Stanislaw Lem is Poland's foremost science fiction writer. Perhaps his best known book is 'Solaris', the story of an ocean on a faraway planet that plays tricks on the minds of astronauts by conjuring images of their long lost loved ones and friends. In 2003 it was made into an acclaimed movie starring George Clooney.

Stanislaw Lem was born in Lwów (now Lviv, Ukraine) in 1921 as the son of Samuel Lem, a prosperous physician. In his childhood Lew was a voracious reader - he read poetry, novels, popular science books, and his father's anatomy books.

Lem studied medicine at Lwów University and at Jagiellonian University in Kraków, but his studies were interrupted by World War II. During the war and Nazi occupation Lem worked as a car mechanic and welder, and was a member of the resistance fighting against the Nazis. With false papers that concealed his Jewish origins, he avoided death camps.

In 1946 Lem moved to Kraców. After finishing his studies Lem received his MD. He worked a research assistant in a scientific institution and started to write stories on his spare time. He also wrote articles in the press.

In the beginning of his career Lem published lyrical verse, essays on scientific method and realistic novels.

Lem's early novels and stories were more or less optimistic and based on the conventions of Socialist Realism. He examined technological development, future civilizations, and responsibility of scientist. In the 1960s Lem's visions became more independent, experimental and radical. Although the communist Polish government did not tolerate criticism, authorities regarded science fiction as an unimportant genre of literature, which made possible to ask politically forbidden questions about progress under the disguise of harmless fantasy.

Lem's most famous novel Solaris is among the classic science fiction novels of the 1960s. In it the author explores one of his favorite subjects - the limitations of human understanding. The story is set in a space station hovering above the planet Solaris. Scientists probe the mysteries the planet where the only living thing is an intelligent ocean, that covers the whole surface.

Several of Lem's books were translated into English in the 1980s, and his writings appeared in such magazines as The New Yorker, Penthouse, and Omni.

For more on the work of Stanislaw Lem see the official Lem web site