Krzysztof Boruń was a Polish physicist, journalist and science fiction writer. As an author of a number of essays, articles and novels, he was an important popularizer of science. By his contemporaries, Boruń was described as the "visionary of space travel"
After the war he would work as a journalist for the daily newspaper "Ilustrowany Kurier Polski" and the weekly "Tygodnik Demokratyczny". Boruń became a member of the Polish Writers' Association. During his work as a journalist, he wrote articles mainly concerning the subjects of psychology, physics, sociology, astronomy, parapsychology, cybernetics and futurology. He started his career as a science fiction writer in 1953 with the novelZagubiona przyszłość, co-authored with Andrzej Trepka. The novel was first printed as a series in the daily newspaper Ilustrowany Kurier Polski. Later in 1954 a somewhat revised version of the novel was published as a standalone hardcover edition. The success of Zagubiona przyszłość, sparked two follow-up novels and Kosmiczni bracia that together form a trilogy. An active popularizer of science, he wrote articles for the astronautics and astronomy sections for the popular science periodical "Kto, Kiedy, Dlaczego". His articles in the periodical expressed careful criticism of the Soviet space program, in particular the decision not to bring Laika, the first dog in space, safely back to earth. Two of Boruń's novels written in the 1960s – Próg nieśmiertelności and Ósmy krąg piekieł were first published in Russian and Ukrainian, they have not been published in Poland until the 1970s. His works have also been translated to Japanese, German, Czech, Hungarian languages. Between 1982 and 1984 he was editor-in-chief of the periodicals Astronautyka and Postępy Astronautyki, both dedicated to astronautics and space research.
Personal beliefs
He was an atheist since the age of 12, but later in life he drifted towards agnosticism, arguing for the possibility of the existence of a God. In a number of publications he discussed matters of faith, parapsychology, religion, reincarnation and life after death. He remained open to multiple interpretations of reality, admitting that some events cannot be fully explained by contemporary science. Nevertheless he remained convinced that further scientific discoveries will eventually provide all the answers to the issues that remain a mystery to his contemporaries.
Selected bibliography
Novels
Zagubiona przyszłość,,.
,,.
Kosmiczni bracia,,.
Próg nieśmiertelności.
Ósmy krąg piekieł.
Małe zielone ludziki I.
Małe zielone ludziki II.
Jasnowidzenia inżyniera Szarka.
Short story collections
Spadkobiercy - an anthology that included short stories by Boruń.
