sewing severed fingers, as well as performing eye surgeries.

Many believe that the "Amphibian Man" is the prototype of the scuba diver. In addition, an artificial lung has already been created today. As you know, the writer was friends with Tsiolkovsky, who inspired Belyaev to create the "Stars of the CEC" (CEC - Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky). The novel was written in 1936. And there the science fiction writer talks about an orbital station, manned spacewalk, as well as about artificial earth satellites and a flight to the moon.


Laser

In the novel "The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin" Alexey Tolstoy talks about an engineer who creates an apparatus with a heat ray of enormous destructive power.

Fans of the writer suggest that in this way he predicted the creation of a laser. After all, the novel was written in 1927.

And although still Einstein in 1916, he suggested stimulated radiation (the physical basis of the operation of any laser), it is believed that the first working optical laser was created in 1960 by an American physicist Theodore Maiman.


Internet and paintball

Arkady and Boris Strugatsky are probably the most widely read science fiction writers in our country. They surprisingly foresaw the devices that have only recently entered our everyday life.

In the story "Predatory Things of the Century", the writers talk about a receiver earring, which today can be called a Bluetooth headset. In the same work, you can read about the lyapnik - a toy machine with a flat rectangular can. The Strugatskys explain that the toy is named after the word "lyapat" by the lyapnik. Probably, many have played paintball and imagine what is happening there and what kind of weapon they shoot.

Also, fans of the Strugatskys believe that virtual reality is described in the same story, which is presented as an illusory world. Their books regularly talk about a kind of Planetary Informatics. Someone thinks it is the prototype of Wikipedia. But Boris Strugatsky once told reporters that the Planetary Informatorium and Null-Communication are more like the Internet. And in the novel "A Beetle in an Anthill" a videophone is described, on the screen of which, upon a call, a person appears with whom you can talk, as today on Skype.



TV, escalator, bank cards and club music

Of course, we read everything in childhood Jules Verne and were amazed how a writer a hundred years before technical progress "drew" modern ballistic submarines, and also indicated the necessary conditions and speed with which it is possible to overcome gravity. It is believed that in the works of Jules Verne one can read about the electric chair, television, an apparatus very similar to a helicopter, and also an airplane. H.G. Wells predicted the appearance of not only the atomic bomb, but also the escalator, passenger transport, air conditioners, answering machines and much more. Ray Bradbury told the world about the castle a x, which are opened with fingerprints, about headphones and a player. Edward Bellamy described that in the future humanity will begin to use special cards, which receive money. Aldous Huxley talked about genetic engineering, test tube babies and club music.

In principle, in almost any fantastic work, you can find something prophetic. But, nevertheless, many years ago Boris Strugatsky said: “Scientists are useless predictors. This is not required of them. They do not sow, at best they loosen the soil for sowing. "



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