The Garin Death Ray


The Garin Death Ray, also known as The Death Box and The Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin, is a science-fiction novel written in 1926–1927 by the Russian author Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy.
The "hyperboloid" of the title is not a geometrical surface but a "death ray"-laser-like device that the protagonist, engineer Garin, uses to fight his enemies while trying to become the dictator of the world. The idea of a "death ray" was commonplace in science fiction of the time, but Aleksey Tolstoy's version is unique for its level of technical details. "Hyperboloids" of different power-capability differ in their effect. The device uses two hyperbolic mirrors to concentrate light rays in a parallel beam. Larger "hyperboloids" can destroy military ships on the horizon, while those of less power can only injure people and cut electric cables on walls of rooms.
Professor, an expert in optics, in his 1944 book "О возможном и невозможном в оптике" presented arguments about the infeasibility of Garin's fictional device.

Adaptations

Two film adaptations of the novel were released in the Soviet Union in 1965 and 1973.
Aleksandr Abdulov started shooting his own version of Hyperboloid, but it was unfinished due to Abdulov's illness and death.

Influence

  • Charles H. Townes, the inventor of laser, said that his invention had been inspired by this novel.
  • Vladimir Nabokov included parodic elements in his tragicomedy The Waltz Invention.
  • The Soviet rock band Kino was originally known as Garin i giperboloidy.
  • The Estonian punk band Vennaskond has an album and a song "Insener Garini hüperboloid".