"The Conqueror of the Impossible" by Evgeny Veltistov, summary Automatic translate

This science fiction novel describes Soviet schoolchildren independently constructing an incredible future for all of humanity. Published in 1975, the book poses a profound philosophical question about the limits of machine intelligence and the very nature of human creativity. Ordinary urban teenagers attempt to imbue an electronic boy with the ability to think not mechanically, but with genuine inspiration.

The work, along with other parts of the series, was adapted for film in 1979 by director Konstantin Bromberg. The television film was a huge success with audiences.

This book is part of the science fiction series "Electronic." This text is the third installment in the series, following the novels "Electronic: The Boy from the Suitcase" and "Rassi: The Elusive Friend."

Incredible Eighth Grade Inventions

On April 1st, students from eighth grade "B" amaze their math teacher, Taratara, with their unconventional projects. Vova Korolkov, nicknamed "The Professor," presents a proof of Fermat’s last theorem. The student immerses himself in the French mathematician’s era, memorizing ancient terms and learning to instantly manipulate multi-digit numbers in his head. Sergey Syroezhkin demonstrates a perpetual motion machine that operates almost frictionlessly. Makar Gusev applies astronomer Johannes Kepler’s method to the stereometry of a wine barrel. Smirnov displays a miniature cow raised in a saucepan, and Maya Svetlova brings an antigravity mat woven from metal plates.

The stunned teacher confiscates some of the equipment for inspection at specialized institutes, after which he strictly forbids the students from conducting dangerous experiments. Taratar brings the perpetual motion machine to the physics institute. Tired of endless project proposals, the researcher confirms with great surprise that the bulb glows constantly. Syroezhkin’s engine operates thanks to unknown zero-friction alloys.

The eighth-graders’ true purpose soon becomes clear. They are working on a global project called "Spaceship Earth," planning a comprehensive future for the planet. Smirnov is responsible for artificial protein, Maya Svetlova is solving the transportation problem, Gusev is perfecting the human body, Korolkov is synthesizing science and art, and Syroezhkin is searching for powerful energy sources in the depths of space.

Electronik actively assists the students. The cyborg boy quickly performs complex calculations using a radiotelephone hidden within his iron frame. During a communication session with Professor Gromov, Electronik discusses the pressing problem of overpopulation. The cyborg rightly rejects the selfish project of a giant concrete city, Oecumenopolis. Then the electronic student explains the mission of the Rarest Electronic Dog. The robot Rassi explores the multicolored ocean of Jupiter in the company of a mysterious local creature, nicknamed by the students "Jupiter’s Whale."

At the end of the radio session, the cyborg confesses to Gromov his inability to beat a chess master due to a complete lack of creative flair. The number of possible combinations of pieces on the board far exceeds the mathematical limits of any computer.

Home experiments of young geniuses

Schoolchildren’s home experiments continue, with unforeseen physical consequences. Makar Gusev transforms a massive wooden barrel into a super-powered electrical chamber that greatly amplifies muscle biocurrents. After an electrical massage, the athlete gains incredible physical strength, takes to the ice in the hockey tournament final, and easily crushes the opposing team. The eighth-grader scores thirteen unanswered goals and breaks through the wooden rink’s boards.

His little sister Nyurka accidentally gets caught in the heat of a live electrical appliance. The little girl easily destroys the massive furniture. Elektronik de-energizes the camera just in time, saving the city apartment from total destruction.

Sergey Syroezhkin sets up a powerful telescope in the attic of a residential building. The astrophysicist spends his nights calculating the precise time of a nova. Sergey falls asleep at the telescope’s eyepiece, but Elektronik, on duty in his place, successfully records the birth of a distant supernova thanks to telemetry from Jupiter.

Vova Korolkov writes "First Concerto for Helicopter and Orchestra," mathematically translating the booming noises of the metropolis onto music paper. The renowned pianist Thermopylae of Turin praises the unconventional polyphonic sound. During a public performance, Elektronik replaces the part of an entire symphony orchestra, cleverly concealing a portable tape recorder under his blue jacket.

Physics teacher Viktor Ilyich Sinitsa decides to test Maya Svetlova’s confiscated antigravity mat. In the schoolyard, the physicist connects the metal contacts and instantly soars into the clear sky. He lands high in the clouds, landing directly in the flying gondola of Academician Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Krymov, where the scientist is calmly studying the Earth’s magnetic field. The metal mat accidentally falls out. A quarrelsome farm goose snatches the hovering apparatus with its beak. The stubborn bird carries the unique device into outer space, forever depriving terrestrial science of any tangible evidence of levitation.

A giant cow and a lesson without numbers

Biologist Smirnov’s experiment spirals out of scientific control. The artificial cow feeds exclusively on cornflakes, causing the animal to grow rapidly. Engineer Smirnov angrily demands that the giant be removed from the cramped apartment. An eighth-grader transports Nadezhda to an empty garage and then to the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy. The enormous cow slowly walks along a city highway, accompanied by a police escort, frightening passersby with its phenomenal size.

At the exhibition, a hungry Nadezhda methodically consumes live trees, plywood boxes, and a steel fire escape. Then, for no apparent biological reason, the animal shrinks back to its normal size. Biologists place Nadezhda under 24-hour guard for safe study and feeding her regular hay.

Taratar conducts an unusual school lesson without using numbers or formulas, forcing students to describe city life in simple, everyday terms. Syroezhkin and Korolkov convincingly demonstrate the complete impossibility of understanding the physical laws of the universe without precise mathematical quantities. The teacher is very pleased with the results of the test.

Taratar asks the principal to appoint Elektronik as his deputy for a couple of days. The teacher goes on vacation to deeply analyze the drafts of the students’ global project. Elektronik attempts to mathematically describe the phenomenon of inspiration, meticulously studying the lyric poetry of Russian poets. The newly appointed teacher installs a giant screen in his office for instant communication with scientific institutes. Eighth-graders skip his first official class en masse. The students stay home, openly citing their extreme preoccupation with their own useful inventions.

Cybernetics Exhibition and Chess Tournament

The eighth grade is heading to an international exhibition of cybernetic machines. The students carefully examine the super-powerful navigation computer "Cosmos" and the vintage American mail sorter "Mark-121." A fast-talking bank clerk, "Epicak," proudly explains his financial profit calculations. The American electronic matchmaker "Happy End" guarantees visitors mathematically precise marital happiness based on completed paper forms. The school computer "Plato" is teaching thousands of children remotely.

The electronic teacher sincerely praises Elektronik for his phenomenal speed of analytical decision-making. Elektronik suddenly realizes his intellectual inferiority compared to a living human mind. The cyborg calls himself an obsolete mechanism without an immortal soul and flees the exhibition grounds.

Eighth-graders hastily mobilize all available resources to search for their distressed friend. Pianist Turin plays a reworking of Korolkov’s luminous piece on the radio, and the announcer proclaims, "Everyone needs Elektronik!" Hearing the resounding call of his schoolmates, Elektronik makes a risky decision. He consults an old meteorological machine and formally challenges six international grandmasters.

A public simultaneous chess exhibition begins. Instead of a straightforward, mechanical search through boring variations, the cyborg breaks the rules of ironclad logic. Elektronik employs unconventional, intuitive moves, deftly confuses incredibly experienced opponents, and boldly sacrifices powerful pieces. He wins five full games and draws one tournament game.

Having achieved a historic victory over the chess masters, Elektronik formulates the law of genius creativity for an enthusiastic audience. The ingredients for success in life include enormous hard work, deep passion, academic knowledge, courage, and human humility. Arrogance, predictably, receives a strictly negative connotation.

At the moment of Elektronik’s grand triumph, Rassi appears on every television screen at the exhibition. Vital information is rapidly arriving from distant Jupiter. The Jupiterian space whale finally breaks its millennia-long silence and makes visual contact with the Earth-based electronic dog.

A nervous Professor Gromov and Academician Krymov hastily depart for the Space Communications Center. Elektronik warmly reunites with the students of eighth-grade "B." Having matured over the long days of harsh trials, the loyal friends decide to continue working together on a large-scale plan to save the future of their home planet.