Professor Dowell's Head

Professor Dowell's Head is a 1925 science fiction story (and later novel) by Russian author Alexander Belyayev.

Professor Dowell's Head
English language cover
AuthorAlexander Belyayev
Original titleГолова профессора Доуэля
TranslatorAntonina W. Bouis
Cover artistRichard M. Powers
LanguageRussian
GenreScience fiction
PublisherMacmillan Publishing
Publication date
1925
Published in English
1980
Media typePrint
Pages157
ISBN0-02-508370-8
Followed byThe Lord of the World 

Plot

Professor Dowell and his assistant surgeon Dr. Kern are working on medical problems including life support in separated body parts. Dr. Kern kills Dowell (in a set up car / asthma accident). Professor Dowell's head is now kept alive and used by Dr. Kern for extraction of scientific secrets; however, his new assistant, the medically-trained Marie Laurent, discovers the ploy and is dismayed; to keep her from exposing him, Kern eventually gets her imprisoned in a false lunatic asylum for undesirables. Continuing his experiments, Dr. Kern transplants the head of a young woman to a new body. That body belongs to the girlfriend of a friend of Dowell's son, who recognizes her body when the young woman flees Dr. Kern's laboratory. Together, Dowell's son and his friend free Marie Laurent. Dr. Kern is anxious to announce himself as the inventor. But Dowell's son and Marie Laurent help his father's head get in front of the cameras and reveal the truth. The head of professor Dowell tells all before dying. Dr. Kern, disgraced, commits suicide.

Editions
  • Professor Dowell's Head, New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1980, hardcover, ISBN.

Real head transplant operations were successfully done in Soviet Union and United States, though not on humans.[1]

The possibility to transfer living brains into robots is being considered as a potential life-saving option for terminal patients.[2]

Film adaptation

The novel was very loosely adapted to film under the title Professor Dowell's Testament (1984) by director Leonid Menaker. The film only used the basic premise of the novel and made numerous changes to the characters and story.

References
  1. "Head Transplant: The Truly Disturbing Truly Real Story". Vimeo. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  2. "Technology / 2045 Initiative". Retrieved 29 December 2014.


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