Slovak Literature in English Translation

In this very first example of science fiction in Slovak literature written in 1856 (ten years before the publication of Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon), Gustáv Reuss dispatches his protagonist Krutohlav and his friends to explore the solar system in a motorised “dragon” powered by gunpowder, taking with them many kinds of sausage, cheeses, pickled cabbage, and wine. Part adventure story, part handbook of popular science, The Science of the Stars draws on folk legends and fairy tales the author had collected in the Gemer Region of Slovakia. A century and a half since its first publication, it remains an original record of contemporary knowledge in the area of astronomy, geography, and physics.