science

Professor Tarantoga

Professor Tarantoga is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Professor Tarantoga rather than just read about it. In short: 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. 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.

Key takeaways

Professor Tarantoga belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Professor Tarantoga to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Professor Tarantoga from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

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. 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. 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. In addition to secondary appearances, Tarantoga is the main character of four plays (published and broadcast by radio; some adapted for TV).

Curriculum vitae 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). 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" he is a Fomalgautian, a nearly-humanoidal creature with antennae on the head, four upper arms and some lower ones hidden under the robe. 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.

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 animated film) A device to accelerate and slow down time (The Twelfth Voyage) A liquid for erasing bad memories (The Twelfth Voyage) A banknote with the infinity symbol ∞ denoting infinite value (The Twelfth Voyage) An apparatus for utilizing children's energy: 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 dinosaurs 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.: A substance to paint darkness into various colors A powder to mold the clouds into dense durable shapes Chronomat (time machine) Tarantoga's magnum opus was the founding of the human civilization (Czarna komnata profesora Tarantogi [The Black Room of Professor Tarantoga]) – After studying the biographies of leading scientists and artists, Tarantoga found that all of them were drunkards and lazy. Therefore, he started sending smart young people into various epochs to invent differential calculus, to paint the Mona Lisa, and so on.

Appearances

1954: The Star Diaries, "The Twenty Sixth Voyage, the Last One", in the collection Sezam i inne opowiadania. In this story Ijon Tichy meets professor for the first time 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. 1962: Przygody profesora Tarantogi, Polish TV play, premiered September 21, 1962 1963: Wyprawa profesora Tarantogi, scenario, first print: collection Noc księżycowa 1978: Die seltsamen Begenungen des Professor Tarantoga, 99 min., West Germany, director: Chuck Kerremans Lem disliked this adaptation, saying that all humor was lost. In the interview Thus Spoke... Lem Lem said "I demanded a very high fee. It was so huge that they protested, telling me that there was no such fees at all. I told them then that it was not a fee at all, only a compensation for the pain, because I knew they would screw it up terribly. An you know what? They screwed it up terribly!" 1992: TV play, Poland, first aired September 5, 1992, director Maciej Wojtyszko, Tarantoga: Tadeusz Huk Lem spoke favorably about both the play and the director. 1963: Czarna komnata profesora Tarantogi, scenario, first print: collection Noc księżycowa 1964: Polish TV film 1963: Dziwny gość profesora Tarantogi, scenario, first print: collection Noc księżycowa 1971: Polish TV film 1979: Professor Tarantoga und sein seltsamer Gast, TV film, 21 April 1979, East Germany, director Jens-Peter Proll 1975: Godzina przyjęć profesora Tarantogi, radio play 1977: Professor Tarantogas Sprechstunde (de), 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 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" 2011: Ijon Tichy: Raumpilot, TV series season 2, Tarantoga played by Peter Princz 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. The novel Monday Begins on Saturday by Soviet science fiction writers Boris and Arkady Strugatsky mentions "Tarantoga phenomenon" as a synonym for instant teleportation.

References

Illustrations

Professor Tarantoga: Tadeusz Huk, who playerd Tarantoga in 1992 — Tadeusz Huk, who playerd Tarantoga in 1992

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Professor Tarantoga

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Professor Tarantoga claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Professor Tarantoga before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Professor Tarantoga ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Professor Tarantoga

In research: Professor Tarantoga appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Professor Tarantoga in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Professor Tarantoga is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Characters in written science fiction, Fictional inventors, Mad scientists of Stanisław Lem, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Professor Tarantoga outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Professor Tarantoga in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Professor Tarantoga means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Professor Tarantoga out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Professor Tarantoga in simple terms?

Why does Professor Tarantoga matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Professor Tarantoga?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Professor Tarantoga.