Encyclopedia Galactica

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Encyclopedia Galactica (galactic encyclopedia ) is a fictional encyclopedia which is the subject of various science fiction stories and which contains all of human knowledge and all of the knowledge of non-human living beings.

In particular, the galactic encyclopedia plays an important role in several science fiction novels by Isaac Asimov and in the pentalogy The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams .

Foundation cycle by Isaac Asimov

In the Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov from 1942 , the Encyclopedia has played an important role, because in it the entire knowledge of mankind is to be collected and preserved. In the novels of the Foundation cycle, the encyclopedists manipulate the galactic fate of mankind by means of the fictional science of psychohistory and therefore rule many worlds populated by humans.

Asimov introduced the Encyclopedia Galactica in the following words:

" ENCYCLOPEDIA GALACTICA *
* All quotations from the Encyclopedia Galactica here reproduced are taken from the 116th Edition published in 1020 FE by the Encyclopedia Galactica Publishing Co., Terminus, with permission of the publishers."

This is an allusion to quotations from the Encyclopædia Britannica .

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

In Adams novel is Encyclopaedia Galactica as a serious counterpart to guide Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Engl. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy ) below:

“In many of the more casual civilizations on the far eastern edge of the galaxy, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has long since replaced the great Encyclopaedia Galactica as the standard reference work for all knowledge and wisdom. Because although it has many gaps and contains many things that are very doubtful or at least insanely inaccurate, it is superior to the older, much more lengthy work in two ways. Firstly, it's a bit cheaper and, secondly, the words DON'T PANIC are written in large, friendly letters on the envelope. "

- Douglas Adams : The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, prologue, translation after Benjamin Schwarz

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