Ivan Antonovich (Antipovich) Efremov (1908–1972) was a Soviet paleontologist, geologist, sailor, and science fiction writer. Efremov discovered his passion for adventure in childhood when he devoured the books of Jules Verne from his father's library. He graduated from school externally, and even then, sitting at his school desk, became interested in the science of extinct animals. In 1923, the young man passed exams to become a ship's mate for coastal navigation and worked as a sailor on a ship along the coast of the Far East. In the same year, he met academician P. P. Sushkin, who recommended him to enroll in Leningrad State University in the biological department a year later. Soon, the young man became a scientific and technical employee of the Academy of Sciences, and from the mid-1920s onward, he began regularly participating in geological and paleontological expeditions. In 1935, based on a combination of scientific works, Efremov was awarded the degree of Candidate of Biological Sciences in the field of Paleontology without official defense. Thus, even before defending his thesis, he became a candidate of sciences.
In 1937, Efremov received his diploma with honors from the Mining Institute and by 1941 became a Doctor of Biological Sciences. However, in addition to scientific discoveries, there was another passion in Efremov's life—literature. His literary legacy is rich and diverse, including novels, stories, and novellas. Efremov not only knew how to invent fantastic plots, but his literary style is characterized by scientific precision of details, well-developed characters, and an indelible faith in a bright future—the possibility of creating a more perfect society. This edition includes the following works by the writer: the novella "Starships", the novel "The Andromeda Nebula", the story "Five Pictures", the novella "The Heart of the Snake", and the novel "The Bull's Hour". The fantastic novella "Starships" tells of archaeologists searching for traces of "starry aliens" who visited our planet during the age of dinosaurs. The events of the novel "The Andromeda Nebula", published in the year of the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite, are moved thousands of years into the future by the writer. The novel depicts the everyday lives, aspirations, and dreams of our distant descendants—the masters of the Cosmos. Thanks to this novel, Ivan Efremov gained worldwide fame as a science fiction writer. The story "Five Pictures" narrates a group of friends curiously examining priceless samples of ancient art. The novella "The Heart of the Snake" describes the interaction between humans and an alien civilization. In the novel "The Bull's Hour", the inhabitants of a communist Earth from a distant future embark on a journey to the planet Tormans, where they discover people who have built a closed totalitarian society.
