Peace on Earth (novel)
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- For other uses, see Peace on Earth.
Peace on Earth (Pokój na Ziemi in Polish) is a 1987 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem. The novel describes in a satirical (and in the same time, very serious) tone the ultimate implications of the arms race.
The evolution of artificial intelligence has allowed major world powers to sign a rather curious treaty: the Moon is divided into national zones (proportional to each nation's Earth real estate) and all weapons development and production must be moved there to be handled by automatic factories. This is supposed to completely demilitarize Earth, achieving the long-sought dream of world peace. A MAD stabilizing factor is apparently preserved by the ability of countries, in case of war, to quickly ship weapons down from the Moon.
Unknown to most people, the problem arises. The ever-increasing amount of autonomy given to Moon's automata, in order to conduct more-effective espionage in neighbors' nation facilities and also to defend one's own, leads to localized robotic conflicts on the Moon's surface. Eventually, after a number of events, there is a total discontinuation of any communication with the Moon. After a number of failed expeditions to reveal the truth on what's going on beneath the Moon's surface, Ijon Tichy is called to the rescue.
To make a long story short:
- Ijon Tichy makes it back to Earth (but not entirely).
- Humanity survives, but forced to use only petroleum motors and pencils instead of high-tech devices. A self-developed, ultimate fighting machine from the Moon only attacks things that it's accustomed to -- high-tech military gadgets and anything resembling them. (And yes, it's The Invincible, by the same author.)
