''Professor Dowell's Head'' is a 1925

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

and horror story (and later novel) by Russian author Alexander Belyaev.

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 Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, co ...

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 Loren, 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 Loren. Dr. Kern is anxious to announce himself as the inventor. But Dowell's son and Marie Loren 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, is summarily executed by a police detective.

English translations

*Belyaev, Alexander, ''Professor Dowell's Head'', translated by Carl Engel, King Tide Press, Philadelphia, 2021 *''Professor Dowell's Head'', New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1980, hardcover, ISBN.

Scientific links

Real

head transplant A head transplant is an experimental surgical operation involving the grafting of one organism's head onto the body of another. In many experiments, the recipient's head has not been removed, but in others it has been. Experimentation in animals ...

operations were semi-successfully done in Soviet Union and United States, though not on humans, and the subjects died in less than a day. The possibility to transfer living brains into robots has been considered as a potential life-saving option for terminal patients.

Film adaptations

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. ''The Head in the House'' ( zh, 凶宅美人头}), a Chinese version of film adaptation, was made by the Xi'an Film Studio in 1989. ''The Head'' (1959)

References

External links

''Professor Dowell's Head''
at

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.
''Zaveshchaniye professora Douelya''
1985 Russian film adaptation directed by Leonid Menaker at

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Illustrations of Ukrainian graphic artist Alexander Dovhal to Professor Dowell`s Head
1925 Russian novels 1925 science fiction novels Russian science fiction novels Soviet science fiction novels Novels by Alexander Beliaev Debut science fiction novels Russian novels adapted into films 1925 debut novels {{1920s-sf-novel-stub