Alexander Belyaev was called “the Russian Jules-Verne” for his ability to predict many events. In his books, Alexander predicted not only the invention of scuba gear, an orbital station, but also his own death …
Amphibious and scuba diving
When Alexander Belyaev, against the will of his parents, chose the profession of a lawyer, a woman who called herself clairvoyant came to seek his defense. “I warned two women about the possible imminent death of their husbands,” she said. "And now the inconsolable widows blame me for their willful death." Alexander only grinned: "Predict me then, too," said the writer.
“Your life will be difficult, but very bright. And you yourself will be able to look into the future”- she said so. After that, Alexander agreed to take the woman's case, she was acquitted at the trial. But the predicted was not long in coming. Belyaev was not a prophet, but he knew how to notice what ideas modern society had grown to, on the brink of what new discoveries and achievements it was.
One of his first novels of predictions was the famous "Amphibian Man", where the writer foresaw the invention of an artificial lung and a scuba gear with an open breathing system on compressed air, invented in 1943 by Jacques-Yves Cousteau. By the way, the novel itself was largely biographical.
A still from the film "Amphibian Man" (1961).
As a child, Alexander had a dream in which he and his brother Vasily crawl along a long dark tunnel. Somewhere ahead a light dawned, but my brother could no longer move on. Overcoming himself, Alexander was able to get out, but without Vasily. Soon, his brother drowned while boating.
Promotional video:
In the novel, Belyaev describes how Ichthyander, getting out into the endless expanses of the ocean, had to swim through a tunnel. He swam along it, “overcoming the cold oncoming current. It pushes off the bottom, floats up … The end of the tunnel is near. Now Ichthyander can again give himself up to the current - it will carry him far into the open ocean."
Air pollution
When Alexander Belyaev was forced to go to Crimea for treatment due to poor health, he met people on the train who had suffered as a result of a technological accident at the Kuzbass enterprise. This is how the idea of the "Air Seller" was born
In his work, Belyaev warns of an impending environmental catastrophe, where the environment will be so polluted with gases and industrial emissions that clean air will turn into a commodity that will not be available to everyone.
Is it worth recalling that today, due to poor ecology, there is a constant danger of oncology walking around the world, and life expectancy in large cities is rapidly decreasing. Under these conditions, states are even forced to agree to international agreements, an example of which is the Kyoto Protocol on limiting carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.
Orbital station
"The Star of the CEC" was written in 1936 under the influence of the writer's correspondence with Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky. Strictly speaking, KEC is the initials of the Soviet scientist. The whole novel is built on the ideas of Tsiolkovsky - the possibility of launching an orbital station, people going out into outer space, traveling to the moon.
After the publication of the book, which was published by the magazine "Vokrug Sveta", Tsiolkovsky wrote an enthusiastic review on it. The two dreamers were far ahead of their time - after all, the first real orbital station "Salyut" appeared in space only in 1973.
Drones
In the book "The Lord of the World" (1926), Belyaev "invented" an apparatus for transmitting thoughts over a distance according to the principle of radio waves, which made it possible to instill a thought to an outsider at a distance - in essence, a psychotropic weapon. In addition, in his book, he predicted the emergence of unmanned aircraft, the first successful tests took place in Great Britain only in the 30s of the XX century.
Plastic
In his novel "The Man Who Lost Face" (1929), the author presents to the reader for judgment the problem of changing the human body and the subsequent problems associated with it. As a matter of fact, the novel predicts the modern successes of plastic surgery, and ethical problems that invariably follow.
According to the plot, the governor of the state turns into a black person and as a result experiences all the features of racial discrimination. It is somewhat reminiscent of the fate of the king of pop music Michael Jackson, who changed his skin color, fleeing prejudice towards black people.
The mystery of the Bermuda Triangle
After the triumph of the novel "The Head of Professor Dowell" at one of the meetings, the journalists bombarded the writer with questions: "Who lives at the bottom of the ocean? Is there life on other planets? Do Flying Dutchmen really exist? Not finding an answer to this question for himself, Belyaev delves into his study, begins to think …
Let's say that somewhere, for example, in the region of Bermuda, there is a certain special zone. The nearby Sargasso Sea with its many algae has always hampered local navigation; its waters could well have accumulated ships left here after shipwrecks. This is how the plot of the novel "The Island of Lost Ships" was born.
In his new work, Belyaev became the first to point out the mysteriousness of the now famous Bermuda Triangle, the anomalousness of which was first publicly announced to the Associated Press, calling this area "the devil's sea."
Last prediction
The year 1940 comes. In the country, many have dark forebodings that a terrible war is coming. And Belyaev has special feelings - old diseases make themselves felt, the writer has a premonition - he will not survive this war. And he remembers his childhood dream, writes a novel about Ariel - a man who could fly. He himself would like to soar above the bustle of everyday life. "Ariel", like "Amphibian Man" is biographical. This work is a prediction of his own death. He wanted to fly away from this world like Ariel.
And so it happened. The writer died of starvation in 1943 in besieged Leningrad. The writer Belyaev was buried in a common grave along with many others. After that, the wife and daughter of Belyaev were captured by the Germans, and then in exile in Altai. Upon returning from there, they found the writer's glasses, to which was attached a note addressed to Belyaev's wife: “Do not look for my tracks on this earth,” her husband wrote. - I am waiting for you in heaven. Your Ariel …