About this audiobook
Professor Persikov's scientific discovery promises remarkable effects on living organisms. When a practical initiative attempts to apply that discovery to a pressing agricultural problem, the distance between experimental knowledge and administrative confidence becomes dangerous. People with different responsibilities begin acting as though they share an understanding that has not actually been established.
Mikhail Bulgakov develops the situation as a combination of speculative fiction and satire. Scientific enthusiasm, public excitement and the wish for rapid results reinforce one another, while caution becomes difficult to maintain. Miscommunication and haste allow an apparently useful proposal to acquire consequences beyond the control of those promoting it.
The story explores responsibility for new forms of power and the assumptions behind demands for immediate progress. Its unsettling humour comes from the contrast between technical possibility and practical judgement, asking what happens when institutions treat a discovery as a ready solution before anyone understands the conditions under which it can be used.
